need some shock advice

[gharmon]

I just replaced the 4" lift on my sons explorer with a 6" llift I took off my 84 Ranger. Everything worked fine. I just have one problem, those old 24 year old shocks have had it. They were, I believe Rancho 5000 that came with the skyjacker lift kit. I've contacted Rancho and they said they didn't nor have they ever made shocks for a 6" lift kit. Well they were on my truck? Can anyone tell me a part number of any brand that will work on my Explorer?

I would prefer to try to find some on ebay or the cheapest possible but have no idea what to look for.

Also, what are major characteristics of bad shocks? Just checking to see what good shocks might fix.

What is a steering stablizer good for?

Need to get the rear up two more inches now. What is a good pair of shackles to use? It has the 4" rearched springs on it now and they are still under the axle. I used some of those cheap shackles years ago and they made the rear end real swayie (ms) feeling.


Thanks,

Gerald

 

[Gambit606]

Just bought the procomp es3000 shocks from 4wheel parts. They are a good shock and relativly inexpensive plus if you buy 3 you get 1 free. A steering stabilizer is just like a shock for your steering assy. helps if you have larger tires or have a problem with bump steer. not the same as a ram assist.

 

[Gambit606]

why dont you do a spring over axle? that will give you roughly 6 inches of lift and it will only cost about 30.00 bucks. I just did mine this weekend, it only took me and a friend about 3 hours.

 

[gharmon]

Just bought the procomp es3000 shocks from 4wheel parts. They are a good shock and relativly inexpensive plus if you buy 3 you get 1 free. A steering stabilizer is just like a shock for your steering assy. helps if you have larger tires or have a problem with bump steer. not the same as a ram assist.

How do you know what length or part number to get? They offer different length for different lifts correct? Did you just talk to someone on the phone and they get the right ones for you?

Gerald

 

[Gambit606]

go to 4wheelparts.com then enter info about your truck. once you do that go to the suspension section go to shocks and pick the ones you want. then there will be a little thing that will ask what size lift or drop. do you have a body lift? do you plan on the doing a spring over?

 

[gharmon]

why dont you do a spring over axle? that will give you roughly 6 inches of lift and it will only cost about 30.00 bucks. I just did mine this weekend, it only took me and a friend about 3 hours.

From what I've read on here I'll have to get some more stock leaf springs and stock shocks. If I swap now I'll have like 8"-9" of lift in the rear. I'm gonna do it eventually but thought the shackle thing would be a quick fix til I can locate the stock rear susp. stuff.


When I go to their site and put in all that info I assume the pics are wrong correct? Cause it showed a pic of a shock that didn't have the threaded stud on the top. It had like a lower shock mount on both ends and I specified "Front".

Thanks,

Gerald

 

[Gambit606]

yeah that is just a general pic of the shocks. the explorer will have two that are eyelet on both sides 'rear'. and two that have a stud top and eyelet bottom.

 

[91exploreron37]

The warrior shackles are pretty beefy compared to the cheap autozone ones.
Here's a link
http://www.tellico4x4.com/index.php/cPath/4282_4858_3366

They wont give you two inches though. But I'm sure someone on here will be willing to trade you there stock leaf springs plus some cash for your arched ones.

 

[DeRocha]

How do you know what length or part number to get? They offer different length for different lifts correct? Did you just talk to someone on the phone and they get the right ones for you?

Gerald

The trick is to get shocks that fit, are correctly sized to not hinder articulation, and provide enough shock absorption to give the ride quality you want.. After lifting my Explorer I ended up getting Rancho 9000s for it. The front shocks are listed for a Bronco, while the back are for an Excursion The adjustable nature of the 9000s allowed me to dial in the dampening to give me the ride I was looking for.. I didn't want to spend $$$ on shocks that fit correctly, but gave a bad ride..

That being said, after you have lifted the vehicle to its final form you would take a tape measure and measure the extended, collapsed, travel and ride height settings for front and rear shocks. You would use this info to cross reference shocks from your manufacture's list. Check out the how to measure for shocks for more detailed info and pictures.

 

[Maniak]

Remember that on a TTB its hard to get the suspension to travel all the way for measuring w/out taking the truck somewhere to really flex it.

If I remember the number correctly.. I couldn't get our current shocks to compress to < 23" (or so length.. When we went to truckhaven I got them to bottom out (19" compressed is when they run out of travel). They compressed far enough for the tire to hit the underside of the airbox .

I tried to flex our truck up on a pile of dirt we have on the property but it didn't flex it up well enough.. I need a ravine to drive through to get it competly flexed (I think). I also tried with a jack ( to get the compressed length) and that didn't work well at all.. To get the extended lenght I had someone stand on the hub while I had the truck on jack stands.. I figure that lengh is close since the person standing on it is heavier than the tire. If the X had a solid front axle then that wouldn't have worked.

Anyway.. I'm just trying to say, if you don't flex the truck the way your gonna drive it your measurements may not be right.. espeically on the compressed length of the shock.

~Mark