nissanboy
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- December 24, 2003
- Messages
- 1,135
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Winston Salem, NC
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 97 XLT 4.0 4x4
just ordered the front kit from superlift to add on to my existing Torsion twist lift. Now im thinking about running 37's on IFS.
Things i know i need to consider are
1) Ball Joints
2) Wheel Bearings
3) CV strength
I have already deal with my wheel bearing problem by replacing them with f150 units from a 99 F150. This took some minor fabrication and had to rebuild my outer CV joint using half explorer parts and half F150 parts. To do this you need to dremel out the bearing races inside the joint to accept the larger bearings the f150 uses.
For the ball joint issue I have been thinking about uniball setups using heim joints instead of ball joints. I have sourced some 1" Heims from McMaster Carr that will hold up 1200Ft/lbs of torque and have a shear rating of 10000lbs. using these for upp and lower ball joints would greatly increase the durablility of the joints and should one go bad it will be easier to replase due to the simplicity of the joints and cheaper than having a factory ball joint replaced. The heims are only 24.50 each.
Then to address the CV strength i have been toying with the idea of just using complet F150 units and having a splined adapter made to use the f150 CV's with the explorer differential.
Now before everyone starts telling me its a waste of time i want to let everyone know that i know it is. I just dont want to do a Solid Axle. Its the easy way out. I want to do something unique that hasnt been seen yet.
So that being said can anyone help me find some more weak links that will need to be worked out or see any flaws with my current plan.
As of March 2005 money isnt going to be as big an issue as my truck will be the sole sponsored truck of Keenesaw Mtn Accessories and they will be fronting most of the cost.
Things i know i need to consider are
1) Ball Joints
2) Wheel Bearings
3) CV strength
I have already deal with my wheel bearing problem by replacing them with f150 units from a 99 F150. This took some minor fabrication and had to rebuild my outer CV joint using half explorer parts and half F150 parts. To do this you need to dremel out the bearing races inside the joint to accept the larger bearings the f150 uses.
For the ball joint issue I have been thinking about uniball setups using heim joints instead of ball joints. I have sourced some 1" Heims from McMaster Carr that will hold up 1200Ft/lbs of torque and have a shear rating of 10000lbs. using these for upp and lower ball joints would greatly increase the durablility of the joints and should one go bad it will be easier to replase due to the simplicity of the joints and cheaper than having a factory ball joint replaced. The heims are only 24.50 each.
Then to address the CV strength i have been toying with the idea of just using complet F150 units and having a splined adapter made to use the f150 CV's with the explorer differential.
Now before everyone starts telling me its a waste of time i want to let everyone know that i know it is. I just dont want to do a Solid Axle. Its the easy way out. I want to do something unique that hasnt been seen yet.
So that being said can anyone help me find some more weak links that will need to be worked out or see any flaws with my current plan.
As of March 2005 money isnt going to be as big an issue as my truck will be the sole sponsored truck of Keenesaw Mtn Accessories and they will be fronting most of the cost.