TT and Shackle Question

[JCross0525]

Hello All,

I had a quick question about my recent lift. Following the well detailed threads on this forum I was able to lift my 96 Explorer with Warrior shackles and a TT, but I have a question about lift height.

Upon completion, and driving around to let it all settle, I had lifted:

DF: 1.25"
PF: 1.0"
DR: 1.5"
PR: 1.75"

During the TT to acheive this lift it took about 6 full roations on DF and 7 on PF. Is this normal?
I still have about .75" travel left on DF bolt and 0.5" on the PF bolt.

Could I tighten them up even more to acheive a full 1.5" on both sides? Or was that so many roations I may be putting everything in too much of a bind?

Thank you for the input,

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes, you can adjust them as you like. The bolts should be in the adjuster enough threads so they aren't damaged from the forces. I'd say similar to a lugnut, it should be engaged by at least the thickness of the bolt, which is close to 1/2" isn't it? I had one of mine out and the other one adjusted to achieve level in the front of mine(back in 2005ish).

FYI, I suggest adjust the front height based on the suspension, not the body. The steering and handling need to be equal left to right. If the height differs, then the handling is different also, turning left versus right. If it was a NASCAR thing, then jacking it up differently on one side could help it to turn left better etc. But you need it to handle equally in each direction.

Measure the height from the ground, up to the front lower control arm bolt, which you can see at the front of the frame. Check both the left and right one, and make those match in height. That will be level for the chassis, the fenders are not mounted equally high for each side. All of the full frame Explorers are that way, some fenders are over 1/2" different side to side.

 

[JCross0525]

Okay great, I will measure those bolt heights and adjust as necessary, I didn't think about the level for handling. Thanks!

So you don't think driving the T bolts in all the way will put too much stress on the cv joints? As long as overall lift height doesn't exceed 1.5"?

 

[CDW6212R]

What you care about is the angle of the CV joint from straight. The general thought is within 2.5" shouldn't affect lifespan much at all. I had my truck lowered at least 2.5" right after I bought it in 2003. I had to replace both axles at about the same time, one with a torn boot, and the other when hunting a vibration(driveshaft CV). I have the same two axles on my truck still, and I've put 108k on the truck. So I haven't pushed the CV limits too far.

As long as there isn't some low quality CV axle out there, you will be fine staying within that 2.5" or so from straight(axle).

 

[358R]

Since we're kinda on the topic (and I know this won't be the same for all trucks), about how much turn equals how much drop/lift? Or are the differences from truck to truck too great to make a generalized correlation like this?

 

[Mbrooks420]

That's a great point about the fenders not being parallel. When I did mine, I used the fenders as a reference. I might adjust mine, I'm do for an alignment.

 

[CDW6212R]

I'd guess it takes most of the threads of the bolt to move it 3" or so at most. You won't really get more without the bolt running out of threads, or it coming all the way out. Mine was different enough left to right that one was out to get it lowered some, so I opted to buy new lowering keys later. When I rebuilt the whole suspension, then it was somewhat the same adjustment for each bolt. My other two trucks aren't lowered that much, the alignment wouldn't work on those at the same height.

I think my lowered truck was about 8.5" up to the bolts, from the frame.