Lift Needed for Explorer Sport

[Nick_Good]

whoops. I am an idiot. alright, so what is involved in a lift for the front? I thought people mentioned that the lift for ranger would fit the front of an explorer sport. Isnt the ranger front lift springs???

1998 and newer rangers are IFS with torsion bars. 1997 and older are TTB up front. So, the front lift off a 1998 ranger should work. But, if i were you I would do a lot of research before buying a kit; they are a lot of money so you need to make sure you get what you want from the start.
-Nick Good

 

[Explodersport]

so what is in the kit that gets the front end up?

 

[jwrezz]

Basically it's a giant bracket that attaches where the lower control arms are. The bracket drops the entire front suspension (control arms, axles, and diff housing) down 4 inches.

Here's a link to a pick of an IFS drop bracket. It's off a Hummer H2, but it's a good pic and should give you an idea of what is done.

http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0301or_lift/

Besides that, there are brackets that drop the back of the torsion bars down as well. There are kits that eliminate the torsion bars, and use coil over shocks.

 

[jwrezz]

Here's an example of a coil over kit. This also keeps the stock front crossmember, just drops the spindles, steering, and uses high angle cv-joints...

http://www.dixonbrosracing.com/proddetail.php?prod=DBR-011&cat=1

 

[Explodersport]

That is a killer setup!! Very nice. I like the look of the no bumper with the skid plate too. Anyone else have a pick of that on an explorer sport? I think since I am such an idiot about the suspension, I will prolly stick to the body lift and fabricate my own bumper mounts. which tires would look best with a 3" body lift?

 

[ExplorerSportNu]

I have no front bumper with my brushgaurd still on but no skip plate either, and I have about 4-5" of torsion twist in the front and running 35's with no problems but did require a lil trimming

 

[CodePoet]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/search.php?

 

[jwrezz]

I have no front bumper with my brushgaurd still on but no skip plate either, and I have about 4-5" of torsion twist in the front and running 35's with no problems but did require a lil trimming

A lil trimming and the removal of the front bumper? I thought my front 33's were rubbing at rear of fender, well they were but I trimmed a bit, but now I think there's still a bit of rub on the front bumper. I'm gonna trim a piece of that off for now. This is 33's on 15x8 w/ 3.75" BS. 96 4dr w/ 3"BL and 2" rear springs and TT.

 

[ExplorerSportNu]

A lil trimming and the removal of the front bumper? I thought my front 33's were rubbing at rear of fender, well they were but I trimmed a bit, but now I think there's still a bit of rub on the front bumper. I'm gonna trim a piece of that off for now. This is 33's on 15x8 w/ 3.75" BS. 96 4dr w/ 3"BL and 2" rear springs and TT.

I could have kept my front bumper but decided to remove it due to my winch being mounted in between the front frame rails, and I only had to trim a little bit in the rear of the front fender with 35's on 15x10's.

 

[jwrezz]

do you have pics? I'd like to see how, and how much you trimmed on the front fender. My 33's rubbed, but it sounds like your 35's rubbed just as much. Pretty odd considering they are the same front fenders. I guess the other posts are right, it all depends on your personal situation. I remember my 31's fit w/ no lift at all, but others have had problems w/ that. Thanx,