Spring over axle lift

[Brandonsaayre]

I have a 2002 ford explorer sport and I want to do the spring over axle lift and I am wondering what I have to do to the front to make it sit level if anyone has any ideas please let me know. Thanks.

 

[LONO100]

2wd or 4wd?

 

[Brandonsaayre]

It is 4wd

 

[LONO100]

well the general consensus when going SOA with a 4wd, is SAS. if you dont plan on doing that, you can twist the torsion bars but it wont get you level. you could go to a coil conversion maybe, or you could live with the slope. im sure others 4wd guys can and will chime in.

 

[Brandonsaayre]

What is a sas or a sloped body lift and are they safe to do

 

[1Aauto]

Welcome to the site

 

[OffTrac]

What is a sas or a sloped body lift and are they safe to do

SAS is solid axle swap. $$$, knowledge and time.
Sloped body lift is a body lift in which the lift pucks decrease in size toward the back, each one consecutively smaller than the previous ending with no puck or a small puck for the rearmost puck. Gives about 3" in the front decreasing down to 0" in the rear.

A spring over is going to give you 5"-6" of lift depending on your leaf springs. Do you currently have a monoleaf (a single rear leaf spring)? You would want to change that to a 4 door Explorer set of springs.

To get similar lift out of the front on your 4x4, you'll need to do one of the following in order of increasing price and badass-ness.

1.) Sloped body lift and 2" torsion twist
2.) 4" Suspension lift (Superlift)
3.) Long travel kit (Dixon Brothers, maybe some others, I don't keep up w/ desert trucks)
4.) Solid front axle

What you can/will do is going to depend on your intended use, budget, and timeframe. You'll need deep pockets for #3 and #4. You'll also need considerable fabrication skill for #4 unless you really want to pay a lot to a shop.

 

[OffTrac]

Most important: Why do you want to do a spring over? What size tires do you intend to run?

 

[Brandonsaayre]

I want to run 33s or 35 inch super swampers, with the sloped body lift do I have to get a steering extension and what all do I need for the 3 inch blocks are in the front?

 

[OffTrac]

You'll need the steering extension. You'll need to buy a whole body lift kit, if for no other reason than getting the bumpers done right. I don't think you'd need to do a spring over to fit 33s. I'd do a search at the top of the page for all the things you're wondering. You'll end up reading a lot of good information that has already been discussed, learn options you didn't know existed, get some tips and see how others have done exactly the things you want to do. The search function is the most useful part of this forum as any question I've been able to think of has pretty much been answered through the search. There's years and years of collected wisdom on here. Just takes a little digging.

 

[Brandonsaayre]

So you think just with a 3 inch body the tires will fit and not rub to bad?

 

[OffTrac]

I'm not sure. Someone with a Sport would have a better answer. My wheel wells are larger than a Sport but I have 35s with a body lift, add-a-leaf and torsion twist. I'd guess those three things would allow you to fit 33s with a little trimming.

 

[Brandonsaayre]

Would that be cheaper to do that?

 

[OffTrac]

Well, you can do a spring over for around $30. The problem/expense is matching the front.

Body lift is roughly $250-300 for the Sport Trac. I assume about the same for the Sport but I know it's a different lift, parts-wise.

Add-a-leaf about $35. Torsion twist free except for an alignment.

That'd be somewhere between $300-350. Overall, I have about $160 in lift (craigslist body lift for $80).

A Superlift would be about $4,000 all said and done. The Dixon Bros. kit I think is around $4,500 for just the parts (someone correct me if I'm wrong). A solid axle is going to cost you anywhere from a few grand to up close to $10k depending on how it's done and who does it.

 

[Brandonsaayre]

So the body lift would be the way to go

 

[OffTrac]

IMO, yes.

 

[FROADER]

I would set it up like jenren81's rig. She's running a body lift, torsion twist and shackles and it looks great on 33s.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266259

 

[Brandonsaayre]

I love the way that explorer looks, that's prolly what I will end up doing to mine. I was just asking around for the best advice for a life.

 

[xsportx]

Here's a couple of mine with TT, F150 springs, warrior shackles, and 3" Body Lift

I think she looks alright

The first one is right after BL and tires went on...

 

[Brandonsaayre]

Where did you order your lift and shackles from and around how much is into the lift and everything? I'm not worried about labor price I'm going to do it myself just needed a few prices and somewhere to order it from or get it from, i love the look of that explorer I have 33 inch swampers and rims to put on mine just got to get the lift and everything for it, so if you could tell me how much you got in your if you don't mind and were you got it, it will be greatly appreciated.