Rough Country 5" Lift

[EFFalcon]

Looks like there is finally an alternative to the Superlift,
5in Ford Ranger Lift Kit (98-11)

little bit of discussion on some of the ranger forums, but doesn't appear to be any proper reviews as yet.
There seems to be a driveshaft available seperately

 

[EFFalcon]

 

[410Fortune]

Yes! It is a nice looking kit, good price too! I am looking forward to installing one of these on a sport trac in the future (next year)

 

[Geer of War]

Do you guys think this kit would fit a 2000 5.0l Awd explorer? What would I need to make this work?

 

[karlos2]

So, does anyone have this lift kit on their Explorer? I'm curious about the ride quality.

 

[410Fortune]

Yes it will fit a 2000 Explorer, except the rear will not work because the ranger is spring over and the explorer is spring under

I am not aware of anyone here that has installed this on an Explorer yet. I have not seen anyone install it on a Ranger yet either, but it looks very promising. I have installed a few different Rough Country lifts over the years and they have really improved their quality in the last few years....

 

[JungleSkunk]

I also am wondering how well this would bolt onto the front of a 2nd gen explorer. Looks like there may actually be a lift that may work for once on the front without major modifications.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Be great if they just sold the drop brackets for the front.

 

[410Fortune]

You still need the extended knuckles?
Are you sure they do not sell the parts individual

This is almost EXACTLY like the Superlift at a smaller price

 

[2000SnowSport]

Well, looks like the kit has been out several years now, so I'm curious...has anyone used one on a 95-01 Explorer? I haven't decided for sure if I want to lift my 2000 Sport yet, but have been looking at this kit for a few years and would likely use it if I did. I was thinking that converting from spring under to spring over in the rear would get the rear height pretty close to matching the front, and any remaining difference could be made up with custom length spring shackles. Pinion angle could be optimized if new spring mounts are fabricated, etc. Anyway, just curious if any of these kits made their way onto an Explorer. It seems like it would be fairly easy for Rough Country to make a few minor changes to the kit and sell it for Explorers as well.

 

[410Fortune]

Yes the front end componentswork on 96-01 explorer 02-04 sport and sport trax

Spring over in the rear will give you 5-6” of lift in the back matching the 5” you get from the rough country and cranked t bars
My advice is keep the rear spring perches as close to the axle as possible, keep it as close to a 5” lift as you can so you don’t have to max out your t bars in the e front to avoid a big rake

 

[2000SnowSport]

Thank you for your input, it is greatly appreciated!
My Explorer is still running the original 'monoleaf' rear springs, so I was thinking the height would be pretty close, though I would likely change them if I were going to go through the trouble of putting a lift on. I have noticed that the 2001 2-door Sports I have seen around have a multi-leaf spring pack in the rear, not sure what Ford's intent was in using the monoleaf vs. multi-leaf springs, other than maybe to change the ride quality.

I fabricated custom shackles and did the torsion bar lift (gained 2" total) back in 2004 and along with 31" tires has been able to get me pretty much everywhere I wanted to go, though some more ground clearance would be nice. There have been a few occasions where I ended up briefly tetering on two wheels (ran out of articulation) which I'm sure the lift would help with as well.

My Explorer is currently 'down' for some significant maintenance/rebuild work, so I've been thinking of other things I may want to do while it's not in service, and I've been curious about that lift for a while. Thanks again for the info and advice!

 

[410Fortune]

Ditch the mono leafs install some decent 4 door or sport trac leaf springs

Mono leaf was a money saving tactic used by ford it was a bad idea from day one…. They sag if you just look at them funny

 

[Fix4Dirt]

The only thing I remember about that was I think it req'd the brake upgrade from the smaller ones we have on the Explorers.

Also may I reccomend a way to prevent axle wrap with SOA (I used to remmeber what it was but it beats me right now) and either shimming up an LS or putting a locker... it does WONDERS!

Also Jamie I agree!!! But even the new Ranger has monoleaf... but it tows 7500 lbs Maybe ARB will come out with something someday haha