Completed Project My 98 super charged EX

[4pointslow]

Explorer

2000StreetRod
Interesting idea about the torsion bars, I would never have thought of using v8 ones. That makes me wonder, are they really stiffer or did Ford just crank up the adjustment.

This truck used to squat real bad even when It was slower/weaker. I did change the rear leafs to 4 leafs off a 4 door explorer from the junkyard. It helped for a while until I gained more power and started launching harder. Then it was back to squatting.

 

[4pointslow]

new shocks are installed

Rancho 9 way adjustable. (should really be called 9 position adjustable).
They state that it is "mainly" the rebound that is adjustable.
Can anyone see what's wrong with this picture?

 

[4pointslow]

rear shocks

The rear ones.

 

[jd4242]

Rancho 9 way adjustable. (should really be called 9 position adjustable).
They state that it is "mainly" the rebound that is adjustable.
Can anyone see what's wrong with this picture?

Umm maybe upside down..lol

Or wait they just have the tab in the bottom

 

[Dono]

On the fronts, is this a game of which one of these is not like the others?





there's a suspicious black bushing (singular).


and an extra nut? Im sure theres another joke there somewhere.

 

[4pointslow]

Explorer

Delexploder,
Your story about pulling the front shocks off and romping on it sounds like something I would have done. I had to laugh. I love experimenting and playing around. Thanks for that. Wish I could have been there to see it. Damn nowadays you could just video it with a cell phone and put it on YouTube.

 

[4pointslow]

Yep

dono you guessed it.
I opened the sealed little brown bag in the sealed rancho box to find exactly what you see there. I looked at the bushings and was like REALLY?
Then I found the extra nut and was like oh, that makes it all ok.

 

[Dono]

Yup, a free nut to make up for the wrong bushing.
I guess its not the end of the world, but it would kinda piss me off a bit. Its not like those shocks are cheap or anything.

Been out for first ride impressions yet?

 

[4pointslow]

Ex

Have not had it on the road yet, it is still in the garage. Snow storm coming and its real cold. Should not have had that ice cream either. brrr.
I did jump up and down on the bumpers with the shocks adjusted at different settings and you can definitely feel a difference. Surprised I didn't fall off. lol.
Atco raceway was supposed to be open tomorrow for the last test and tune weekend of the year but snow is ruining that. Guess I will have to wait till next season to see how the adjustments work on a sticky track. Maybe I will do some street testing to see what works for that. Cal Tracs are still coming from California so maybe I will have them by next weekend.

 

[delexploder]

Yea we like to do something stupid like that whenever we can, we are all in our mid to late thirtys with family's so when we get together without the wives and kids we turn into idiots with alot of hey watch this and I dare you, its good times,

 

[2000StreetRod]

code 1 torsion bars

According to the following thread, code 1 torsion bars used on the FX4 Ranger were the stiffest: What torsion bar part# ?
I wonder if stiffer/lower springing would be more effective than stiffer shocks. Shocks only provide damping over a short period of time while your launch lift possibly occurs over a period of several seconds.

I like my rear 3+1 springs.

They provide stock spring rates for light loads and normal driving and stiff downward spring rates for heavy loads and aggressive driving.

 

[delexploder]

Thats why I like the Monroe load levelers, they will stop the instant squat on launch and the better leaf pack with some sort of ladder bars ( I like the stock ones off a v8 to keep the stock look) will stop wheel hop and pinion rotation, this will also pick up the rear an inch or two, the other thing I was talking about was adding an extra leaf on the rear passinger side, that's the side that squats more due to the rotational force, it also lifts the front driver side more, we use the extra leaf to control this, its old school but this is a old school chassis,

 

[4pointslow]

Ex

Monroe load levelers were what I was going to get, at first. I think they say they add a 500-600 lbs increase in capacity per side. In the picture you can see the left front wheel higher and what may not be noticeable is how much the right rear is squatting. I wish I could see the left rear. I need 360 degree cam!
Would love to see a go pro video of whats happening to that left rear spring on launch. I bet its looking a little s shaped. Damn I need a go pro!

Whoops, I meant right rear spring.

 

[4pointslow]

springs

2000streetrod,
Thanks for that link, I am going to check the front and back codes on my 2 explorers and ranger now. Wish I had gotten the spring code off the 4 door explorer I got the 4 leafs off of at the junkyard.

 

[ahodges]

torsion bars

The code 1 - FX4 torsion bars are the stiffest from what I've read too. I actually installed those on my truck to compensate for the heavy V8 plus the supercharger so that I could maintain the same ride height.

The stock anti-wrap bars don't stand a chance to this much power by the way. I welded the mounts to my V6 axle housing and installed a stock set of the anti-wrap bars thinking I would be set - wrong... It was wheel hopping so bad I thought I was going to break it at one point. That's why I went with the Cal Tracs, smooth power ever since. I actually have both the stock bars and the Cal Tracs on it now.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

interesting. i wounder how those t bars and leafs would work for something thats lowered. i put a four door leaf pack in mine years ago, and they are almost shot now. im sure andy can back me up on that when he, and his buddy where in my truck with all my luggage this summer. i never did change the t bars when i went v8 either. believe it or not, it never even crossed my mind.

 

[4pointslow]

New Shocks

Dono, I finally took it for a road test!

Holly crap did those shocks make a difference!
On the softest setting it is better than the old original Motorcraft ones that came off.
With the old ones the truck felt like a coil spring horse you see at kiddie parks.
The front would jump up when accelerated and quickly move back down when stepping on the brakes.
Even on the lowest setting it doesn't move much now. And the hardest setting, the truck just stays level when accelerating and decelerating.
The ride when set all the way hard is not to stiff either, I expected it to rattle my teeth loose but instead it just about made the road texture noticeable.
Cant really feel the detents on the adjuster knob very well, rancho could do a little better there. And having all the red shock bushing would have been nice.
At least I have an extra nut now, you never know when you might need one. lol.

 

[Dono]

I'll keep this in mind for the front. I have load levelers on the rear, but I sure find the road choppy on our crap roads. It would be nice to find something thats really sloppy on the first inch of travel and then stiffen right up.

Great to hear you love them. On the lowest setting they sound like they might be great for daily commuting.

 

[4pointslow]

Ex

ahodges,

I was looking at the rear housings for 8 cylinder EX's because they have the mounting for the stock antiwrap bars.
I originally had an open end rear with 4.10's and just changed to 4.10 posi rear.
Got it for 50.00 from the junkyard but could not find one from the V8 so no mounting points.
Since they didn't work by them selves alone on your truck I guess I wont loose any sleep over it.
Cant wait to see how this thing responds with the CalTracs and the 4.88's.

 

[delexploder]

Now you just need a set of 4 ,31x10.5 drag radials