ExplorerEB96's X under the knife

[JDraper]

One more shot for the night. Here was the condition of the right side LCA mount BEFORE I got to it with Dr. Sledge-O-Matic. Had to pound it straight to get the x member in.

Remember, Mr. Sledge is your Friend

 

[enyego]

I sell bolts, and Jeff's right on that.

 

[IAmTodd]

Originally posted by enyego
I sell bolts

Thats cool. I sell fruit

 

[Hokie]

Just curious why they use grade 8 bolts for suspension (like shackles) and not grade 5? Since most of those are shearing forces and not tensile forces.

 

[JDraper]

Dunno. Most of the aftermarket stuff comes with grade 5 bolts. Could be an engineer who didn't know his stuff

 

[Agent_51]

Most serious off road places such as camburg wont put anything other than grade 8 in thier stuff. If grade 8 can stand up to the abuse thier kits are made for, i think it can handle a little stupidlift.

 

[Muskrat]

this is where knowing the properties of metal come in hand, and I know, that Jeff, being and engineer, knows what certain heat treating procedures are for. A grade 5 bolt is strong, has a good tensile, and compressing strength, and the same time, not becomming brittle, allowing it to bend if it takes a good hit. a grade 8 is real strong, tensile and compress. but the down fall of a grade 8 is that if you hit it hard enough, not saying that it is likely with a truck like this, is that the bolt will shear, without warning but that will take a real good hit. I'd rather use the grade 5s in suspension for that reason

 

[ExplorerEB96]

I'll just buy and ship you the Ranchos...

I didn't hear any good stuff come of those super ride shocks anyway......

Karol

 

[Bashman]

Originally posted by JDraper
Remember, Mr. Sledge is your Friend

Hehe....I love B.F.H.'s (big frickin hammers).

 

[JDraper]

Well, everything is now in the front except the shocks and the t-bars. Waiting for delivery on the new "1" rated t-bars to see if they fit.

Couple of items for anyone following this thread who wants to install the lift themselves.
1. The 4" drop brackets for the hub assemblies have 2 sets of holes in them for the brake calipers. MAKE SURE YOU MOUNT THEM IN THE PROPER HOLES!! It is possible to put the caliper on so that part of the brake pad is hanging off the edge of the disc.

2. If you go with the Superlift front drive shaft, it comes with a xfer case output shaft flange that may or may not bolt up to your xfer case. In this case it didn't. Don't panic, just remove the flange and it fits to the existing flange just fine.

3. Buy a bottle of Loctite thread locker. They only give you just enough for the T-Bar Bolts. You end up re-using quite a few of the factory bolts, and they should be threadlocked too.


So far, so good. Once the T-Bars get here, I'll pop 'em in and go to work on the rear

 

[JDraper]

Well, got most of the rear done this evening. Would be totally done with the rear 'cept one of the U-Bolts is partially stripped . Sooooo, gotta get another one tomorrow. Got the springs in, the U-Bolt skid plates on, the shocks in, the extended swaybar ends (with disconnects) in, brake lines moved, etc. Took about 4 hours to do that all.

Also found out that the "1" rated T-Bars WILL fit

 

[JDraper]

Well, it's back on it's wheels, but not quite mobile yet. The U-Bolt I need didn't arrive when Ford said it would, so I'm still waiting. New T-Bars are installed, but I did run into 2 small problems. First is that the T-Bar tool from Superlift is crap! They didn't harden the components, so under pressure, they stripped! Fortunately, I have a convertible 2-3 jaw gear puller that works very well. Suggestion to those working on their t-bars is to forget buying the T-Bar tool and instead buy a universal gear puller that allows both 2 jaw and 3 jaw pulls. Mine worked very well for the task.

Second problem was the T-Bar covers. Apparently Ford used a different cover for the '96 model, and they don't fit on the kit. I'm scrounging around for a set of newer covers right now. Not a show stopper but a minor pain.


If there are any specific parts of the install, or specific pix that anyone wants to see, let me know and I can either e-mail it to ya, or I will post it here. I'll have some more pix up soon.

 

[JDraper]

Well, got the skid plate cut and bent and installed today. Here's some pix.

 

[JDraper]

Another

 

[JDraper]

Last shot. All I have left to do is put in one U-Bolt, the front shocks, and build a snorkel.

 

[IAmTodd]

Thats one awsome skid plate! Is she going to run bigger tires or keep the 32s?

 

[brendan]

Wow, that looks excellent. If only I were a little more mechanically inclined and didn't have to drive 400miles every month or so... can't wait till I get out of school and can actually lift my Ex!!

 

[ExplSport02]

Very Very nice job with the skid plate man!

 

[ExplorerEB96]

I have a set of 5

Originally posted by IAmTodd
Thats one awsome skid plate! Is she going to run bigger tires or keep the 32s?

34"x10.50x15 Super Swamper LTB tires being shipped to Jeff as we speak.... my 32's are going on my Bronco... I didn't hesitate to buy the 32's last month because I knew that if the BFG's were going to be too small, that I needed new tires on my Bronco anyway... (I hate Goodyear Wranglers). anyway it was cheaper to get the tires as a set of wheels and tires package...so I will have a set of steel black American Racing rims for sale... they are in decent shape and are good for anyone that wants to just have an extra set of tires to put on for offroad use..

Karol

 

[JDraper]

It runs! Still doesn't have the front shocks in though. Superlift sent me new shocks to replace the ones that don't fit, but they sent the exact same ones again. They are working on it

In the mean time. I took it out to test it a little. Still on the smaller tires since the new ones haven't arrived.