Trailmaster '98-'00 update...

[98 Xplorer]

Ray and Juan,

I appreciate the info. I had not even looked at the shafts, so you cleared up a lot. I had just assummed that the CV joints at the wheels would need lengthened. But you know what they say about assuming.

Ray, are you going to install the Xplorer kit or the Ranger kit? Your earlier post mentioned you had purchased the Ranger kit, just wandering and would you do the install yourself and if so would you think about writing up some tips for the install? The reason I ask this is I would prefer to do the installation myself if possible.

Thanks again,
Alan
98 Xplorer

 

[Ray Bates]

Maybe a dumb question, but does anyone know if the kit is the same for 2 and 4 door? I was wondering if it makes a difference with the single rear leaves of the Sport.

 

[felsmann]

I believe is the same. The leafs that come with the kit are replacement leafs, not add-a-leafs.

 

[Rick]

Regarding the rebate. I have called Jim Chick and e-mailed him to no avail. He is obviously not talking to me any longer.

So, there will be no 10% rebate as Jim had promised.

I understand that many of you will still be buying his lift kit's because they are all that's available in the way of a bolt on kit. However I won't be promoting his product in anyway on this site. Jim really rubbed me the wrong way. I was doing nothing, but trying to help the mans business the Explorer community and this is how I get treated.


Rick

 

[felsmann]

That sucks, he does not seem to have any businesss touch, I guess no body is perfect!!

 

[leebo]

Rick, I know this sounds weird but thank you. I'm glad to see that you have some since in your head. I know that we weren't the best of buyers but we had two things he needed, the want for a lift and the money. Right there is enough to make me get off my ass and do something. While he did do something it took him forever to do it and he became an a:fire::fire:hole about it. It seems like he put out this kit at first to please up, then after he got pissed off he seemed to do it just cause he's done put in the money so lets at least break even. I understand that products are hard to make but we are your buyers and you don't want to piss us off, and that's just what we did. I'm glad I have an older explorer. This all just made up my mind to go with another brand.

Thank you very much Rick
Lee Tongate

ps...I see you were not too please with superlift....is this true???? Please say no

 

[Rick]

I don't have anything against Superlift except that they don't make a lift for the late model Explorers I think their 5.5" lift for the older Explorers is about the best out of the box kit for those models.

TC used a modified Superlift Ranger kit to lift his late model and it has worked out very well for him.

 

[98 Xplorer]

Rick,

I know this is a sore subject for you to discuss but could you answer one question for me. In your opinion do you think that the kit for the 98-00 Xplorer will be a quality one, and have they in the past produced quality products?

Thanks for the response,
Alan
98 Xplorer

 

[Guerilla Biscuits]

I have heard no complaints.

 

[Rick]

You've heard no complaints because Jim Chick is driving the only Explorer with the kit...

We will need to wait and see how the kit holds up to real world four wheeling. After all, Jim Chick's Explorer had A/T tires equivalant to 32x11.50s and no lockers. Many of the guys on the board want to run 33x12.50s or even 35's.

 

[Guerilla Biscuits]

I meant in general to Trailmaster.....I know there is but one lifted 99.

 

[Ray Lobato]

Just a little update on my lift.

Well, Today it took Train's 4X4 4 hours to straighten out the front cross member(the one right below the front diff) enough to get the front portion of the Trailmaster Ranger kit on. The lift kit is machined to pretty tight tolerances, and I guess I abused that front cross member enough that it took them quite awhile to straighten it up.
you need to be aware of things like this. This would have been easy enough to put on had the cross member not been dammaged. We thought about cutting it out then straightening it out, but they were able to straighten it out enough without cutting.

 

[GJarrett]

Eeeeuuuwwww.....

I've noticed my right tire sits nearly 3/4" back of my left one. While on the trail I remember several hard hits to the right crossmember, and my Explorer pulls pretty hard to the right; all of which has given me pause for thought that my front crossmember needs a good pull forward on the right side.

