leaf spring over axle lift

[dylan_133]

ive heard of people moving the leaf springs to the top of the axle and getting like 4.5 inches of lift. My question is is this a safe mod and is it reliable? ive tried searching for it in the forum but i dont know the proper name for it. if anyone has done this or knows about it the knowledge and advice ould be much appreciated. thanks

 

[Maniak]

Its done quite often and is called SOA. If you search for that you'll get more info than you ever wanted...

There is even a thread of doing it for $32.

It gives you 5.5" or lift or so.. not 4.5" and you can get more axle wrap with SOA versus SUA.

~Mark

 

[section525]

Most real trucks are SOA from the factory (Ranger, F150, Super Duty). Explorers are SUA because they fit into the minivan category.

 

[Maniak]

My title says station wagon

~Mark

 

[bt93]

SOA=mucho lifto

 

[Dre]

I've done it on two of my trucks. Once you know what you're doing it's easy. All you need is a set of new spring perches. I've got a few pictures of the set-up in my gallery.

 

[JarHead Reed]

Where is a good place to get new spring perches online?

 

[JTX]

I got mine off ebay, Jegs and summit also have them.

 

[Dre]

any parts joint should carry these... just make sure you get the right size for the 8.8 rear end.

 

[dylan_133]

thanks guy definitly sounds like the way to go. ill look for that thread on how to do it for $32. again thanks for the info.

 

[XploreAlaska]

Its pretty well known that most spring perches sold online are for a 3 inch diameter axle, our explorers have a 3.25 inch diameter axle, get yourself a compass (my favorite beer glass happens to be 3.25 in dia and made a good template) trace onto a piece of 1/8 steel, make sure you leave about 1/2 of stock above the flate part your springs chill on.... Then cut yourself a nice sized pad (probably bigger pad than any crap you can buy) and don't forget to drill a hole in the center of it for that g*ddamn bolt holding your springs together..... Get creative for your shock mounts (ask yourself, how much do you like the cargo area in the back of your X, would you mind shock towers there??) Oh, if you suck at building tabs for shocks, check out rustysoffroad.com, oh, one more thing, change your pinion angle on your axle to help prevent unneeded stress on those ****ty 6 dollar auto zone junklets that we all use.....

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

I think 5.5 inches of lift is a good basis for what to expect. You may get less though, because of spring sag. So just watch out for it.

 

[dylan_133]

alright so i think im getting to bais for the whole project. what would be needed to do the same thing to the front?

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Are you working with 2wd or 4wd?
(might not make a difference though)

I'm thinking you can do F-150 coil seats with springs. But I'm not sure, not a huge lift guy here.

 

[dylan_133]

im running 4wd, ive heard of people running f-150 coil seats and warrior 153 shackles. iunno how much lift that is, i dont really know much about that stuff. but i want the front end as high as the rear end.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

i believe coil seats and shackles give a few inches both ways.

the coil seats would b ea good start though, add in a good set of springs and it should be good to go. i'm not sure, but will he need drop brackets?

 

[XploreAlaska]

The only way to get the same lift up front is w/ a 5.5" lift... Probably from superlift.... And if you had to ask then your probably not capable of making your own drop brackets.... So I won't explain that one.... the lift runs about 600 bucks w/o long arms, and comes with instructions basic enough to where barney smoking pot could put it together.... Looks stupid without the long arms though so plan on blowin a cool 1000 bones to finish her off... You can always make your own (radius) arms which isn't too hard....

 

[Dre]

For the front you're looking to spend about $1600.00 for new kit - Skyjacker or Superlift. Superunner steering is recomended to change your steering set-up to improve handling.

Used? I have bought used lift kits for anywhere from $400 to $600.00 from the guys on this forum. Try www.roughrangers as well. Lift kit for an early Ranger - up to 97 will work in the front of your "X" - then you;ll have to figure something for the back.

For the beginner I would recomend installing 2" front and back. You can achieve it by replacing front coil springs with Skyjacker longer coils (about $160.00) and installing either warrior shackles in the back or add-a-leaf. The whole thing with front end alignment shall not cost you more than $400.00 total.

 

[dylan_133]

i could make my own drop brackets i am a good fabricator, i just dont know much about lifts but thanks for the info im still a long ways from being able to do anything serious i still need to rebuild the engine and do a auto to manual conversion so im saving up for the parts for that. thanks for the links and the info

 

[robmurt04]

They have 6" Lift Kits which lift the front 6" with all the drop this and that stuff and have the SOA axle kit for the rear. Its only like $800 I believe and probably your best and easiest bet.