Good lord, these have been around for 20 years and the basic and safe ways of lifting them have been around since shortly after they came out. Many vehicles run with the axle over the springs and these can be made to do so relatively easy and safely. I don't see most folks wanting that much lift though.
Not knocking on the idea. I am just making sure that the OP has a clue about throwing large, off-road tires can end up extremely expensive. If it is a daily driver, understanding that it may need to be relegated to a part-time or off road only vehicle. I have never tried to shove 35" tires on a light duty, daily driven SUV. I removed 33" tires from a full-size truck as they are too big and slosh around in the dips in the roadway. Safety Is always the first question. Can it be done is not the question. As I was told may times while I was growing up "It's only metal". Here is a link to read as it is not my opinion that matters:
Knowledge Before Altitude
www.4wheelparts.com
If he is still wanting to do it after the caution; then, specifically pointed thoughts can assist.
My first would be to reccomend that his first step is not a suspension lift. I would say to plan a body lift. A body lift can make some components easier to get to and can be done with relative safety. Possibly, enough room for headers? Possibly, new, longer brake lines and rerouting of front wheel speed sensor wires. Rerouting of wiring from under driver's seat to frame to gain length. Likely, it will require some assistance; but, it will have minimal negative effect on drivability. It will, also, increase the clearance for the wheel wells without any body modification. Any suspension mod affects a vehicle's handling. And, yes, this would effect the vehicle roll cg. An additional note is the reminder that it has an independent front suspension that is not ideal for mods (cradle is welded into frame). The body lift would reduce the amount of suspension lift required for the 35" tires.
Ideally, you split the difference between a body lift and suspension.
Suspension: Yes, the "axle flip" is capable of raising the rear of the vehicle. But, a special purpose spring set is safer than trying to reuse old, worn springs and can be installed without welding or otherwise messing around with the spring perches. Note: "flipping an axle" is bad English. It is not what it implies. What is it? You dismount the rear axle. You weld new spring perches on the opposite side of the axle tube (fractions of a degree of axle housing rotation matter) and remove the old perches. If you flipped the axle, it would literally be upside down and shortly it would leak out all over the place and the gears, without proper lubrication, would quickly fail. The cost of having a shop do this will almost always cost more than the springs. It is usually done when there is no easier, cheaper method and/or it is needed to achieve the desired lift.
I do not reccomend this to anyone who intends to do this on their own with no prior experience. It is not about how hard to do as much as how likely it is to be done right. A good shop will always do this in a fixture. The fixture allows the user to accurately place and weld the perches to align the axle side to side as well as in rotation to align the hog head for proper driveline alignment. The fixture is not cheap; but, the results are worth every cent.
Shocks need to be replaced with suitable length and heavier duty shocks. Heavier tires require more effort to control.
I would reccomend looking into a watts linkage for the rear to help with the lower spring stability. The best place for this is on top of the hog head. This prevents it from being a ground clearance issue and applies the suspension stresses in the most even manner. A rear mounted one has some of the clearance issues like a panhard bar.
What are the differences between a Panhard Bar and a Watt's Link? We go in depth with both and explain the different behaviors between the two setups.
www.lsxmag.com
Anti-roll bars and links need to be looked at to insure that the bars remain parallel to the ground for proper performance.
A regear is probably mandatory. A lot of the guys that mod these are using manual transmissions and upgrade to full-size transfer cases. Transfer case torque capacity? The factory unit is known to fail under normal conditions. Speedometer fix? The input is required for automatic transmissions and a bunch of other things to function. The factory one is an input sensor in the rear axle that, on the Explorer, is converted in 4WABS (ABS module).
A in-depth brake mod is needed as the larger tires provide more torque on the brakes and at a minimum will reduce brake life.
The larger diameter would, also, make it necessary to check the limits on the light-duty, 5 lug, pattern. (I learned, $1k to get fixed, that a 6-lug, 5200lb Dexter trailer axle will shear the lugs off at 45mph courtesy of Louisiana/I-10/June 2018.)
Need to add, at a minimum, an additional inch of wheel well clearance for every additional 2 inches of wheel diameter for wheel articulation. Fender flare mod if wheels are not fully under fenders. 35" tires would be approximately 6.12" bigger in diameter. This would be a need for at least 3" in additional clearance around the tires front and rear (mostly up and down). The front tires would be limited in their travel in a turn and are pretty much guaranteed to scrub on something. ?? Trial and error to find out how much and where.
Suggest that the OP or anyone planning to mod their vehicle copy this thread and look around and find every variable that they need to account for in accomplishing. It would be really nice for them to post the list and their solutions for the problems in an organized manner. Because, then we all can learn.
photos show part of the trimmed bumper. Eventually I’d like a brush guard.
I get confused easily when I’m going into unfamiliar grounds (always had lifted vehicles but put on prior to myself owning, never put one on/ordered one myself)... didn’t mean to jack your post. I saw we had dang near the same issue same vehicle. Good luck on your search!
