Kirby N's Jo: Stage 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Kirby N's Jo: Stage 2

STAGE 1
As of Now I have a James Duff 3" V.R. Coil Lift, A Kirby Built Bumper, a Highlift Rack on the Stock roof rack. I also have Mile Marker Hubs and a K&N.

STAGE 2

Interior:
I am finishing up a 10" deep Box that creates a False Floor behind my rear seat. It is carpeted and locked. It holds my spare tire, Chains, Staps and Tool Box. The best part is, It enables me to slide another piece on the front and over the folded rear seats and fit a queen size air matress in a sport.

Exterior:
My Navajo is a foresty green. I like the color, but it must not have very much pigment because it is cracking in a few spots and even rusting in between the windshield and the sunroof. To make matters worse, I have some body damage in the front passenger fender that has cause the paint to chip off.
Paint sucks, Herculiner Rules. I plan to sand these areas and Herc em. I might Two tone it, I dont know. The Herculiner is purchased and ready to Go.

Suspension:
I have purchased everything and made plans to free up some Flex in my truck. I know everybody says theat IFS doesn't work good in the rocks (the wheeling I like) and I should go solid, but I want reliability also. Besides my last truck was an S10 blazer and it scored a 900 on the RTI ramp. So I've got a better platform with the I beams. The Jo should work 10 times better.

What I have planned:
SS 4"+ brake lines (In the mail)
f150 coil spacers (Already extracted from a donor)
Duff Extended Radius Arms (Ready to Go thanks 93XLT105tr)
86 the rear Sway bar
86 the rear Addleaf
86 the rear Shackels
Spring Over in the rear (purchased warrior Spring plates, warming up the MIG)
Mount the shocks in the sway bar top hole using the studs for the lower shock mount in the stock radius arms.

I have measured and planned and measured. I am only going to be in my dads Garage for a couple days, so I gotta be prepared. This will take place on July 18, 19 and 20th in Colorado Springs. I think it will work well and should be level despite popular belife. :p i had about an inch of butt sag when it was stock. It should flex well now. Also despite popular belife I am putting on 33x10.50 All Terrain BFGs, the better fit because they are already purchased! If not Ill kill the fenders with a saws all.

i relize that I am supposed to have pictures, and I will, my dad has a digicam. Can I email them to some one and have them post them, because I tried it a few weeks ago and either I am retarded or tat img button don't make sense!

STAGE 3
hopefully Ill be happy with stage 2 for a while;)
 



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Good luck! The radius arms will take you longer then the spring over in the rear. The Duff arms are a tight fit and it sounds like you are planning to "bypass" the dual shock hoop, good call it's a PITA.

We installed my Skyjacker arms in about 10 hours spread over two days. This is in addition to my 3"Duff lift. I have since then also added the F-150 spring seats.

Everyone agreed that the Skyjacker arms fit "easier" then the Duff and Superlift arms. The Skyjackers are bent like the factory arms so you cant hit the tires and the shcok mount uses the factory shcok location up front. I believe the Skyjacker arms or some custom made arms are the only way to go. This is why I didnt use the Duff arms, even though they are adjustable.

The Skyjacker tranny mount and radius arm drop brackets are also very stout and a perfect fit (minor frame modifications were required on my BII but they are on there now and have been "tested")

We are up in Littleton if you need some help or have questions.

You may find getting it aligned is not as easy as you think. With the Duff 3" drop brackets for the torshion beams and the 3" coils with the F-150 seats we're talking almost 5" of lift with only 3" drop brackets.

I finally found a place that would do it, other shops told me nobody makes a shim that large. BS - There is a company that makes a 2.75 degree shim for the D-35, it will align, I have the same setup on my truck.

I'm not exactly clear how you plan to do your shocks up front, but it sure sounds interesting!

Make sure you get some pics.........

