Need Help: Explorer Eddie Bauer 97 Lift!

[PSItuning.ca]

Hi guys, I just bought my explorer 2 weeks ago. Its my first truck, always had import car before and I got tired of it. I wanted something different

I am thinking to do a lift on the SUV. I have the Eddie Bauer V6 4.0L 1997 with air Ride control.

I searched all over the forum and gather the most information I could. Here is what my plan are:

#PA853 Summit Racing 3" Body lift kit
#EXP-13120 Summit Racing Add a leaf kit
#WAR153 Rear Shackles www.rubicon4x4.com
Front Tortion bar mod

I know the Body lift kit required the fabrication of customs bumper brackets, I printed the diagrams already. But other than that I also heard that I will need a steering extension and reposition the hand brake cable. Is the steering extension required with this kit #PA853? Also about the brake cable to reposition, is there any post on that, or how-to, I couldnt find any information. Will I need any other parts for this? or its like simply moving the hand brake cables around? Please help!

As for the front, I will do the torsion bar modification; jackup both side of the truck even 1.25" (to make sure I dont go to high so I dont wreck the CV's). Then I thight up the adjustment bolts under until they are tight. Then release and remove the jack and remeasure the lift.

For the rear I will install the shackes which are suppose to give me around 1.25-1.50" extra at the rear. This should be pretty easy to do. They are fully bolt on right? I also heard that they will create much more tension on the leafs, and its preferable to add the Summit Racing Add a leaf kit to make sure they can support the truck load well. Is that true? should I do both mods for the rear? How much do the Add a leaf raise the rear?

With my mods I will already be at approx 4.25" front & back + add a leaf to the back, so the stance should be pretty nice.

I need everyone opinion about this please. Is that a great setup? reliable too? it will not tend to wear or damage any other parts?

Last question; I have some very nice chrome American Eagle Alloys wheels. What tires should I order which can fit my lifts modifications?

Please give me the exact size, I think I will clear 32" without removing my walkpanel (Eddie Bauer model) right? I dont want to pay to much, I heard of some Kuhmo models for a good price. I am open to your advices guys,

Thanks alot for your help, I appreciate that!
Pat

 

[ExplorerSportNu]

Alright, lots of questions, the steering extension comes with the body lift kit you are going to order which is the correct kit, me personally did not have to do any relocating of my handbrake after the 3" bl, you can go 2" on the tt whithout any worrying, I have had 2" and expierenced no problems, you might even be able to clear 33's, I run 33's and didn't have to remove my sidesteps, the shackles are a direct bolt on which is super easy to do, this is a very reliable setup and many many people here are running this setup with no problems, I really didn't notice a hell of a lot of diff in driving except for mabey a lil rougher ride and not quite the cornering she had before. Gd Lck

 

[PSItuning.ca]

thanks alot for the infos,
is the add a leaf needed? or the rear shackes are already a very reliable way to lift it?
I am scared that my leaf are all jammed together, and it will be a pain to dissasemble. They use salt on the road here in quebec, canada, its pretty bad on the cars...

I also have a air ride control, do I need to turn off the switch at the back? or will it still work with all the lift modifications?

The brackets for the bumpers should be easy to build, I will use a plasma cutter and a grinder to smooth out the edges Hope all the installation will go well.

 

[burgo]

Depends what you want to use your truck for. Some guys try the add-a-leaf first, so they don't have to worry about axle wrap on the trails, which is more of a possibility with the shackles. I have a 97 sport, tb twist and shackles, 4 door leaf kit, and I run 32's after some trimming of plastic. Putting on a BL this summer though, good luck with yours

 

[rhyno]

The air ride control (ARC) will not work unless you relocate the ARC sensors under the truck. The front one is located behind the driver side wheel on the a-arm. The rear is located in front of the spare tire location, and is connected to the axle. You would need to adjust the sensors by fabricating some sort of drop bracket to get it to work.

If you do not want to do this, you can just cut off the switch in the back of the cargo area. If you go this route though, you will constantly get a 'check ARC' message on your message center screen.

Here is a writeup that tells you how to adjust the shock sensors to get rid of that annoying consol warning. When you get under the truck and mess with the sensors you will understand how they work. When you have it unhooked from the truck just compress it a bit with your hand and the air ride will kick on.

