Brian Ward
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- January 18, 2001
- Messages
- 120
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- City, State
- Vickery, Ohio
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 Eddie Bauer
O.K. guys. I know this has been a long time coming. I was supposed to post this last week. This is a detailed account of how I lifted my 1998 Eddie Bauer Explorer with a two inch body lift.
I used the Performace Accessories 2" body lift designed for use on the '90-'94 Explorers. In my experience, as far as I'm concerned, if they were to include metric nuts for all ten of the body bolts in this kit, it could be a complete kit for the new Explorer, except for the bumper brackets which will have to be modified separately.
Here's how it went:
First things first--READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! Even though this kit is for the pre-'95 Explorer, most everything is done in the same order.
Disconnect the battery--positive cable first, followed by the ground. Tie them out of the way, if necessary, to keep them from touching the terminals. The next thing I did was turn my attention to the bumpers, which have to come off.
While underneath the front of the vehicle, disconnect the electrical connectors that plug into the fog lights (if equipped). Move them out of the way. There are two different ways to remove the front bumper. That is to say, there are two different sets of bolts that you can remove to take it off. I opted to remove the bolts that come in from the front and face toward the rear. They have nuts on the back side. A pair on each side of the frame. Using an impact gun with a foot long extension and the appropriate size socket with an universal joint, have a buddy support the bumper from up top as you remove the nuts. Once you remove the four nuts, the bumper slides directly forward and is easily removed. Set it aside. You won't need it again for a while. Now turn your attention to the rear bumper.
The rear bumper has the same option for removing it two different ways. There are two bolts that come in from the sides, and two that come in from the rear. Removing either sets of these bolts from each side will allow you to remove the bumper. I removed the bolts from the sides and the rear bumper drops down and pulls back. Set is aside as well.
Back under the hood, you will have to remove the two upper bolts that retain the fan shroud to the core support. There is one on each side of the shroud. Remove these bolts and pull up on the fan shroud to disengage it from the lower u-shaped mounts. Then lay the shroud on the fan and let it hang there. We will deal with dropping the fan shroud later.
From here, it's time to access the body mount bolts. Remove any necessary trim in order to pull the carpet back to be able to get at the body mount bolts. There are a total of ten bolts--two under the core support on the front end and the other eight are in the cab (two under the carpet in front of the front seats, two in front of the rear seats, two directly behind the rear seats, and two at the very rear of the vehicle, just inside the hatch). Remember this is dealing with a four door. Once you've pulled the carpet back and the rubber plugs out covering the bolts (where applicable), use an impact gun with the appropriate length extension and loosen all of the driver's side body bolts. Do NOT remove them. Leave them in a few threads. Then, turn to the passenger side and REMOVE all of the bolts, noting the different lengths in each hole. The problem with the bolts that come in the kit is that they are only threaded two inches up from the ends, whereas the factory bolts are threaded all the way up. This presents a problem once the body blocks are in place, because once you attempt to install the new bolts, you run out of threads before the bolts are tight. The solution is to purchase metric nuts for the bolts provided in the kit. Save for later. Using a half inch drill with a sharp half inch drill bit, drill down through the body bolt holes to remove the threads in the threaded bushings. This will allow the new bolts to drop down through the holes once the body blocks are in place. Now it's time to lift the body. You will need a friend to help you with this part.
I used a floor jack and a few pieces of wood seated firmly, so they don't pop out. Position the floor jack under the passenger side of the vehicle near the center of the rear door. Have your friend raise the jack while you are underneath situating the jack and wood under the body. Be certain to lift on a reinforced portion of the body. Have your friend continue to raise the body SLOOOOOWLY while you watch for anything that may be connected between the body and the frame. I can tell you that on my vehicle the only thing I had to worry about that was connected was a ground strap that had plenty of length. I didn't have to remove or modify it. Continue to have him lift while you attempt to place a body block between the frame and the body. Once you get one in, stop lifting. Place all body blocks where they belong. Once this is done, take your new body bolts and place the factory oval shaped washers on them, where applicable. Drop them down through the holes ensuring that they pass through the CENTER hole of the body lift blocks, and down through the drilled out body bushings. After all bolts are in place, slowly lower the body back down. Back under the vehicle, you will notice the body bolts extend below the bottom of the bushing approximately one inch. Using the metric nuts you purchased and the washers that came in the kit, install one washer and one nut on each bolt, finger tight only. It would be beneficial to you to utilize some kind of anti-seize compound when you install these, just in case you ever need to take them back out. On the driver's side, remove the remaining eight body bolts. Drill out the body bushings on this side the same as you did on the other side. Notice the body is at a slight angle due to the passenger side being lifted--it's not a problem. You can still drill without worrying you'll break a bit. You are now ready to raise this side, but be aware of a few things. The parking brake cable runs down through the firewall just below the steering column and is attached to the firewall by a retaining clip and a 7 mm bolt. Remove the bolt and allow the cable to hang free, otherwise it will stretch before you raise the body completely. Watch out for your transmission shift cable and any of the wires going to the transmission or the transfer case. Mine had plenty of slack. The parking brake cable was the only thing I had to deal with. I'm sure most of you are wondering about the steering linkage. There's more than enough length that can slide out on its own when you are raising the body. I did not have to use the linkage extension that came in the kit. Raise the vehicle in the same manner as the passenger side, watching for wires, etc. Once the body blocks are in place, drop the bolts into the correct holes and put the nut and washer on, then lower it back down. After it's down, have a friend hold a wrench on the metric nut while you use an impact gun to tighten the body bolts from the top. Reinstall the body bolt rubber covers in the floor and put the carpet and trim pieces back in place. That's all there is to lifting the body itself.