What did they do to fix yours? I am very interested in your answer.

[Edited by GJarrett on 08-22-2000 at 06:59 PM]

 

[Ray Lobato]

Gerald,
They took a torch to it and heated it up, then bent(hammered) it back. I will know more on Friday when I go down there and check it out. I'll bring my camera.

 

[Ray Lobato]

I saw my truck today and here's the deal with the front cross member.
The Dual rack steering is a slide mechanism that goes right through the front crossmember and attaches to the rack and pinion steering mechanism.
This is why the steering collum does not have to be lengthened. It stays in the original position My cross member was dented in so much that they couldn't get the Trailmaster steering slide mechanism to go through it, so they had to bend it back out and straighten it up before it would go through.
There is a grease fitting on the slide mechanism, and my mechanic said to make sure I keep that thing greased all the time, or I will have a very bad time with drag on the steering. Seems to think they should have used bearings. This is the same on the Explorer kit, so all you getting the Explorer kit this is something you need to know.
Now my problem is that the kit came with one wrong part. They gave us 2 right hand side rear torsion bar brackets, so we are now waiting for Trailmaster to send us the correct part and then the welding will begin.
Make sure that you have all the right parts before you start taking your truck apart. Hopefully they will get it to us soon.

[Edited by Ray Lobato on 08-25-2000 at 09:29 PM]

 

[Rick]

Good luck Ray, I hope they get you that part ASAP.

Jim Chick finally wrote me back. He says that they are having another production delay due to components from an outside source not being up to their spec. He said there will be some kits shipped to those who ordered them first and then there will be another delay.

He also told me that the rebate is still on, but didn't say when I should start the offer. I asked in another message whether he wanted me to start it now and have people wait an undetermined amount of time before their kit ships or hold off until the kits are readliy available. I think it would be best to wait until they are available otherwise you will have to put out your $$$ and wait. Also since the offer is only good for 90 days it would be better to have people install them and review them so others can decide whether or not to buy a kit for themselves.

 

[Ray Lobato]

Rick,
From what I can tell looking at the Trailmaster Ranger kit and looking at the Trailmaster Explorer, the only differance is the rear. The Ranger kit uses the SOA, so they use lift blocks, and the Explorer kit comes with 4" springs. That's pretty much it. The only differance between the 95-97 and the 98-00 is the rear torsion bar bracket. 95-97's will need to do some welding. The 98-00's it will be a piece of cake. On the ball joint extender you might have to do a little sanding to get the extender to fit over the top portion of the steering knuckle. If you notice from the picture you can tell it was sanded down a bit. also notice that the brake line bracket was moved down, so no problems with the brake line stretching. That is max droop in the picture. One other thing you will notice is at full droop my sway bar hits the steering mechanism. I'll have to figure out something for that. If I can get Perrson to make me some disconnects they will have to be 1 or 2 inches longer than the rods that were furnished by Trailmaster. This might just be a problem on my truck, but something everyone that is going to use the Trailmaster lift should check.

[Edited by Ray Lobato on 08-29-2000 at 10:47 AM]

 

[98 Xplorer]

Rick,

Thanks for the update.

I have a question about your article on the Trailmaster Explorer. You stated in the article that the truck had 295/75-17 tires on it. You compared the 295/75-17 in size to the 32x11.50 but when I did the calculations the 32's measure at about 31.5 and the 295/75-17 measure about 33.4. Did I do the calculations wrong? I am thinking about getting 32's put on when I have kit installed but I don't want the tires to look to small for the lift . Could you help clear up the sizing for me.

Thanks,
Alan
98 Xplorer

 

[Rick]

I think that the tire size which I reported in the SEMA article are wrong. I remember Jim saying that the tires were 32" equivalents when we were at Truckhaven.

Your best bet is to call one of their distributors or Trailmaster themselves to find out for sure.

 

[Ray Lobato]

Bump.
I just put that picture up on my last post.