Raise Ex 1 inch

[Tools]

There doesnt seem to be any way to level an 06 Ford Ex other than going wih Truxxx,but that also raises the rear, as i only want to raise the front (1-1/4 in) which should make it level, i am looking at extending the bottom of the strutt by 1-1/4 in, there is 2-1/2 in from the mounting eye to the bottom of the strutt spring, therefore i will cut strutt shaft in the middle of this 2-1/2 inches, add 1-1/4 spacer, and put a sleeve over the spacer and shaft and that will raise the Ex 1-1/4 in which will make the Ex level, i dont see any problems with this but maybe someone has done this and would give some insight on this.

 

[Ronin8002]

Keep in mind that lengthening the strut or installing a truxxx spacer doesn't result in a 1:1 ratio of lift (i.e., 1" of lift for 1" of extra strut length/spacer height). It's more like 1.5" of lift for every 1" of spacer/strut length. The truxxx spacers give a 2.5" lift, but are only about 1.635" tall. So really all you need to do to get a 1.25" lift is extend the strut by about .83"

On my 2004 I made my own strut spacers out of heavy duty nylon tube that I got from Grainger. It was 5" OD and 3" ID. to make the spacer I just cut a "slice" of this material in the desired thickness and drilled holes to match the stud pattern on top of the strut. I had to install longer studs in the top of the strut to make up for the thickness of the spacer but it worked fine and was quite strong...never had a problem with the durability and they remained perfectly intact even when I got in a front end collision:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2869322&postcount=84

 

[Tools]

Spacers

Thanks, good info, just what i need to know, have a ??, how did you get the bolts out to put longer ones in, aint the bolts welded in or pressed in or what? Also did you have to use a spring compressor to replace the bolts.

 

[Ronin8002]

Thanks, good info, just what i need to know, have a ??, how did you get the bolts out to put longer ones in, aint the bolts welded in or pressed in or what? Also did you have to use a spring compressor to replace the bolts.

you'll need to disassemble the strut. My strut compressor was definitely not up to the task, so I had to have a shop do the disassembly and reassembly.

The studs on the top mount are pressed in (basically like wheel studs). They aren't too hard to knock out with a hammer. I replaced them with grade 8 bolts of the same size as the originals but longer. You can just tack weld them in place instead of trying to find press in studs.