torsion bar ?'s :(

[mgarcia]

Hey guys (and ladies?).. long time searcher, first time poster, sorry for the length in advance. I know everyone's probably tired of torsion bar questions, so my apologies.

I just upgraded to some 31-10.50 GY Silent Armors yesterday, and I was getting some rubbing on the front bumper. I cut a little bit off, so it's gone, but I want to raise the front end up another 1.75" or so. Easy, right? Just do a TT. USE THE SEARCH BUTTON I know, I know.

Note: this truck has been in an accident involving the front suspension.

I crawled under my truck (2000 AWD V8 Mountaineer) to tighten up the torsion bars. I stuck my head under and PBBlasted them, jacked it up, then crawled under to start tightening the bolts. The driver's side bolt is already screwed in as far as possible. Any guesses where I should go from here? I'm stumped. A friend suggested some Sport-Trac spindles.. would that give me another inch or two?

I checked the door code, and I already have 1-rated torsion bars (which from what I've gathered is the heaviest duty available, but also don't affect ride height?). I have a few threads left to go on the passenger side, but the truck is already an even 43.5" from fender to ground at all 4 corners right now so I don't want to crank on the passenger side and make the truck sit crooked.

Follow up question (less important) - I have shackles that I purchases nearly two years ago and I had the intentions of lifting it a few inches then, but never got around to it. The stock shackles are about 6" from bolt to bolt, and these aftermarket ones (I'm not sure if they're WAR153's) are about 9" from bolt to bolt. How much lift would these give me in the rear? I'm assuming (and hoping) it wouldn't be a full 3" from ground to fender.

Thanks!
~mike

 

[TBMounty50]

Not sure about your torsion bars but I can comment on the shackles. Lift will typically be around half(or slightly less than) the added length of the shackles because they are only moving one end of the spring. The axle is located close to the midpoint on the leaf spring, but not exactly. If I remember correctly, the axle favors the front of the springs. 1-1\2" longer shackles on mine gave me just under 3\4" of lift.

 

[Brandon96]

If my measurements were right when I last checked, you won't get more than 1/4" out of ST spindles, and if you do those you'll have to use their brake rotors as well, as they were bigger in diameter. (which is an awesome upgrade if your towing) Everything else is the same.

It's fairly common to max out the driver's side torsion bar bolt as in most cases it's shorter than the passenger's, or it's the other way around I can't remember. I've seen that a lot of people have just replaced the bolt with a longer one, I'm not sure what the size is or thread pattern, but there's a few threads on it here and there where guys have done that.

Welcome to the forums!

EDIT -- here's a thread where somebody used longer bolts, all info and specs are there:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255106

 

[mgarcia]

Not sure about your torsion bars but I can comment on the shackles. Lift will typically be around half(or slightly less than) the added length of the shackles because they are only moving one end of the spring. The axle is located close to the midpoint on the leaf spring, but not exactly. If I remember correctly, the axle favors the front of the springs. 1-1\2" longer shackles on mine gave me just under 3\4" of lift.

That's what I was hoping, so I'll actually get about 1.5" out of a 3" longer shackles. Perfect, thanks!

I've seen that a lot of people have just replaced the bolt with a longer one, I'm not sure what the size is or thread pattern, but there's a few threads on it here and there where guys have done that.

I actually feel stupid for not thinking of this. If no one else has a better idea, I think this is what I'll try tomorrow. Now off to find a thread so I don't encounter any surprises Thanks!!

 

[Brandon96]

I edited in a link on my response, if you haven't seen it yet, just giving yah a heads up.

 

[TBMounty50]

What's up with the ST spindles Brandon96? I want to upgrade. Have you done the swap? Where does the 1\4 inch come from? I'm guessing a lower mounting point for the hubs in relation to the ball joints? Sorry for the rapid fire questions!

 

[Jason c]

I just swapped those same tires, same size even, over from my 93. Love them.

I have also heard of people swapping out the bolt for a longer one. It sounds like your torsion bar is sagging quite a bit. Mine is maxed out on the drivers side now, but I also have it lifted to match the lifted shackles in the back.

 

[Brandon96]

What's up with the ST spindles Brandon96? I want to upgrade. Have you done the swap? Where does the 1\4 inch come from? I'm guessing a lower mounting point for the hubs in relation to the ball joints? Sorry for the rapid fire questions!

I personally have no done the swap, theres plenty of threads of people that have. I went to the JunkYard and if my measurements, from the bottom of the spindle to the bottom of the hole where the CV goes through, are correct, the ST spindles would net you 1/4" of lift, wouldn't really call that lift though.. lol

The 1st Gen ST used bigger brake rotors, but everything else remained the same. From what I've been told this greatly improved the stopping power of the 2nd Gen Explorers.. But again I haven't finished/done the swap yet, so I wouldn't be the one to know first hand.

 

[eazyasone23]

holy smokes i had the same issue i just posted the same thing.

 

[mgarcia]

Ran by Fastenal, didn't have the bolts in stock. They had a bolt with the measurements needed, but it was only threaded on the first 1/2" of the bolt. Ran by Home Depot, they had the right bolt, 8.8 grade, but only 70mm long. I gave it a shot, and a 70mm bolt is about 10mm longer than the stock bolt, which evens me out perfectly for where I wanted to be, 35.5" from ground to fender (about 1.5" over stock height).

Probably will go back and eventually swap for the Fastenal bolts.. no offense to Home Depot, but the Fastenal bolts just seemed to be a much higher quality.

Thanks for the help guys, $3 in bolts is much better than what I was thinking I would have to do for another inch LOL. The shackles are going on tomorrow evening. I've already read a few of the writeups on these forums and it seems like it should be pretty straightforward.

Oh, and for those of you that have this same problem and need new bolts, the exact bolt you need is - M12x1.75x100mm (8.8 grade or better) From what I've read, you can go up to about a 120mm long bolt if you're 2wd, and like I said, I only needed a 70mm long bolt to get it where I needed it to.

 

[corkey]

but the truck is already an even 43.5" from fender to ground at all 4 corners right now

i want to know how you got this,,
i have a superlift 4 inch kit and my coilovers cranked up a bit, but not all the way and my fenders with 35 inch tires are only at about 40 inches,,
so i would say that 43 1/2 inches is not doable, , maybe if i added a body lift,

 

[Brandon96]

hahah I was about to say something about that. I think he meant 33.5 lol

 

[mgarcia]

hahahah actually i mean 34.5", I think I'm getting dyslexia in my old age.

 

[corkey]

all good,