Under the hood, install the kit drop brackets for the fan shroud. This relocates the upper bolts two inches below where they used to be. Install a third L-shaped bracket from the kit on the lower center portion of the fan shroud. A little cutting on the shroud may be necessary on the passenger side due to the location of the upper radiator hose. The key here is to position the shroud so it doesn't interfere with the fan or any pulleys. Once that's done the last order of business is to attend to the bumpers. The problem with putting the bumpers back on is that the brackets that came in the kit will take extensive modification in order to work. In fact, the instructions with the two inch kit say it is not necessary to raise the bumpers, although we all know better. I put mine back on without lift brackets and the gap between the body and the bumpers look like crap. Given the many different ways there are to modify the brackets, I will not go into detail as to how to do it. You should be able to look at the brackets and figure out how you need to modify them yourself. Don't forget to reconnect your fog light wires. Reconnect the battery and you should be all set. Start the vehicle and turn the steering wheel lock to lock both directions to ensure you don't have any steering bind problems (I didn't have any). From here, it's just a matter of enjoying your body lift. Don't forget to take pictures and post them. We'd all love to see what it looks like.
I know this does not sound like a lot of work, or maybe it does, but the reality is this is an easy job. I recommend that anybody that is talented enough to spin a wrench to try this yourself. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have along the way. Good luck and I hope this information proves useful to you. Thanks.
Brian
I used the Performace Accessories 2" body lift designed for use on the '90-'94 Explorers. In my experience, as far as I'm concerned, if they were to include metric nuts for all ten of the body bolts in this kit, it could be a complete kit for the new Explorer, except for the bumper brackets which will have to be modified separately.
Here's how it went:
First things first--READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! Even though this kit is for the pre-'95 Explorer, most everything is done in the same order.
Disconnect the battery--positive cable first, followed by the ground. Tie them out of the way, if necessary, to keep them from touching the terminals. The next thing I did was turn my attention to the bumpers, which have to come off.
While underneath the front of the vehicle, disconnect the electrical connectors that plug into the fog lights (if equipped). Move them out of the way. There are two different ways to remove the front bumper. That is to say, there are two different sets of bolts that you can remove to take it off. I opted to remove the bolts that come in from the front and face toward the rear. They have nuts on the back side. A pair on each side of the frame. Using an impact gun with a foot long extension and the appropriate size socket with an universal joint, have a buddy support the bumper from up top as you remove the nuts. Once you remove the four nuts, the bumper slides directly forward and is easily removed. Set it aside. You won't need it again for a while. Now turn your attention to the rear bumper.
The rear bumper has the same option for removing it two different ways. There are two bolts that come in from the sides, and two that come in from the rear. Removing either sets of these bolts from each side will allow you to remove the bumper. I removed the bolts from the sides and the rear bumper drops down and pulls back. Set is aside as well.
Back under the hood, you will have to remove the two upper bolts that retain the fan shroud to the core support. There is one on each side of the shroud. Remove these bolts and pull up on the fan shroud to disengage it from the lower u-shaped mounts. Then lay the shroud on the fan and let it hang there. We will deal with dropping the fan shroud later.
