Swedens only lifted 1st gen

[Peter Westling]

So I finally got everything in place, rims delivered (AR 767), tires delivered (Super Swampers SSR 32x11.5x15, and balanced. Also weather was fine. Time for the 3" PA793 BL.
The Roughcountry 2" suspension lift was done last october...
Took me some evenings to get the bumpers, and bodymounts off. All was kind of rusted and some bolts had become one with the frame...
Parts were bought from spain : http://www.solojeep.com/ Europe people, I can recommend them!
I had some issues with the steering but after drilling the steeringflange and relocated those parts a bit downwards it worked out ok. Also some fendercutting had to be done.
Next step is homefab tubebumpers...
Any way here is the pics:
Before with 31" tires:

After:

Hope you like it!

 

['97 V8]

more pics more pics! Them swedish explorers and thier wierd headlights

 

[Peter Westling]

Okay, some more pics:

Dunno what is weird, we se them as normal..

Any way I did this job some late evenings:
Here is one side lifted and the other side was also done before I went to bed,
First thing in the morning was to torque the bodymount bolts:

I ran into som issues with the lower part of the fan shroud... The tranny cooling lines disturbed a bit, I just twaeked the a bit, I am planning to remove the hardlines that might get hurt offroad to hoses, regarding the rust it is time to change.
Any way, I could not figure out how to mount the shroud with the bracket that came with the package.. So I fabbed some mounts in alu and that worked out pretty ok probably more stable than the bracket included:
Left lower side on fanshroud:

Right lower side on fanshroud:

Here is the front shown, no bumpers yet, also the homefabbed shroud brackets is seen here a small white squares:

Here is a rear view:

I will create som gapguards, the rubberpieces has been bought and waiting to the sized and cutted to the right shape.

I coated the rims with rustprotecting clearcoat before putting the wheels on.
Also, the wheel got balanced with plastic beans instead of weights...

 

['97 V8]

thats more like it. I like it a lot. Looks waay more aggressive.

 

[Peter Westling]

Thanks! I have putted a lot of effort in this. I am not a mechanical guy, I am on my way though and a LOT of these things had never come true if it not were for this site and the the info that resides here... Elite membership has been the cheapest part!

 

[explrths]

Damn good looking X. Keep it up

 

[94explorer2x4]

VERYYYYYYYYYYYYY NICE!!
weird headlights though

 

[bmxking5]

I wasn't paying attention to where you live and first thought you had installed XJ/cherokee headlights. The lift makes the truck look really aggressive.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

good job

 

[Peter Westling]

Gapguards

I could just not left some parts halfdone, I made some shopping last week and went to a firm that sells everything rubber. So I bought some hoses and a 3mm 2ft x 3 ft rubbermat.
I used a little more powerful scissor compared to a normal one. Then I used a sharpened pipe to make the holes in the rubber, drilled the plastics and used stripes to make it stay in place.

Passenger side:

Drivers side:

Very easy to create!

Since people seem to really take notice to my headlights and the weirdo looking style of them I include a closeup on the drivers side.. Go ahead, drool!

And oh, thanks for the comments! Appreciated!

 

[Fordpwnzchevy]

i want headlights like that Ex looks awesome. g/j on the gapgaurds.

 

[DeRocha]

Congratulations on a job well done
Many of us were just dreamers that wanted to make our vehicles more capable, but didn't know how until we found this site... As you tackle each new problem your skills and confidence increase to the point where you can do anything without fear of really screwing up your vehicle... Again nice job and keep up the good work...

 

[bmxking5]

As you tackle each new problem your skills and confidence increase to the point where you can do anything without fear of really screwing up your vehicle...

Definitely agree with that. I've only been registered on this site for 2 years...started out not knowing very, very little about cars, and had never even changed my own oil. Now I've done an SAS (took a while, but I did it ) and I'm about to rebuild the trans myself.

 

[MadScotsMan]

That's nice! Great job!

 

[IZwack]

Great job.

