- Joined
- February 9, 1999
- Messages
- 11,923
- Reaction score
- 133
- City, State
- Vail, Arizona
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1992 XLT 4x4
I just finished Installing a James Duff 2.5" lift in my 92 Explorer XLT. This message is just ramblings of what I noticed about the kit.
First item I noticed... unfortunately is... Don't bother following the instructions for the front. Work is so much easier if you leave the springs off (they say to replace them first)... and a few other things were way out of wack. We just replaced pivot brackets.. then added the Radius Arm bracket drops.. then put in the springs and it was so much easier.
The passenger side axle pivot bracket has a provision for an extra hole that the frame does not have. The instructions say to drill a hole in the frame... but... There is already an hole (not a bolt hole) in the frame that is halfway across the hole in the new bracket.
The holes in the radius Arm brackets had to be drilled out (enlarged). This could have been caused by JD's tollerences (sp?) being tigher than fords.
You will need to have a grinder with a cutoff wheel.. and not be afraid to use it...
The axle pivot bushings are a pain to get out. This is no fault of James Duff. I found the best way to get them out was to drill holes in the rubber and then put in a cutter bit in the drill and cut the bushing out. I then put a sanding drum into the drill to get the remains of the bushing out.
To do the rear you will need to grind down the center bolt in the leaf springs since the bolt should have then threads damaged (to keep the nut on). Once replaced you are instructed to do this (damage the threads) on the new bolt.
I took pictures of the install and will have a full install article and how we did the install soon.
Even with all the install problems... The lift doesn't seem bad at all. It is difinately not a one day job.. Its a Long weekend job. Even with the Radius Arm brackets having bolts (instead of rivots) It still took us a total of 14 hours to do the install... 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Friday night.. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on saturday (we slept in for some reason).
ok.. enough rambling.. Just my observations after the install... Now I'm gonna drink a beer and relax...
Mark
------------------
Mark
mark@legendz.com
http://mark.legendz.com
Off-Road and Motorcycle Information, Pictures and Movies
First item I noticed... unfortunately is... Don't bother following the instructions for the front. Work is so much easier if you leave the springs off (they say to replace them first)... and a few other things were way out of wack. We just replaced pivot brackets.. then added the Radius Arm bracket drops.. then put in the springs and it was so much easier.
The passenger side axle pivot bracket has a provision for an extra hole that the frame does not have. The instructions say to drill a hole in the frame... but... There is already an hole (not a bolt hole) in the frame that is halfway across the hole in the new bracket.
The holes in the radius Arm brackets had to be drilled out (enlarged). This could have been caused by JD's tollerences (sp?) being tigher than fords.
You will need to have a grinder with a cutoff wheel.. and not be afraid to use it...
The axle pivot bushings are a pain to get out. This is no fault of James Duff. I found the best way to get them out was to drill holes in the rubber and then put in a cutter bit in the drill and cut the bushing out. I then put a sanding drum into the drill to get the remains of the bushing out.
To do the rear you will need to grind down the center bolt in the leaf springs since the bolt should have then threads damaged (to keep the nut on). Once replaced you are instructed to do this (damage the threads) on the new bolt.
I took pictures of the install and will have a full install article and how we did the install soon.
Even with all the install problems... The lift doesn't seem bad at all. It is difinately not a one day job.. Its a Long weekend job. Even with the Radius Arm brackets having bolts (instead of rivots) It still took us a total of 14 hours to do the install... 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Friday night.. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on saturday (we slept in for some reason).
ok.. enough rambling.. Just my observations after the install... Now I'm gonna drink a beer and relax...
Mark
------------------
Mark
mark@legendz.com
http://mark.legendz.com
Off-Road and Motorcycle Information, Pictures and Movies