From here, it's time to access the body mount bolts. Remove any necessary trim in order to pull the carpet back to be able to get at the body mount bolts. There are a total of ten bolts--two under the core support on the front end and the other eight are in the cab (two under the carpet in front of the front seats, two in front of the rear seats, two directly behind the rear seats, and two at the very rear of the vehicle, just inside the hatch). Remember this is dealing with a four door. Once you've pulled the carpet back and the rubber plugs out covering the bolts (where applicable), use an impact gun with the appropriate length extension and loosen all of the driver's side body bolts. Do NOT remove them. Leave them in a few threads. Then, turn to the passenger side and REMOVE all of the bolts, noting the different lengths in each hole. The problem with the bolts that come in the kit is that they are only threaded two inches up from the ends, whereas the factory bolts are threaded all the way up. This presents a problem once the body blocks are in place, because once you attempt to install the new bolts, you run out of threads before the bolts are tight. The solution is to purchase metric nuts for the bolts provided in the kit. Save for later. Using a half inch drill with a sharp half inch drill bit, drill down through the body bolt holes to remove the threads in the threaded bushings. This will allow the new bolts to drop down through the holes once the body blocks are in place. Now it's time to lift the body. You will need a friend to help you with this part.
I used a floor jack and a few pieces of wood seated firmly, so they don't pop out. Position the floor jack under the passenger side of the vehicle near the center of the rear door. Have your friend raise the jack while you are underneath situating the jack and wood under the body. Be certain to lift on a reinforced portion of the body. Have your friend continue to raise the body SLOOOOOWLY while you watch for anything that may be connected between the body and the frame. I can tell you that on my vehicle the only thing I had to worry about that was connected was a ground strap that had plenty of length. I didn't have to remove or modify it. Continue to have him lift while you attempt to place a body block between the frame and the body. Once you get one in, stop lifting. Place all body blocks where they belong. Once this is done, take your new body bolts and place the factory oval shaped washers on them, where applicable. Drop them down through the holes ensuring that they pass through the CENTER hole of the body lift blocks, and down through the drilled out body bushings. After all bolts are in place, slowly lower the body back down. Back under the vehicle, you will notice the body bolts extend below the bottom of the bushing approximately one inch. Using the metric nuts you purchased and the washers that came in the kit, install one washer and one nut on each bolt, finger tight only. It would be beneficial to you to utilize some kind of anti-seize compound when you install these, just in case you ever need to take them back out. On the driver's side, remove the remaining eight body bolts. Drill out the body bushings on this side the same as you did on the other side. Notice the body is at a slight angle due to the passenger side being lifted--it's not a problem. You can still drill without worrying you'll break a bit. You are now ready to raise this side, but be aware of a few things. The parking brake cable runs down through the firewall just below the steering column and is attached to the firewall by a retaining clip and a 7 mm bolt. Remove the bolt and allow the cable to hang free, otherwise it will stretch before you raise the body completely. Watch out for your transmission shift cable and any of the wires going to the transmission or the transfer case. Mine had plenty of slack. The parking brake cable was the only thing I had to deal with. I'm sure most of you are wondering about the steering linkage. There's more than enough length that can slide out on its own when you are raising the body. I did not have to use the linkage extension that came in the kit. Raise the vehicle in the same manner as the passenger side, watching for wires, etc. Once the body blocks are in place, drop the bolts into the correct holes and put the nut and washer on, then lower it back down. After it's down, have a friend hold a wrench on the metric nut while you use an impact gun to tighten the body bolts from the top. Reinstall the body bolt rubber covers in the floor and put the carpet and trim pieces back in place. That's all there is to lifting the body itself.
Under the hood, install the kit drop brackets for the fan shroud. This relocates the upper bolts two inches below where they used to be. Install a third L-shaped bracket from the kit on the lower center portion of the fan shroud. A little cutting on the shroud may be necessary on the passenger side due to the location of the upper radiator hose. The key here is to position the shroud so it doesn't interfere with the fan or any pulleys. Once that's done the last order of business is to attend to the bumpers. The problem with putting the bumpers back on is that the brackets that came in the kit will take extensive modification in order to work. In fact, the instructions with the two inch kit say it is not necessary to raise the bumpers, although we all know better. I put mine back on without lift brackets and the gap between the body and the bumpers look like crap. Given the many different ways there are to modify the brackets, I will not go into detail as to how to do it. You should be able to look at the brackets and figure out how you need to modify them yourself. Don't forget to reconnect your fog light wires. Reconnect the battery and you should be all set. Start the vehicle and turn the steering wheel lock to lock both directions to ensure you don't have any steering bind problems (I didn't have any). From here, it's just a matter of enjoying your body lift. Don't forget to take pictures and post them. We'd all love to see what it looks like.
I know this does not sound like a lot of work, or maybe it does, but the reality is this is an easy job. I recommend that anybody that is talented enough to spin a wrench to try this yourself. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have along the way. Good luck and I hope this information proves useful to you. Thanks.
Brian
