quick release front sway bar

[kornfed]

Ive heard that making quick release connections for the front sway bar is fairly easy and cheap. my first question is is this true and if so does anyone have any recommendations for doing so? My second question is will this trow my alignment all out of wack?

 

[Baddecision93]

The procedure for front and rear disconnects is basically the same. Here is the write up:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35219

In regards to alignment, it is not directly tied into the steering so it will have no affect on wheel alignment.

Hope this helps.

 

[kornfed]

yes that helps alot thank you! One more question though i'm assuming you've done this yourself, and was wondering if when disconnected does the loose sway bar get in the way of anything and if it does what do you do to correct this?

 

[Baddecision93]

I actually haven't yet, I'm just planning on doing it which is why I had the link bookmarked lol.

From searching around a lot of guys just disconnect one side, or they just use some cheap bungie straps to hold them up. If you let them hang completely loose they can get in the way, from what I understand.

 

[kornfed]

ok thanx for the tips im jus getting started and although i know how to do minor work to vehicles ive never converted a suv into a 4wheel rig! so i appreaciate the help! you know any other tips for mods that might help me that are fairly easy?

 

[Baddecision93]

Hmmm....well a relatively inexpensive mod that should yield good results is changing auto hubs to manual if yours have the auto.

The auto have a tendency to fail.

Umm...beyond that it really gets into the kind of money you want to spend and the work you want to learn to do. 2" of lift can be accomplished fairly inexpensively but there's a little bit of labor involved.

More than that and you're looking at a few hundred pretty easy.

I would advise to search, search, search, and then steal ideas . That's the best way I've found to learn...find things that you really like and then see how people did them. And then you can get creative and customize others' ideas to your application.

 

[kornfed]

ive got loads of time on the weekends i need to do some work to the tranny in the near future so the money is being saved for that now but wen thats done i plan on spending more on the mods im intrigued by this 2" of lift u speak of What all would that entail?

 

[Baddecision93]

Well here is a thread detailing how to lift the rear. Basically you replace the shackles that your leaf spring bolts into at the rear with a longer one and it drops the leaf spring down more, lifting the truck. You can get up to 2" but realistically from what I understand you get about 1 1/2" of lift. But it's mostly labor. The shackles themselves you can make for about $20 in steel. Here's the thread detailing how to do that:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173911

As far as the front, do a search for F-150 coil seats. That's another cheap one. I remember seeing junkyard prices for those are less than $50. I've never looked into it but there is tons of info on here about it.

 

[kornfed]

ok man thanx for the links and info they really help and ill take pics and stuff as i go to let u know how that stuff pans out probly be over the next month or two! but this should get the ball rolling for me!

 

[Slowlyvverot]

lots of people just toss the front and rear swaybars, especially for a rig that sees off road time (myself included) I had disconnects but they rattled when connected and it got annoying. You will be fine on the road with no front sway bar as long as you take it easy getting used to the new ride and always remember you are driving a SUV and not a car.

The rear sway bar does not affect much at all. I'd toss it regardless of what you do with the front.

 

[Baddecision93]

lots of people just toss the front and rear swaybars, especially for a rig that sees off road time (myself included) I had disconnects but they rattled when connected and it got annoying. You will be fine on the road with no front sway bar as long as you take it easy getting used to the new ride and always remember you are driving a SUV and not a car.

The rear sway bar does not affect much at all. I'd toss it regardless of what you do with the front.

True, a lot of people do but he seems relatively inexperienced with larger offroad vehicles. Not to cut him short, just saying.
I would place myself in that same category. I have had a lot of experience driving old farm trucks and some very rickety tractors but it's a whole different ballgame at 70mph.
I ran without my front connected for about 2 weeks just because I forgot to put it back together after my lift and it was downright scary. It's all a matter of personal preference but IMO as a safety thing disconnects are the way to go.

 

[kornfed]

hey baddecision93 im glad ur online again i was looking into the coil seats u told me to search and one guy posted that he bought new shocks when he did his. mine look pretty beat up and rusted n jus plain old! was wondering if i decided to get shocks for n f150 if u think they would bolt up and work good also how much can u lift before u have to start worrying bout things like how far ur break lines reach or other things i havnt even thought of yet!?!

 

[Baddecision93]

Hey, glad to help where I can.

With 2" you really don't have to worry about extended brake lines. You won't really get into enough flex for it to matter.