After the TT/shackel lift, the console was beeping and giveing me the "Check Air Ride Control". It was confused because the sensors were being extended beyond what the system specs considered normal. This is because there is about 2 additional inches (or however much lift you got with your TT/AAL/Shackles, as the body lift will not affect this.) between the frame of the truck and the axle where the lower sensor mount is. The way I fixed this was to reposition the upper sensor mounts so that at the new height they were compressed about as far as they were when they were in the factory location without the lift. Sound complicated, but it was quite easy. First I did the front one by undoing the top of the sensor attached to the frame rail. I made a new bracket made of stiff plastic and attached it to the holes the sensor was attached to on the frame. Then I drilled new holes onto the bracket and attached the sensor shock about 2 inches down. This compresses the shock sensor back to its origional compression. You would need to attach your about as far as you are lifted, but it should be about the same as me since the body lift will not have any effect on the height of the frame.

Now In the rear, I was not happy witht the height even after the AAL and Shackles. I compressed the rear sensor a bit further than it was stock, so I actually get another inch of lift on top of the AAL and shackles. The way that I did this was by shortening the stick that come off the frame behind the spare tire. Take the tire out for this process by the way. It's hard to describe without pics, but if you look at the way the sensor is attached to the frame, it has a plastic stick that goes onto it. I shortend this stick by cutting and reattaching this stick to itself. Shortening this stick actually compresses the ARC sensor. Takes some playing around with to get it adjusted just right.

 

[PSItuning.ca]

nice, great info!
I will do like you did and reposition the bracket for the ARC. Shouldnt be too hard to do, I will fabricate some brackets for it, and will add a slot so I can play around and adjust them before tighting them up.

As for the tires, I am new to those size I was playing with import low profile stuff like 225/35/18 ... I have no idea about the sizes that would give me the height 32". Is there a chart somewhere to use as reference when you order tires that tells you like 275/70/16 are 30" of height? That would really help me for my tire selection. Here is the specs of my wheels :

Eagle Alloys #1469-7812-1-AA
Polished, Size 16 x 8
Pattern 5 on 4.5
0 Offset
Center Bore 82.8mm
Cap 3102.05

With all the lift mods I am doing. Getting about 4.5" front / rear. What size should I go with, the biggest possible without having to remove my runningboard or trimming/rubbing?

thanks

 

[PSItuning.ca]

I want something similar to this. I am not sure how much he lifted it, or the tire size.

Maybe only the 3" body lift would be enough to look like that, with 31" tires. What do you think?

 

[darnucks]

To find the imperial size for a metric sized tire make these calculations,
for example a 235/75-15.
235 x 0.75=176.25 x 2= 352.5 / 25.4 (conversion) = 13.88 + 15= 28.88 in. in diameter.
I could explain it all but I think you can get the idea of how it's figured out.

 

[PSItuning.ca]

thanks for the info, it look like I found my tire size

305/70-16
Tread Width (in) 9.8
Tire Diameter (in) 32.73
Section Width (in) 11.1

How much lift the add a leaf kit will add to the rear approx? If its like 1.5" , maybe I wouldnt need the shackles since I will do the front torsion bar mod 1.5" as well. Match with the 3" body lift it should give me enough clearance for those tires. That would reduce axel wrap and would probably be a more reliable lift... what do you think?

As for the shocks, would it be a good idea to have them changed as well? How many there is on my 97 Eddie Bauer? and what brand & model would be the best? I would like them oem size but with a better damper than stock for offroad/city driving. What do you suggest?



That should clear easily with all those lift mods without having to trim anything right?

 

[mercuryman97]

as for the shocks on my 97 i have two in the front and three in the back (one shock is from the differential to the frame..the other two in the back is from the axle to the frame...)....but after my torsion bar twist which i got 2.5 inchs of lift out of mine with no problems...and the shackles i didnt replace my shocks and they seem to do fine...

the add-a-leaf should give you about 1.8-2.5 inch depending on which size leaf you add....and how many you add like for example a long one and a short one will give you about 2.5 inch lift in the rear...

with all those mods you should be able to clear 33s with no problem....i have 2.5"tt,3"shackles,3"PA body lift on my 97...and i have 31s on now but im fixing to get 33s but i could run 35s if i wanted with minimal cutting....

you can look at my 97 on this website: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/744411

 

[PSItuning.ca]

very nice Explorer! I love the lift, looks just perfect. Once you put 33" it will fill up the holes better. I have 31" right now too, I will wait until spring to get new tires.

Thanks for the info

 

[rhyno]

As for the shocks, would it be a good idea to have them changed as well? How many there is on my 97 Eddie Bauer? and what brand & model would be the best? I would like them oem size but with a better damper than stock for offroad/city driving. What do you suggest?

If you want to replace your shocks, you will either have to do away with the ARC or replace them with ARC shocks, which I hear can be quite expensive.

 

[mercuryman97]

thanks...and no problem for the help...let me know if you need anymore help