My favorite is your license plate.. two pair of three sixes

 

[Peter Westling]

Thanks for the comments!
Derocha, bmxking5: That is exactly what I have been experiencing, been here for a year or so, didnt know that much, starting with some minor basic things, getting more info of what is possible, building confidence and experience, making more restoration and upgrading, people here helping out and pushing with good info and a nice attitude... and one day (not there yet)you end up with a monster in your backyard on four big wheels, all of them difflocked...
And you did it by yourself. It is not the destination, its how you get there...

IZwack: Sorry, but the plate is photoshopped, in Sweden you can check too much info online, owner, adress, and a lot of info that I didnt want to expose... just a small integrity thingy.... I do only have just one "6" in the number....

Did some more shopping today, I have bought an oiltemp gauge to monitor the tranny temp, also a pod to my vaccum meter. Pics will come later of the installation...

Ohhh.. and a funny thing happened today, three little guys asked me for a direction when I was out and testing the steering in the neighbourhood...
I gave them the answer and they thanked, and added :
"Waow your car is huge and what a nice and big wheels you've got!"
I have became that cool guy with that dreamrig that 12 year old kids with their baseballhats backwards and bmx-bikes dream of.
I smiled widely all the way back home

 

[Peter Westling]

Steering Stabilizer

I got this steering stabilizer from RoughCountry $49.95. When I first tried to get it in place and do it according to the REALLY bad picture that went with the installation paper I could not just get it right. Problems were, bolts were too short for the two brackets that goes around the frame. U-bolts touched the draglink if I bolted the stabilizer to the tierod according the installation notes... The angle was not good , it should be somewhat parallel to the draglink I suppose... and so on. I did even check with Roughcountry to see if I had the right parts delivered...
Anyway after some fiddling and testing I came with this:
The brackets that goes around the frame change places on the two pieces, inner one goes on outside the frame and vice verse. Turn the other L -shaped piece that has the two u-bolts 180 degree and bolt it to the draglikn instead of the tierod, it goes free and do not interfere with pitman or the tierod. Put threadlock on the bolts that holts the damper and dont torque it to much, the angle is not perfect and itis not total parallel with the draglink but much better that original assembly notes...
Here is picture that shows the install:

After the install I jacked up the front, turn the wheel to check the clearance and measured the travel. Total travel of the damper was 20cm and I got nearly perfect centre of that, 10.5 cm left and 9.5 cm right.

When I testdrived the steering improved really, much more stable. And not that "nervous" that it was before...

 

[Peter Westling]

J-Clips

Sorry if this thread more looks like a blog of what I am doing, If it should be moved or I should post anywhere else, please inform me...

I have read some scary stories of coils jumping out of the top location. I have seen two different solutions there, the "weld a pipe inside the coil so it goes back where it should be", this gives more flex and will probably sound a bit more popping in and out of the socket..
The other solution I found is to use a J-clip, as I understood this was standard on the f-150 and that part can be used ona Explorer, cost was about $7. Unfortenaly you cant get it that easy here were I live so I had to make mine from scratch. Thickness is 3mm width 30mm and height 70mm including the radius, I used a hammer and 11mm socket to create the radius.
Spraypainted with the only paint I found at home... white and then clearcoated some times to prevent rust. Drilled a 8,1 mm hole and used a 8 x 20 mm bolt with a locknut.

 

[IZwack]

Lookin fancy there - I do like ur use of MM instead of Inches Truly you are on a better system than us

 

[Peter Westling]

Inches confuse, I have to do so much maths in my head because I live in millimeters and have to translate all the time when reading, forums, haynes fordcd's and so on... (head goes like: 9/16"...? hmm ...2,54 / 16 = 0,158 x 9 =1,42 cm)
Also strange is that it is mixed, the bodymount bolts is in mm but other bolts can be in inches...
Then you got things like pipes.. lenght in inches and diameter in mm

I heard that inches origin was the maximum legal thickness of the stick you should use when punish your wife or "raise" you kids some hundred years ago

White is fancy and very practical to have in that area . Tomorrow it will become grey as the rest...