ok whats the deal, do 2wd 98 xlt explorers have torsion bars or not

[ATiredExplorer]

I've been hearing no 'cause "its not a v8" or "its not 4wd"
And I've been hearing yes because "ever since the 98 explorer they have been using torsion bars."
And if I do, whats the most possible height you think I could reach without harming anything? I hear 2" but thats with CV joints and since I dont have those, what do you think?

 

[CDW6212R]

All Ex's from 95-01 have the bars. You can go higher than the 2", but every amount that you go up is exactly an amount less that you losewheel travel in the downward direction. The range of motion I'm sure is why lots of offroaders don't like the torsion bar suspension.

The alignment is harder to achieve when you go too far from level, and bumps etc. cause more bumpsteer etc. A real lift kit should be used beyond some 2-3 inches. Wait for others to give details. Good luck,

 

[ATiredExplorer]

Wow, yeah thanks! You're like the first to tell me a decent answer haha. Yeah I'll wait, but are they in the front and rear or just one or the other? If just in one location what would I need to use to lift the other side. I've heard of shackles and add-a-leaf's would do the trick, but I m not sure what those exactly are

 

[410Fortune]

search for warrior shackles

torsion bars are only up front on 95-01 Explorer's , the rear is a leaf sprung solid axle

 

[Tilt168]

best advice i have to say is slide under your ex and have a look...
in the front you'll see 2...rods travelling to the front arms from about about the middle of the chassis, these are your torsion bars
in the back you can see the leaf springs holding the solid axel, they look like long slats of metal.
shackles are the the pieces of metal that hold your leafs onto the rear of your X, the warriors that 410 mentioned are longer then the stock ones and thus add lift, add-a-leafs are another slat that you add into your current set of leafs that make them stiffer thus rasing your body off of the axel.
look into spindle lift kit esp. on e-bay they always have them for cheep
hope this helps and welcome to ExpoForum, I learned so much from these people when i started a cpl yrs ago!

 

[410Fortune]

add a leafs ride like crap IMO and do not yield much lift anyways, so shackles are a better option (cheaper and easier too) to get 1-2" in the back

 

[ATiredExplorer]

sweet yeah thanks guys! Cant seem to find any shackles for my explorer but I'll keep looking. I havent asked 4 wheel parts or advanced auto parts yet so yeah.
And I think I found my torsion bars up in the front. It's about a yard stick or so long on the passenger and driver's side and the nuts on each end are about and inch big or so. The end runs to about close to the muffler or so. Maybe a foot away. Are those it?

 

[CDW6212R]

Bingo, and the height adjustment bolts are very near to the back ends, sticking straight down, 13mm socket. Don't mess with those unless you are going straight to get an alignment. Search here for "lowering lifting." Good luck,

 

[cgriffin_5139]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47345
http://www.tellico4x4.com/product_info.php/products_id/6362
Here you go! we have a search button use it.

 

[2000Xplorer]

Warrior Shackles are the ones for your ex

here are a few places to buy them online

http://www.jackit.com/store/supercart.cgi?s=wrr_153

http://www.tellico4x4.com/product_info.php/manufacturers_id/98/products_id/6362

 

[2000Xplorer]

nevermind just realised that CGRIFFIN just posted those links, Sorry