HELP!! air-shocks and lift...

[NedFlanders]

Sorry for nagging about this over and over again, but I really need some help here guys!!

I've had plans doing the add-a-leaf-and-torsiontwist-lift on my '96XLT ever since I bought it last December. The problem is that my truck was delivered with an air-ride type of loadleveling in the rear. It's not the "airbag" type that sits on top of the leafs, but it has the system built into the rear shocks. It's also completely automatic, I can't adjust anything myself, it just rises the rear by itself if I trow in a lot of cargo or something.

For the longest time I hoped the worst "problem" with this would be that the loadleveling would not start working until the rear was pressed down to under stock hight, witch wouldn't matter much. But just to be sure I called around a bit, and ended up talking to a guy in the company importing US-Ford to Norway. He said I should not lift the truck, because he thought the airshocks would be to short for the lifted hight. But he wasn't sure though.
I think it would be strange if my shocks were any shorter than the ones you guys in the states have. As far as I've understood, most people on the board have not changed their shock after doing the add-a-leaf or shackle lift, so I recon it works fine with the ones you have "over there"..

Does anyone know if the airshocks are any shorter than the ordinary ones?
Do most people really get new shocks to, when they lift the truck?
What could happen if I do the lift anyway, and ride with "to short shocks"? Will I notice anything else than a rearwheel lifting into the air sometimes while offroading? Can I really damage anything?

Hope someone knows! When I try talking to the guys on the local 4X4 shops they doesn't seem to be very familiar with the explorer, and aren't of much help(even though they try)...

 

[mrboyle]

I don't know why you shouldn't be able to lift your X. It isn't necessary to replace the shocks on a lift 2" or less. The only draw back to running a short shock is exactly as you described (lifting a tire due to limited droop). If there is a problem you could always eliminate the automatic load leveling system and swich to standard shocks.

 

[NedFlanders]

Thanks man! Thats the stuff I need to hear...Dead Link Removed
From what I understood, the guy meant I could like rip the whole shocks apart if I drove around with it lifted.. Think it would be strange if they put in some more expensive shocks that should be better (in theory) than the "normal" ones, and less solid.
The thing is I'm a bit afraid of really destryoing my truck, would be terrible to suddenly be somewhere in the middle of nowhere with no shocks in the rear...
Guess I could try anyhow, and just take the leafs off again if it don't behave right.. Talked to the ford mecanic and he said it would be no point in getting the front realigned after the tt, so it should all be easily undone if it don't work...

Anyone else have an oppinion?

 

[Pritch]

Hi Rune,

I haven't put an add-a-leaf in the rear yet, and now you've told me yet another reason why I can't do a modification I wanted to!!!!! I wasn't really seeking a whole lot of lift, just to correct the sag in the rear end that Explorers tend to get after a while. Actually, yesterday the guy at Big O Tires told me that Rancho didn't sell just the rear add-a-leaf, only whole systems.

I don't even know if the stupid air ride system works on my rig. I have never noticed it actually raise the rear end. The only clue that I even had it was the compressor noise after I shut down and the huge shocks in the rear.

 

[jimbo74]

Originally posted by NedFlanders
Talked to the ford mecanic and he said it would be no point in getting the front realigned after the tt, so it should all be easily undone if it don't work...

Anyone else have an opinion?

YES. He is wrong. YOU NEED to get it aligned after yor TT. Or you will wear out tires left and right..Literally...or the other way around

 

[JDraper]

Yup. You need to get it aligned. When you lift the vehicle, it changes the front suspension geometry slightly, which throws off the toe-in. I had mine checked after I did the tt & shackles, and it knocked my toe out by about .3° (enough to feather the tire edges pretty badly in 200 miles).

 

[Ray Lobato]

For those of you with the Air Ride suspension. You can get rid of those things and use regular shocks. This won't hurt anything. If you destroy a shock while wheeling, it won't put you out. You can still get home, only you have to drive slow to keep the springs from ungulating alot. In fact if you plan on doing any hard stuff, you should get rid of the air shocks, because they won't handle the stress that offroading put on them.
Do you need to do an alignment after the TT?
Well I guess I was lucky, because mine didn't need an alignment. How do I know, because I took it for an alignment and they told me I didn't need it.
I guess some do and some don't.
Rune, Pritch
If you guys still have the factory shock on you trucks, they probably need to be replaced. This would be a good time to get rid of those air shocks. Just my .02

 

[NedFlanders]

Hey guys.. thanks for all your inputs.. guess I'm gonna try lifting it early this autumn, cause then I won't be doing any long trips for a while, an can see how it handles.. I'm going to replace my firestones before winter anyway, so it doesn't matter much if I wear them a little.. guess I can drive the truck unaligned for a week or two and see, and then eighter get it aligned or "unlifted"... My shocks actually seems to be working really fine, so I guess I'll just keep them for a while if they don't break...

ohwell... just came by work between my first an second part of summer holiday... se ya all again in a couple of weeks..