Did you get the Superlift 4" rubber brake lines?
Do you plan to use a drop pitman arm for the steering? with that much lift you will need it.......I would also like to see your new "box" in the back, that sounds like a great idea for Explorer owners (BII's have gas tanks there)
 






Thanks man. I talked to James Duff, (the guys name was james!) and they said with all the lift I am running it should take care of the shock problem. If it doesn't I think it will be easiest to change the lower mount. I ran Dual Hoops and they sucked. I have got a place that aligned it before, should work or I will hate life. I am only going to be in town a week, back from college, so we are on a tight schedule. I would hate to drive it back on brand new BFGs misaligned! What is the deal with the arms taking forever? It doesn't sound all that Complicated. I have had that front end down to nothing a few times, might be doing it again. Ill keep in touch if it won't align. Like I said I only got a week. I am running either Holy Cross or Jenny Creek Next weekend too with my Brothers. Do you know anything about the length on Jenny Creek or if theres an area to camp?
Thanks
Pics up soon
 






Oh , you are welcome to come down on thursday. Me and my friends would love to meet you. We are going to be in my dad's garage all night, and probably all day friday. I can E-mail you some directions. Two tone is comming down to pic up some parts.
And , you cant beat the price I got on my Radius Arms;)
 






Never been up Jenny Creek.

the arms take so long just because with aftermarket stuff like this there is always something that doesnt line up. We have done a the Superlifts, the Duff's (including the dual hoop, what a joke, and now the Skyjackers. The Skyjackers just fit perfect!

Getting the radius arm "ears" over the torshion beam axle itself is a PITA because you have to line up the hole for the big spring perch bolt perfectly. It's not hard, just time consuming.

Oh adn the holes on the frame never match up to the drop brackets they send you, I ended up swiss cheesing my frame on one side to get the Skyjacker drop bracket on, I think my frame was slightly "twisted" previsouly. We also had to use a come-a-long to stretch the frameout enough to put in the skyjacker crossbar for the trannymount. Again no big deal, just time consuming.

And after all that we still agreed that the Skyjacker arms go on easier then the other brands.

The Duff arms are nice, but it;s just like anything else, somebody will always improve on the design....

The big problem is these guys make a kit, test fit it on a Ranger, and then call it a BII/Explorer/Ranger/navajo kit not realizing that there are sublte differences between all those trucks....

Did you get the Duff tranny X member with those arms?

Oh and it will align, you just have to find a good shop. Be prepared they may have to order the shims, they are not something most alignment shops stock....
 






Are you the one having the BBQ then?

Maybe I can talk Rick and Joe dietz into coming as well....send me some directions and I will come down...

I know Co Springs pretty well, I attended the Broadmoore boarding school back in 93....

jamiefortune@lerchbates.com
 






Mmmm, that sounds sweet man, can't wait to see it in a couple days!!
 






Two Tone
Me too.
I havent sleept for like a week!!

410 Fortune
No I am not having the bbq. I think it is Heath or something. Bring them if you want. I might Get my mom to make some burgers or something. I got the tranny crossmember too. I got everything used, so I am hoping the hurdles will have already been hurdled:D There are some mods from the guy who had them on. Ill send you some directions it would be nice to have somebody there who has done a butt load of these. My Brother and his Cherokee, my brother in law and his cherokee, my best friend and his Ex, and my parents and sis, Should be Fun. We live a ways North of Colorado Springs. Shouldn't be too Far for you.
 












Hey Kirby, I was wondering if you will be doing work on the 'Jo tomorrow evening...I just called my Mom and she wasn't going to be in tonight (part of the reason I was going down there) but she'd be in tomorrow night...If possible, I'd like to come down there tomorrow....If I don't hear from you by 7 today, I'll just head out tonight (don't mind too much, still wanna see the 'jo and get my new add-a-leaf!!)
 






Kirby, i'm on my way...
 












Ok I got the Rest up. It works pretty good, but the E- brake cable limits the rear. I cut the brcket and pulled the drivers side cable out, but it wasn't enough. Ill have to find a four door one maybe. Also My brothers Cherokee stomped me. I guess Ill have to do some more. I thought I would gain some travel in the front with the arms, I didn't gain alot. I will probably look into some warrior discos soon. My brother said that that is what made the biggest difference on his Jeep. I disconected mine before the modds and it gained an inch or less of droop, almost no up travel. I am almost sure it would gain more now. Also my rear shocks are too long and don't have alot of up travel. I might look into some cheepies with stock hight to 1" lift since I mved the mounts.

Oh and 1 more addittion to the mods, I "had" to get an optima RedTop!
 












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