Pulling the trigger on the Superlift | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Pulling the trigger on the Superlift

Paraphoe

Go big or go home
Elite Explorer
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City, State
Willow Grove, PA
Year, Model & Trim Level
'97 XLT
Brethren,

Finally decided to pull the trigger on the Superlift 4'' kit after wanting to do it for years. I will probably drop the Warrior shackles (they're killing my springs) and crank my torsion bars back down and end up with a net of 2'' of lift.

I just want to make sure before I spend $1,500+ that I'm ordering the right stuff. I believe this is the correct kit for the front, yes?


Superlift part #9633:

http://www.amazon.com/Superlift-963...TF8&colid=27137SDYLOAWD&coliid=I1PLNLVTG78CO7

Is there anything else I need besides the rear leaf springs for the lift? Not counting tools, time, and manpower.




Appreciate peace of mind. Thanks all! :salute:
 



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The full kit is part number K494. That kit doesnt include the knuckles or half the brackets and whatnot you need. Also, find a dealer who actually has one in stock, or call superlift to see if they finished their current run. I waited almost four months to get mine made before finding one place that had a single kit in stock
 






Well, I was certainly off the mark. Gotta save a bit more cash, I guess. I thought that kit had everything I needed for the front, and I just had to buy the leafs for the rear, so I was looking at about $1300 total. Goddamnit. Thanks for the help obie.
 






Yeah, it's about $2000-2100, and I think they purposely scatter the parts between different packages specifically to prevent picking and choosing. Though, from their standpoint, it means they get more money. Can't really fault a business for trying to make money.

Also, while you're looking at the lift, you may want to add another three hundred for a Daystar master bushing set, if you want poly bushings. They're discontinuing a lot of their individual kits for the Explorers and while it's already being torn apart, nows the best time to switch them out.
 






Hahaha...you're killing me dude! Thanks for the heads up, I will look into that as well.
 






bro 2 words.. solid axle
 






Don't have the time, money or most importantly - skill and knowledge for that, or I woulda done it years ago...
 






You're gonna hate me for saying this, but if you wanna spend even more money you could do the coilover conversion too :D With the brackets and using Fox shocks and Eibach springs, it only set me back another $775... but you get to scrap those crappy torsion bars and get rid of the massive drop down brackets for them too. And it could be a bit cheaper too, if you use different shocks or springs.
 






From the parts breakdown on Summit, the front requires 9633 and 9637. Those 2 will get you everything to lift the front and they have both of those in stock ready to ship. For the rear you dont need any of the superlift components. If your leaf springs are sagging you can do a SOA and have a slight rake. Just another option that gets around the lack of availability of the k494, and will save ya a few bucks
 






You're gonna hate me for saying this, but if you wanna spend even more money you could do the coilover conversion too :D With the brackets and using Fox shocks and Eibach springs, it only set me back another $775... but you get to scrap those crappy torsion bars and get rid of the massive drop down brackets for them too. And it could be a bit cheaper too, if you use different shocks or springs.

Haha...man, I've been looking at those conversion threads. I want that BAD, but I'll be honest, like the SAS, it's out of my league in terms of skills with all the welding and whatnot. I've welded once in my life and it was an awful job. I'd have to beg or pay people to do it for me, and I hate that. Maybe down the road at some point....

From the parts breakdown on Summit, the front requires 9633 and 9637. Those 2 will get you everything to lift the front and they have both of those in stock ready to ship. For the rear you dont need any of the superlift components. If your leaf springs are sagging you can do a SOA and have a slight rake. Just another option that gets around the lack of availability of the k494, and will save ya a few bucks

My rear leafs are SHOT. I might as well just order the whole kit and get the new springs, but I will check out that combo and see if it will save me some cash. Thanks RB.
 












driveshaft issue is easy
if his has a u joint on both ends, a 96 front driveshaft, or a 91 ranger double cardan like i did takes buying the Superlift shaft out of the equation,,
probably get a 91 Ranger shaft alot cheaper,,
 






if you have any questions about putting the lift on, either find me in the chat room, or pm me,,
did one with some help from Turdle and crew in 2 days complete,, front and back,,
than did a 900 mile plus test drive,,
 






Haha...man, I've been looking at those conversion threads. I want that BAD, but I'll be honest, like the SAS, it's out of my league in terms of skills with all the welding and whatnot. I've welded once in my life and it was an awful job. I'd have to beg or pay people to do it for me, and I hate that. Maybe down the road at some point....

The only welding involved in that is just the support gussets, everything else is literally bolt on. I'm sure a local 4x4 or even a fab shop could weld those up for you, I can't even see them charging more than an hours labor, if that. Hell, maybe even trade some labor with an old farmer.

Rock Auto has the double cardan Ranger/Ex shafts for about $230, if I remember right, basically half the cost of the Superlift.
 






Been wanting to do this for A Long Time as well!! Subscribin to see how you make out!
 






All though I'm sure you've been shopping around a ton by now; If you haven't yet check "4 wheel parts." That was the cheapest place I could find it when I bought it (k494) and it shipped free. But that was about 3 years ago now.
 






Unless they got a shipment in recently, 4WP doesnt have it. I ordered from them on December 15th and waited almost four months for Superlift to make it, before cancelling and ordering from National Tire and Wheel. I got the only one they had in stock though.
 






This is a pain in the b-hole. So if I'm following all of this correctly, I will need the Superlift K494 kit (or 9633, 9637 & SOA) and a new Ranger double cardan drive shaft which I can get on Rock auto?

Thanks for the driveshaft heads up - I was completely unaware. I need to do some more reading on here of other Superlift install threads, but time has been an issue lately. :thumbdwn:

Would LOVE to do the coilover conversion, but I think I'm going to take this one step at a time and handle the lift kit first, and maybe coilovers down the road if I have the time and can do enough reading to feel confident enough to embark on that...
 






Actually, I'm not sure what year it changed, but I know some of the transfer cases use a 4 bolt flat flange style, where other use a GKN CV style 6 bolt "ball" If you have the GKN, you'll need an additional part to convert the "ball" style to a 4 bolt flange. The adapter is made by Neapco, part number: N2-83-287X

I don't know if anyone else makes one.

Though, before ordering the adapter or getting a new driveshaft, I would take it to a driveshaft shop after your lift is installed. They will probably be able to set you up with the exact driveshaft you need, for cheaper than it would cost for a reman'd driveshaft+adapter and definitely cheaper than the Superlift shaft+adapter.
 



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Will the Superlift shaft be plug and play and avoid all of this extra legwork? I don't know of a local driveshaft shop and I'd rather not deal with the added hassle, to be honest. If I can just spend a few more bucks and have everything I need to get the job done shipped to my front door, it's worth it to me.
 






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