Help! I want to lift my truck!

[BMarion321]

I have a 2005 ford explorer sport trac 2WD
It has a 2" body lift or suspension lift on it now I don't know which one because I got it for my birthday a few years ago. My tires now are 235/70/R16

I want my truck to be taller but not too tall. I am getting 265/75/R16 tires soon. Should I get another lift kit if so what do I get. I can't find anything anywhere??

Help!! I don't know much as I am a girl

 

[DjDom]

First you need to find out what lift is on it now. I'm gonna guess it's a suspension lift, since a body lift is much more involved and expensive.

Check to see.

 

[BMarion321]

It was 200 dollars. I have been told my multiple people that body lifts are less expensive. I recently found one tonight for 250 for a 3" body lift kit

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Welcome to the site.

If it has a bodylift on it then it would be a Performance Accessories 3" bodylift and you can tell by looking under the truck at the body mounts and you'll see 3" bodylift "pucks". That's a great start for fitting larger tires, being a 2wd you can lift the front suspension upto 3"max by either doing a simple trosion twist or torsion keys and the rear by either an add a leaf or Warrior Products lift shackles. Check out the "Lift Discussion" for all the info you'd need.

 

[BMarion321]

Welcome to the site.

If it has a bodylift on it then it would be a Performance Accessories 3" bodylift and you can tell by looking under the truck at the body mounts and you'll see 3" bodylift "pucks". That's a great start for fitting larger tires, being a 2wd you can lift the front suspension upto 3"max by either doing a simple trosion twist or torsion keys and the rear by either an add a leaf or Warrior Products lift shackles. Check out the "Lift Discussion" for all the info you'd need.

So being a 2wd there is no way I can get a total of a 6" lift? My only problem is I don't know what all of those things are lol and where can I find them? Could I get a 3" body lift kit and 3" spindles put on? Does that make sense? Would my truck be level?

Or could I leave my 2" kit on and add another 3in lift and then bigger tires to make 6" ?

 

[BMarion321]

Welcome to the site.

If it has a bodylift on it then it would be a Performance Accessories 3" bodylift and you can tell by looking under the truck at the body mounts and you'll see 3" bodylift "pucks". That's a great start for fitting larger tires, being a 2wd you can lift the front suspension upto 3"max by either doing a simple trosion twist or torsion keys and the rear by either an add a leaf or Warrior Products lift shackles. Check out the "Lift Discussion" for all the info you'd need.

What's the bets place to buy the things you told me

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Being that your Trac is 2wd you can lift the frontend alittle higher then a 4wd Trac because you don't have to worry about the stress on the front CV Axle shaft (you don't have them), you will have to think about stress on the ball joints.

The do make 3" lift spindles for the Ford Ranger which will work on our trucks because the Explorer, Explorer Sport and the Sport Trac are all Ranger Based Vehicles which means they share mostly the same suspension and other parts.

The downside to doing the spindle lift is that you have to run the smaller Ranger brakes (with larger wheels and tires you won't have as much braking power). Right now with the 3" bodylift that you have on your Trac (they only make a 3" bodylift for our Trac's) you can clear the 265/75/16's with a little trimming on the cladding and wheelwells.

If all you want to do is level out your Trac then a simple Torsion Twist of 3" will give you the look that you want.

What are your plans for the truck? Just lifted look? Extra height, bigger tires for muddin' (not much in the way of trailin' in Florida, mostly muddin')?

There are alot of members from here down in Florida that would be more then hapy to help you work on your rig and go wheelin', hang out. I'm up in hell hole Pittsburgh (wish I still lived out west) or I would help you out in person.

Tellico is where I bought my lift shackles from but I would suggest you go with an Add a leaf setup (cheaper and easier to do and you can get this off ebay) OffTrac is the member that you would want to ask about part numbers and where he ordered his from.

As for the frontend you can crank your torsion bar bolts up (tighten them) to acheive the lift you want for the front (Zabteck Technologies) is where you can order longer torsion bar bolts if you need them, tell Todd Z that Jerry Gerner referred you. He runs mysporttrac.com and Zabteck.com. The only cost to lift the frontend this way is a frontend alignment and the cost of longer bolts if needed).

Hopefully this helps out some. It's alot easier then it sounds to lift these trucks until you get into doing Solid Axle Swaps like STrunner, Chad, TxPlates and some others have done and I'm in the process of starting once I get the rest of the parts I need or when I blow up the trans/ motor or rearend wheelin'. LOL

 

[BMarion321]

Being that your Trac is 2wd you can lift the frontend alittle higher then a 4wd Trac because you don't have to worry about the stress on the front CV Axle shaft (you don't have them), you will have to think about stress on the ball joints.

The do make 3" lift spindles for the Ford Ranger which will work on our trucks because the Explorer, Explorer Sport and the Sport Trac are all Ranger Based Vehicles which means they share mostly the same suspension and other parts.

The downside to doing the spindle lift is that you have to run the smaller Ranger brakes (with larger wheels and tires you won't have as much braking power). Right now with the 3" bodylift that you have on your Trac (they only make a 3" bodylift for our Trac's) you can clear the 265/75/16's with a little trimming on the cladding and wheelwells.

If all you want to do is level out your Trac then a simple Torsion Twist of 3" will give you the look that you want.

What are your plans for the truck? Just lifted look? Extra height, bigger tires for muddin' (not much in the way of trailin' in Florida, mostly muddin')?

