Inexpensive/Reliable Lift Kit

[Drewfus04]

I would like to lift my 98 X about 2-3 inches... Just enough to clear a 32x11.5x15 tire on a 15x8 wheel. Please take it easy on me as I have pretty much no idea what I'm talking about with lift kits. I want something reasonable in price... I was at VIP Auto the other day and saw a 3" lift/lowering kit (spacer) and my father told me to stay away from those because they will wear on the springs. Is there a cheap way to get 3" of lift out of my truck that won't wear anything down? Thanks in advance, I'm sorry for asking such a noob question that has probably been asked about 1,000 times.

 

[CodePoet]

Cheapest way to get 3" lift is with a body lift. You'll need to do a search to get all the info but basically you'll have to buy a 3" body lift for a Ford Ranger, and you'll have to fab your own bumper brackets (all this info is on the site just search). Lift/lower blocks will only lower the rear end of your truck since we have our axles located on the top side of the spring. You can lift your truck 2" easily and cheaply by doing a torsion twist (refered to as a TT usually) and add a leafs (AAL's). If you have a 4x4 you can only lift it 2" with the TT, if you go more you'll wear your cv's quicker. I've never heard of a TT damaging the torsion bars by the way. Since you have a 2nd gen you can't use a "spacer" to lift the front end.

I have a 1st gen so i have coils not the torsion bars and am running "spacers" actually f-150 lower spring seats. I've also never heard of these causeing any thing but alignment problems which can be solved with a fairly cheap nut.

Later
cp

 

[Drewfus04]

So if I got a 2" TT and Warrior shackles and AAL's, would that work and how much would I be looking at for a price?

I've noticed, a lot of people have those mods on their lifted x's. (TT/WS/AAL in their sig)

 

[rino351]

Somewhere around $120 give or take a little

 

[Drewfus04]

So if I get a TT and AAL's, I'll be able to get 32x11.5's on my truck?

Btw, could I get a link or a phone number to where I could order these parts?

 

[CodePoet]

TT is free...all you do is crank up the torsion bolts
warrior shackles (WAR 153) can be had from www.desertrat.com for around 50 bucks
you will need an alignment though afterwards.

With that lift you will be able to fit 31" tires with no problem, and 32"s with alittle rub at full lock or under heavy articulation (MAYBE) but could be cured by sometrimming on the inner plastic portion of the front wheel well. Here's a link to a chart of what lift fits what tires: http://explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=67200

TT == torsion twist
AAL == add a leaf
WS == Warrior Shackles

Good luck
cp

 

[Drewfus04]

I think I'm going with the 2" War153 Shackles and I'll do the 2" TT. I think I should be able to fit 32's on there... but if not, i'll just go with 31's... I really want a wide tire to help with cornering.

 

[98 XLT 4x4]

Not to jump off topic but wheres a good place to get AAL's? Im thinking between 2"-3" ones?

XLT

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

Drewfus...if you've got a Limited you've probably got ARC, and i'm pretty sure that lifting the truck would screw up ARC. anybody know for sure?

 

[97xplorerboy]

I know that with ARC if you try and turn the torsion bars up and shackle the back the ARC will be all out of wack, If I was you I would put it on some 22's and get something else for off roading, also info for yout the body lift from a 94 explorer will fit the 95x but again I am pretty sure that it will also mess with the ARC.

 

[Jester1994]

I would like to lift my 98 X about 2-3 inches... Just enough to clear a 32x11.5x15 tire on a 15x8 wheel. Please take it easy on me as I have pretty much no idea what I'm talking about with lift kits. I want something reasonable in price... I was at VIP Auto the other day and saw a 3" lift/lowering kit (spacer) and my father told me to stay away from those because they will wear on the springs. Is there a cheap way to get 3" of lift out of my truck that won't wear anything down? Thanks in advance, I'm sorry for asking such a noob question that has probably been asked about 1,000 times.

Take a look at my link and pics of my Explorer before and after a TT and Shackles plus add a leaf, then with 31 inch tires on 15 inch stock rims. Keep in mind that before the lift components, there was barely any gap between the tires and top of the wheel well on this eddie bauer.

Stock tires: (235's) TT up front done, nothing in back:
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~jmm8/rigs/images/exptt_jpg.jpg

Rear wheel well after add a leaf and shackles witth 235's:
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~jmm8/rigs/images/tirebefore_jpg.jpg

Same but with 31's:
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~jmm8/rigs/images/tireafter_jpg.jpg

After lift, before tires:
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~jmm8/rigs/images/exp971_jpg.jpg

After lift, 31's:
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~jmm8/rigs/images/exp973_jpg.jpg

There is room for 32's, but I didn't want to sacrifice more speed/fuel economy, etc.

 

[ksaldibar]

warrior's website says the shackles (WAR153) only give 1.25" of lift. i thought they were supposed to give between 1.5-2"

-ken

 

[DeRocha]

warrior's website says the shackles (WAR153) only give 1.25" of lift. i thought they were supposed to give between 1.5-2"

-ken

They are giving a min value as each vehicle will vary slightly.

 

[toddious]

so warrior shackles are really only $50? how come i have heard people say that were like $200+? or that they cost more than doing AAL? how much does it cost for the AAL on top of that then? thanks in advance, todd.

 

[Bronco638]

I've only been able to find WAR153s in the $65 range. The AAL usually runs $125 or so (last time I checked, which was a while ago). IMO, the shackles are a mistake. They add too much instability to an already high center of gravity vehicle.

Drew, I'm putting 32s on my truck, I have a 1.75" TT, F150 leaf springs and a 2" BL. If you have running boards, you may still have to trim them (I took mine off) and trim the plastic air dam (below the front bumper) near the leading edge of the front tire.

Good luck - Dave.