New photos of my 98 Eddie, now with 2

[Brian Ward]

Got my 2" PA body lift on last Saturday. It was a piece of cake!! Here are some pics. The first photo is before the lift, the rest are after the lift. I haven't lifted the bumpers yet, but I'm going to do that this weekend along with a torsion twist and custom made shackles. And if I have time, I'll also fab up my winch mount and put on my S-9000 Superwinch. Then, if all goes well, I'll put on some Swamper SSR's by the end of Feb! Hope you like it!


A before shot.

A few after shots of each side.

My front and rear shots(Gotta lift them bumpers this weekend)

 

[Pemerling]

that looks sweeeeeet... i like the way it looks. how hard was it to do? how long did it take u .? also what about ur bumpers. do they make a bracket for that or do you have to make it ur self? one more thing. nice exhuast . how much did the exhaust run u ?

 

[Tom Wilk]

Brian, Where's all your snow??

Explorer looks good! I like the dual exhaust.

 

[Brian Ward]

Thanks

Pemerling,

The body lift was really easy to do. I had my cousin hang out in the garage with me and he gave a hand when I needed it. It took about 5 hours to do and that was including a trip to the parts store to buy metric nuts. If I had to do another one, I could do it in 4 or less, now that I know what to look for. I got bumper brackets with the kit but I did't put them on 'cause I wanted to see what it would look like with only a 2 inch lift. My conclusion on that is, I'll be raising them up this weekend! Along with a set of home built rear lift shackles and a torsion twist. The exhaust was done by my buddy Larry at Pro Automotive here in Sandusky. Only $110 with chrome tips. Couldn't beat that!!


Tom,

Snow!?!?! That's a four letter word around here!(And around most English speaking communities!LOL) Haven't been hit too hard lately, but, ironically they are calling for 2-4 inches overnight tonight. (you had to say it, didn't you! J/K) How far are you from Sandusky? Time wise and milage?

 

[mdrut]

Nice!!! Is the brushguard going to be effected by the bracket lift? Once again, good looking truck..

 

[Pemerling]

only a 110 bucks. what did they do. just put pipes in ?

 

[Brian Ward]

Lift

MDRUT,

The brush guard won't be affected by the bracket lift because it is bolted to a different part of the bumper. It will be good to go.

Pemerling,

The exhaust was cut off just after the muffler and the old tailpipe and resonator were pitched. Then he added a Y pipe after the muffler and custom bent new dual tail pipes and added the tips.

 

[go off road]

Looks great Brian and even better when you git your shackles and t-bars ajusted you have done alot of cool things to your Explorer but what about your tail pipes? I am thinking about gitting my tail pipe redone.

 

[Brian Ward]

To 95 Go Off Road

What ABOUT my tailpipes?!? Don't you like them??

 

[go off road]

They are great Brian but when you raise your bumpers they are going to be lower then your bumper!

 

[PUR PONY]

looks great- cant wait to see it finished!

ya- about the pipes and once you lift the bumper... i had the same question...
i have dual exhaust too and was going to install a three inch lift- I was worried about the gap between the bumper and pipes-

 

[FordFanatic]

PA Body Lift

Your explorer looks really good! I'm interested in your Body Lift? What does PA stand for? I like the lens' and dual exhaust pipe look. Pretty Slick!

CJ

 

[Brian Ward]

Ford Fanatic

C.J.,

PA stands fot Performance Accesories. It's the company that makes the body lift kits.

 

[jwade]

Firestones?????Get em off...

Brian, Truck looks good but get rid of those tires before you get yourself killed.

Clark

 

[Brian Ward]

Firestones

Pur,

As far as lifting my rear bumper goes, I may only raise it one inch so the gap between the bumper and pipes is not so obvious. It should look good.


Clark,

I thank you for your comliment on my truck. The Firestones will be giving way to a set of Super Swamper SSR 31X12.50 R16's. Not because they are unsafe though. Many people have the misconception that ALL Firestone tires that came on Explorers are unsafe, when in reality, they only recalled a specific size in three different models. The tires that were recalled were the ATX's, ATX II's, and Wilderness AT's in the 235-75-R15 sizes. Mine are 255-75-R16 Wilderness AT's. They were not affected by the recall. Thanks for your concern on the subject, glad to see people are looking out for one another here.

I COULD get those tires a little quicker if you want to front the $600 for them! LOL!! J/K!!

Thanks to all for the compliments, concerns, and ideas. This is the BEST Explorer site out there. It's people like you that make it that way. Thanks!

 

[jwade]

Firestones

Don't believe what you here about that recall. Do you watch Dateline or 60 Minutes II. A while back they did a report on the "Recall". A Man went to a dealership and had three of the four tires on his explorer recalled from the decatur plant. He had them changed out and the fourth one from another plant, which was not changed, separated while driving down the road. The truck flipped over and it killed his friend riding with him in the passenger seat. He had 15" Wilderness AT's.

Firestone knew they would take a hit but lets face it, they weren't going to tell the public at large just how many tires were affected. They will lose a few cents on the dollar but not the dollar. Big companies gamble like that all the time. My father and I have been doing architectural work for our local Ford dealer for 30 years now. The dealer drives an expedition and it came with Firestones. He had them taken off of the truck and they were 17". Moral to the story, don't trust big business. If they can leave something out of the product and still produce it, they will, because at the end of the day, it is all about profit.

Clark

 

[Brian Ward]

So True

Clark,

You have made an excellant point! Big business is ONLY interested in the Big Dollar! Sad but true that they would gamble with peoples lives to save or make a buck. However, I am just waiting on some money due me and then I will be getting the SSR's. I really appreciate your input on this subject. You couldn't be more right!

Brian

 

[BExplorer]

Mags...

Where did you get those great looking mags. I want some 15" for my Escort, do you think they have the 4 bolt patern for these?

 

[Brian Ward]

Mags

The rims are 16X8 American Racing 'Neptune' rims. They are polished aluminum and I agree, they look great. Depending on the style of rim, you can get most any lug pattern that you want. You can check with anyone whom sells American Racing wheels to see if they have them in your lug pattern. I know for sure that they have them in 15 inch size. I got mine on sale at Sears, but you would be better off to shop around because Sears is usually really expensive on auto parts. Ask the Sears representative for the 800 number for American Racing, then call them directly and ask them about the lug patterns that are available. Hope this helps.

 

[BExplorer]

Deception...

Unfortunatly they dont make those cool one in 4x100 patern, guest I have to find somting else. Thanks anyway!!