However, if they're stock it can't hurt to replace them and they are terribly expensive. The easiest point on the rear to extend is where the ABS sensor bolts into the top of the diff housing. Just make a little extender bracket to bring the sensor up a few inches and it will give you a fair amount of slack. You can also bend the bracket on the passenger side frame rail down.

As far as the front...a 2000 F-250 Superduty with manual hubs (I have manuals so idk if you need different with auto-hubs) works. Mine is rear ABS only since it's a 92 so I got it for a F-2 with rear ABS only. But anyway, the fittings work and it gains you about 2". They're $21.99/side at Autozone.

Just use Explorer shocks as far as I know. Just make sure to get them for a vehicle with 2" of lift, as they will have the extra travel you need. For $30 - $40/shock it's not too bad and yours probably need replaced anyway if they seem pretty old. That's a nice fix to get your feet wet. Not too difficult, just a lot of rusty bolts to fight. The key - soak them with PB Blaster about every 12 hours for a day or two before you work on them. That, combined with a breaker bar will make it go a lot smoother.

 

[kornfed]

hey by the way i took photos (in detail) of my x so u could see what im working w but i cant figure out how to get them on here u know how to do that?

 

[Baddecision93]

hey by the way i took photos (in detail) of my x so u could see what im working w but i cant figure out how to get them on here u know how to do that?

Excellent. Everybody loves as many pics as possible.

It's kind of a pain without an Elite membership. If you're not cheap (like me) just get an Elite membership. It's only $20/year and you can host pics directly on the Exporer Forum site. It's a mod I want to do but haven't got around to, lol.

But for free there's a little more you have to do.

First, get a Photobucket account. It's free and easy to sign up for.

Once on Photobucket you need to upload the pics from your PC. It's fairly straightforward.

Once the pics are there you need to click on the pic and on the right hand side of the page there should be an IMG link. Click on it and it will automatically be copied. Just like if you had highlighted something and pressed CTRL C or right clicked and selected 'Copy'.

Then all you do is paste the link into your thread and the picture will show up once you post.

It's a little bit of extra work but completely worth it because pictures help everyone, whether it's trying to describe a problem you are working on or just showing off work you've done for other people to use in the future.

 

[kornfed]

MY 1993 x all stock

RUST UGH!!!

Lmao :bsnicker: My ghetto rear hatch door!!

steps to opening my rear hatch!!!
step 1 open window

Step 2 Very delicately align flat tip screwdriver w linkage

Step 3 pry screw driver and pull on door lol

SERIOUS POWER FACTORY LOL

Not the best shot but small radiator leak never overheats though

Tranny leak (more frustrating than my girlfriend)

Suspension
Front

Rear

Leaf springs and shackles

measurements stock shackles
7 1/2 end to end

5 1/2" bolt to bolt

Uh oh!! might have a clearance issue when i go to mount ne shackles the drop down hitch is right behind

$10 dolla exhaust repair

Front ride height

Rear ride height

This is my lady friend!

And rear cargo area

Ok thats all i got for stock photos hope that gives you a good idea w what i got

 

[Baddecision93]

Wow...you weren't kidding about a lot of detailed pics. Nice lol.

If I can make a suggestion, start a registry on here. It's a great way to track your progress and try to get feedback from other members.

If you look at the 'My Explorer' link at the bottom of my sig you can get an idea of how I set mine up. You already have all the info you need. If I was you I would just copy that last post on here & make it the first post in your registry.

And if it makes you feel any better my rust is worse. Much, much worse

 

[kornfed]

ok thats a good idea! were do i go to set one up? also since im new to the site i dont have any friends yet and since youve been so helpful w suggestions and opinions was wondering if i could add you?

 

[kornfed]

Ok i figured it out and started a registry! My only question is how do i set the link to it as a footer like yours?

 

[Baddecision93]

You can absolutely add me, thanks.

And this is how I did it, at least, and it's working for now lol.

- At the top select 'User CP'
- On the left side click 'Edit Signature'
- Then write whatever you please and whenever you want to add your link write:
[URL = "www.example.com"]Then type your text[/URL]

Do it exactly as above, with the = sign and the quotations and brackets and it should work. Just don't use any spaces. I only did that so it wouldn't actually show up as a link lol. Oh, and for the website then just copy and paste the URL of your registry so it links to it.

I'll be sure to follow your registry!