steering exstension? 2 inch B\L 98X sport

[fangz]

hi, can anyone give me a straight answer on this? some people have told me yes and some no,,,,,,Do i need a steering exstension if i give my 98X sport a 2 inch body lift?? iv made my own lift blocks and i just need to know for sure about the steering before i begin the lift.and also being that i live in AUS the drivers side is on the left when looking from the front of truck,, does this make a difference to anything when lifting?? please help, confused!!! o yeah and iv tryed using the search and it still didnt help me any.

 

[TarHeel085]

i didnt use the one for mine, but thats cause it didnt fit. i havent had any problems without it.

 

[fangz]

cool its good to hear that from someone who has actually done the 2inch b\l on a 98 - 99 X. mine is a four door but looks pretty much the same as yours. so i guess all i have to do is drop the radiator and any other cables that need to be longer and bumper n front bull bar.its an auto so i shouldnt have to mess with extensions for the shifter. thanx for your input mate it is appreciated heaps!

 

[Blee1099]

hi, can anyone give me a straight answer on this? some people have told me yes and some no,,,,,,Do i need a steering exstension if i give my 98X sport a 2 inch body lift?? iv made my own lift blocks and i just need to know for sure about the steering before i begin the lift.and also being that i live in AUS the drivers side is on the left when looking from the front of truck,, does this make a difference to anything when lifting?? please help, confused!!! o yeah and iv tryed using the search and it still didnt help me any.

You made your own lift blocks.. You should be fine.. The only thing I can think of that will cause you problems will be your gear shifter if its a floor mounted one. Not sure if you need the steering extension on a 2" lift but you may have to modify it to fit correctly.

 

[fangz]

hi BLEE 1099,yeah i made the lift blocks out of solid alumininum, i bought a 1mtr length for 100 bukz and cut into 10 seperate 2 inch pieces, then drilled holes in the centre to fit the longer bolts, the blocks are round so they should sit nicely on the rubber body mounts. its a floor mounted auto so do you think il need an exstension on the shifter???this is my first lift so i wanna make sure iv thought of every thing before i begin,,,,will i have to disconnect the steering then reattatch it after the lift if im not using a steering exstension?? your help much appreciated!! cheerz mate

 

[GJarrett]

I'll also confirm for you that you should not need a steering extension for a 2" body lift. I didn't, and others I know of didn't need one either. If you ever go to 3", you will need one, but not at 2".

Welcome to the board. You can click on "Gerald's Truck" in my signature line below and scroll down to the second post and read lost of info about my 99 Explorer that should also apply to yours. There's also been a couple of excellent writeups on body lifts, but I can't remember who posted them. You could try our search feature and type in "body lift" but you might get so many hits that those articles will be hard to find in the list.....

 

[Hokie]

I'll also confirm for you that you should not need a steering extension for a 2" body lift. I didn't, and others I know of didn't need one either. If you ever go to 3", you will need one, but not at 2".

Ditto that, didn't need one on my 2" BL for my '99 X

 

[fangz]

thanx everyone

thanx for all the help it would have been impossible to do without it!!!! your all a great bunch of blokes, glad to be a part of the X forum and hope i can return the help in the future..cheerz!

 

[oconnor]

so whats everyone think, a 2 inch or a 3 inch BL? Is the extra inch worth the hassle of a steering extension?

 

[Bronco638]

It depends on what you want to accomplish with your truck. 2" BL and 32" tires is good enough for me.

 

[GJarrett]

so whats everyone think, a 2 inch or a 3 inch BL? Is the extra inch worth the hassle of a steering extension?

Going to 3" involves a lot more than that. Going that far will also force you to face a lot of other issues - like pulling back your A/C line so it doesn't get rubbed open by the serpentine belt, and losing your parking brake line because it won't extend that far, and messing with bumper relocation brackets (which are a real pain) because a 3" difference in body/frame makes the bumpers look pretty silly.

That one extra inch makes a lot of difference. I'm not saying that it is not worth it - I now have a 3" body lift - but I'm just trying to let you know what considerations that extra inch brings into play, and it ain't just a steering extension.

 

[fangz]

2 inch for me!

yep, i gota agree, the 3inch lift isnt worth the trouble to me as im doing the lift at home with limited resourses,,and its costs me stuff all,,,100 buks for the material to make my blocks and thats it!,iv gone right over my truck to see what il have to exstend in the way of cables and stuff and found that i dont have to touch a thing! except the plastic radiator fan surround.iv got 265s tyres on there, but will be going bigger after the lift. iv wound up the torsion bars 2inches and had 4inch king spring leafys put in the back so hopefully after the 2inch B\L il be able to fit 285 sized tyres on it.hopefully il have it done this weekend,,cant wait to post some pikz!! cya guys.

 

[GJarrett]

You'll be able to do it with very minor trimming. In my "Gerald's Truck" I mentioned, there is an old link to http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=13979 where I put 285/75r16's on mine.

 

[fangz]

i did it!!

i finished the 2inch b/l on my 98x and it was easier than i thought, all i had to do was cut off the plastic radiator fan gaurd,,, which i will replace when i make up some brackets, the steering exstened 2inches with no problems and i reckon it could have gone some more! i couldnt believe how easy it was,thanks again for everyones help,, yeeeeeeehaaaaaa!!!