There are alot of members from here down in Florida that would be more then hapy to help you work on your rig and go wheelin', hang out. I'm up in hell hole Pittsburgh (wish I still lived out west) or I would help you out in person.

Tellico is where I bought my lift shackles from but I would suggest you go with an Add a leaf setup (cheaper and easier to do and you can get this off ebay) OffTrac is the member that you would want to ask about part numbers and where he ordered his from.

As for the frontend you can crank your torsion bar bolts up (tighten them) to acheive the lift you want for the front (Zabteck Technologies) is where you can order longer torsion bar bolts if you need them, tell Todd Z that Jerry Gerner referred you. He runs mysporttrac.com and Zabteck.com. The only cost to lift the frontend this way is a frontend alignment and the cost of longer bolts if needed).

Hopefully this helps out some. It's alot easier then it sounds to lift these trucks until you get into doing Solid Axle Swaps like STrunner, Chad, TxPlates and some others have done and I'm in the process of starting once I get the rest of the parts I need or when I blow up the trans/ motor or rearend wheelin'. LOL

Thank you so much. This all really does help so much! My plans for my truck is to make it look exactly like this one haha

But if I can't do that then as close to that as possible. I don't go muddying or anything like that I just want this for looks lol I was hoping the bigger tires would give it a higher look but now that I'm buying bigger tires I want my truck taller

I'll try to find someone to do the torsion twist for me and see what I need. And the shackles ill try and find as well.

 

[BMarion321]

Being that your Trac is 2wd you can lift the frontend alittle higher then a 4wd Trac because you don't have to worry about the stress on the front CV Axle shaft (you don't have them), you will have to think about stress on the ball joints.

The do make 3" lift spindles for the Ford Ranger which will work on our trucks because the Explorer, Explorer Sport and the Sport Trac are all Ranger Based Vehicles which means they share mostly the same suspension and other parts.

The downside to doing the spindle lift is that you have to run the smaller Ranger brakes (with larger wheels and tires you won't have as much braking power). Right now with the 3" bodylift that you have on your Trac (they only make a 3" bodylift for our Trac's) you can clear the 265/75/16's with a little trimming on the cladding and wheelwells.

If all you want to do is level out your Trac then a simple Torsion Twist of 3" will give you the look that you want.

What are your plans for the truck? Just lifted look? Extra height, bigger tires for muddin' (not much in the way of trailin' in Florida, mostly muddin')?

There are alot of members from here down in Florida that would be more then hapy to help you work on your rig and go wheelin', hang out. I'm up in hell hole Pittsburgh (wish I still lived out west) or I would help you out in person.

Tellico is where I bought my lift shackles from but I would suggest you go with an Add a leaf setup (cheaper and easier to do and you can get this off ebay) OffTrac is the member that you would want to ask about part numbers and where he ordered his from.

As for the frontend you can crank your torsion bar bolts up (tighten them) to acheive the lift you want for the front (Zabteck Technologies) is where you can order longer torsion bar bolts if you need them, tell Todd Z that Jerry Gerner referred you. He runs mysporttrac.com and Zabteck.com. The only cost to lift the frontend this way is a frontend alignment and the cost of longer bolts if needed).

Hopefully this helps out some. It's alot easier then it sounds to lift these trucks until you get into doing Solid Axle Swaps like STrunner, Chad, TxPlates and some others have done and I'm in the process of starting once I get the rest of the parts I need or when I blow up the trans/ motor or rearend wheelin'. LOL

Also whenever I look inside where my tire is I see a long blue metal tube looking thing. Is that part of my lift or my truck?

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Can you post pictures of your Trac so we can see how much and what kind of lift it has? Pictures of the blue metal tube, body mounts and the suspension (front and rear). This will help determine what you have and what else you'll need to acheive that look.

 

[BMarion321]

Can you post pictures of your Trac so we can see how much and what kind of lift it has? Pictures of the blue metal tube, body mounts and the suspension (front and rear). This will help determine what you have and what else you'll need to acheive that look.

Yes I'll take some pictures today!!

 

[MidnightRebel07]

I believe the Trac you have pictured above has a SOA (spring over axle) in the rear which gives you 6.5" suspension lift in the rear and it has 3"lift spindles with a torsion twist along with them. I have to find the other pictures of his Trac to make sure it was 2wd, I believe it was though.

 

[OffTrac]

That was Chad's truck.

 

[swshawaii]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=343646

 

[MidnightRebel07]

That was Chad's truck.

That wasn't Chad's Trac, he had different custom wheels, the one posted was 2wd IIRC.

 

[BMarion321]

I'm gonna try and do a 2" TT myself what do I use and how do I know when I've hit 2" lol??

 

[MidnightRebel07]

I can't remember the members username but this is another picture of his Trac. If you look under the frontend you can see the rotors clearly and no front differential.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

BMarion, there are plenty of how-to threads and the torsion twist project. Here's links to a couple of them...

Lono made a great how-to... http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329062

Some more...http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=196965

http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/projects.asp?TYPE=Ride%20and%20Handling&PageHeader=Member%20Projects

 

[01Strac]

that white st has 3" spindles,3" body and 2" shckels with 35x12.50

 

[BMarion321]

Thank you! You've all been a great help! I didn't get to take any pics of my ST today but definitely tomorrow!!