How to: 3rd Gen BODY LIFT. Install.

[Ronin8002]

JSHaag I guess you cut the 3" body lift spacers in half? What other modifications did you make to the brackets, steering extension, etc to make it work?

 

[stsmoker]

Justtt got finished doin my body lift all on my own. it can be done haha just takes a few days haha. Everything went pretty smoothly...got it all back together and test drove it but the steering seems very tight now. is this normal? any thing i can do about it?

 

[thepotroast]

Justtt got finished doin my body lift all on my own. it can be done haha just takes a few days haha. Everything went pretty smoothly...got it all back together and test drove it but the steering seems very tight now. is this normal? any thing i can do about it?

Did you correctly hollow out the steering shaft extender? If it is not done with enough clearance, it will bind while turning making it very stiff.

 

[stsmoker]

Did you correctly hollow out the steering shaft extender? If it is not done with enough clearance, it will bind while turning making it very stiff.

I Hollowed out the sides of the steering extension. It was a very snug fit but i got it and the bolt lined up. The steering isn't unbearable, definitely could deal with it but i just want to make sure nothing is going to break. It almost feels as if my power steering is out?

 

[thepotroast]

I Hollowed out the sides of the steering extension. It was a very snug fit but i got it and the bolt lined up. The steering isn't unbearable, definitely could deal with it but i just want to make sure nothing is going to break. It almost feels as if my power steering is out?

My steering was stiff after I put mine on when it was snug...so I took it off, hollowed it out more, and it freed it up tremendously. The problem is that if the steering extension is not hollowed out evenly it will bind on the sides, so when you turn, the shaft binds. You can test this theory by loosening the nut/bolt on the steering shaft that connect to the extension, this should provide for play. Drive it up the street and back (don't loosen it so that it pops off!). If the steering is now free and feels normal, your problem is that the steering extension needs to be hollowed out more evenly on the sides. You don't need to crank down that nut/bolt on the extension, there is a nylon lock nut included with the kit for that reason. I'm thinking either the extension is just not hollowed out evenly or enough, or the nut/bolt is just too tight.

 

[stsmoker]

i'll def have to pop the steering extension off and file it down a little more then leave the bolt slightly loose when i go to put it back on. How it is now though...is it hurting anything, or is it more just an annoying thing you can deal with if you have to? and I appreciate the advice man!!!!!

 

[stsmoker]

So I unbolted the extension filed it down a little more. Def an improvement! still not like it was stock but its not stock anymore . Unfortunately my clock spring ended up breaking while the steering was disconnected due to my nephew spinning the wheel. so now i have to fork out some money to fix the clock spring but all in all...pretty easy do-it-yourself project. Takes sometime but the difficulty level isnt bad at all. So now Im just gunna ride around for a little bit with my airbag light on until i get some more cash flow in to fix the clock spring lol. Still waiting on taking some pictures. if you have a facebook...i have a few pictures of my truck. If you want, look me up.. name's Tyler Smoker, my profile picture is of my explorer

 

[kstrayhorn]

If I do the body lift, instead of modifying the bumper brackets, can I not just put a ranger bumper on instead??

 

[Ronin8002]

So the 2 shortest bolts (140mm) that come in the kit are for the front mounts, then the 2 next longest (160mm) are for the mounts right behind the front seats, then the rest of the mounts each use one of the 8 (180mm) bolts? Is this correct?

Do the 2 really long bolts (200mm) get used?

 

[bigvee20c]

where u get the kit to lift 3rd gen

 

[Ronin8002]

do a google search for PA883 and click on the "shopping" tab at the top.

You can sometimes find good deals on them on ebay.

I bought mine used off someone else.

 

[Ronin8002]

1.5" bodylift installed! I went with this because I didn't like how the exhaust looks all exposed and hanging down with the 3" body lift.

I took the PA 883 kit and used a miter saw to cut the blocks in half. Install is the same as the 3" size except for the following:

-you need to buy some new bolts for this, since the bolts with the kit aren't threaded all the way and will be too long. See this thread for info: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=312012

-Front bumper brackets not used. The only thing you need to remember to do is bend the brackets that hang down from the bumper so that they'll bolt up to the front bumper cover.

-Rear bumper: some trimming on the underside lip of the bumper cover needed to make it fit. Hitch is still within the bumper cover with a little bit of a gap but it's not too bad. I'm going to fill in the space with some hard foam so it adds back some structural support for the bumper cover.

-Lower fan shroud trimmed about 1.5"

-Steering shaft extension not used.

For holding the infamous "pucks" that the body mount bolts go through, I picked up a set of these from harbor freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/locking-oil-filter-wrench-66568.html
It lets you clamp very firmly onto the pucks and keep them from spinning when removing and installing the body bolts. Worked better than a pipe wrench for me, plus it will be a good tool to have on hand later for those tough to remove oil filters.

Thanks for everyone who posted info on this thread, it was a huge help!

 

[caveman302]

having difficulty removing 3rd mount in...any suggestions. tried vice grips..fail!

 

[caveman302]

got it =)

 

[n.gardner]

Ronin 8002,
I like what you did, cutting the 3" in half !
Say i only took one inch off, would i still need new bolts?
And overall how easy of an instalation is it (I have an 02 xls, but i'm sixteen. I have a good amount of knowladge about my X, but still what ya think?)
THANKS!

 

[Ronin8002]

Ronin 8002,
I like what you did, cutting the 3" in half !
Say i only took one inch off, would i still need new bolts?
And overall how easy of an instalation is it (I have an 02 xls, but i'm sixteen. I have a good amount of knowladge about my X, but still what ya think?)
THANKS!

Anything less than 3" and you will need new bolts, or add threads to the ones the come in the kit...there's only threading on the last inch or so, so if the blocks are shorter in height, the bolts stick through too much to tighten down all the way.

See here for more info: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=312012

You're pretty much looking at a weekend project...maybe less if you have some friends helping.

Hardest parts were removing the old bolts out of the factory mounts, as well as un-doing everything to get the bumper covers off. You'll also need to take out your back seats to get the carpet up. All of that takes a while...once that was done putting the blocks in and tightening down the new bolts was easy.

 

[n.gardner]

Cool Thanks,
Yeah ill prob just stick with the 3" than.
Appriciate the Help

 

[750sxi]

i want toput a 3 inch body lift my 2002 xlt (not sport tract). i havent seen any kits just for a 2002 xlt. would a sport track kit work or if not what will work (with as few minor modifications as possible)?

 

[750sxi]

what body lift kit did you use? and what size tires are those?

 

[Ronin8002]

Start at the first post of this thread. It's got all the information you need as well as pics of the install.