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fordX302
Wow man you are a it confused.

On a 2wd I am sure that you can get 5" of TT .............you still won't need new keys though, just longer bolts. Now on the 2x4 we are going to destroy the balljoints in a few months, and likely never get the alignment right, leading to premature failure of the wheel bearings and tires. In addition you're ride will flat out be rough as hell as you will have absolutely 0 down travel.

On a 4x4 it is straight not possible. The SLA Explorer front end has around 8 inches of travel. You can get 10 with a good uniball and no sway bar. Now at stock ride height this means 4 up and 4 down. If I did a 5" TT my suspension would be at it's lowest possible point in the arc of travel. Completely eliminating it's effectiveness. Furthermore the CV axle cannot operate beyond approx a 23 degree angle. At full droop they almost reach this and may begin to bind. If they are constantly driven outside their normal operating range they will grenade....quickly. In addition we also come back to the whole issue of Ball Joints and alignment but here the bearings become a 200 dollar part...

Enough said?
 



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point well made dreamr. i agree with the 5"TT on a 4 by. Start singin the song bye bye miss american pie to your CV's
 






http://www.airbagit-store.com/product.asp?returnURL=default.asp&ID=93531
thats the link toi get the lift keys. its for dropped or lifted explorer's. ive used them on both setups. 4.5 drp on my 97. wheelwell measure's 28'' and on the ranger ( 4x4 ) 39'' no body lift. and lets be clear, if i came off with an attitude im sorry, didnt mean to come off that way. there are several different ways you can go to lift your truck and everyone does it differently. cut an paste the link there are many good parts to use to lift the truck. and i wasnt talking about a 5 inch block. i dont even know if they make a 5 incher. well there's the keys for ford torsion setup. hey can either lift or drop 2-3 more then the stock adjuster's.. there clocked differently.
 






you are still missing the point...the keys will do NOTHING else to his suspension. It is not the torsion bars that limit this. It is the CV, Wheel bearings, Ball joints, shocks, and overall fonr suspension design. I dont really mind what you have seen done to trucks because just because they have it done doesnt mean its the right/safe way. Ive seen trucks with stacked blocks, trucks with axles welded straight to the frame via 2x2 box steel...does that mean its right? They did it.... If keys worked so damn well dont you think people would be using them? They do work on other trucks, but thats due to different suspension design. It will not do anything for us.
 












what do you do to the front susp to get a 5" or so lift to accomodate the rise in the rear if i were to go SOA in the rear? and how much more expensive is it than tt, aal or shackles, and a 3" bl? thanks for all the input so far
 






you will need a Superlift/Trailmaster (about $1600 +-) and then crank the Tbars about 2 inches. I would estimate about another 1K for installation of that, unless you plan on it yourself. You can almost SAS for the price of the IFS lifts + install. Youve got to give it alot more thought. Search around here and think about it long and hard.
 






as far as 5'' tt with front cv axels.... my ranger axles work fine. yes it is a ruff ride. and soa you would use a lowering spring over the rear to level out the truck to keep the ass from looking retarded. i realy dont care what your calculations come out to be. you never tried it, so you cant say anything about your decisions on the subject. i have 2 examples of key's working to get 4-5 drop and lift. so i can care less what u say about it. i know better. so take your " mr know it all " attitude elsewhere IT CAN AN HAS BEEN DONE!!!!!!! yeehaw. take any advice u need from this post and enjoy. sorry about all the misleadings from other member's... they want to be the hero of every thread... dont blame them. they dont know any better.
 






yes a student in Mechanical Engineering and a member of Auburn's Mini Baja team does not know what he is talking about. and No i am not trying to be the hero by saying something different from you.
 






ok mr FordX....you got me. I am an idiot, and have no clue what Im talking about. I jsut wanted to be the hero. We are ALL misleading all of the new wheelers in the sport...all the thousands of us are wrong, bc you MUST be right. Yea bud, let me know when you fall off of your High Horse.
 












fordX302 said:
as far as 5'' tt with front cv axels.... my ranger axles work fine. yes it is a ruff ride. and soa you would use a lowering spring over the rear to level out the truck to keep the ass from looking retarded. i realy dont care what your calculations come out to be. you never tried it, so you cant say anything about your decisions on the subject. i have 2 examples of key's working to get 4-5 drop and lift. so i can care less what u say about it. i know better. so take your " mr know it all " attitude elsewhere IT CAN AN HAS BEEN DONE!!!!!!! yeehaw. take any advice u need from this post and enjoy. sorry about all the misleadings from other member's... they want to be the hero of every thread... dont blame them. they dont know any better.

Hahaha
I think maybe you should spend a bit more time lurking on the site and edumacating yourself :rolleyes:

I do not profess to know everything, but some things are really basic and the points made here are those things. Search around a bit in regard to the issue at hand. You will find that many who are a lot more educated than myself, and have a hell of a lot more years than your 26 if your profile is correct, and a hell of a lot more experience, have already discussed this issue to death. You don't have to believe us, go use that there search button at the top of the page and let a few hundred other members previous posts and long discussions do the teaching.


P.S. when your 5" tt'ed Ranger blows that CV, come on back and I'll tell ya where you can find high angle cv's, uni-balls, and coil-overs ;)
 






yea ok ill do that. when my axle blows out, and it should be soon, because shoot, only been riding that way for 5 years and 70+k miles. either one of them are at extreme angles. as for balljoints i went with moog. on both trucks. no problems there. and as for shocks? thats a given, what fool wouldnt replace the shocks after you lift the truck. all i was tryin to say u made me out to be a fool from the start. and it pisses me off when people like u guys tell me it cant be done, when i have the examples sitting at my house. so maybee you 2 dont want to be hero's thats fine. and im no expert by any means.... hell, im a truck driver on the east coast. so i have no degree's or whatever in this field. what i do know is what i have done, and what trouble it has caused me. YEEHAW wanted to know his choices in making his explorer ride a lil higher, i gave him some. u might not agree with them, but this isnt about fightin like girls over this. he can make his own choices. i didnt mean any harm damn.... jus helping people out. how would u like it if i bashed your idea, because in my head it seems it wouldnt work right. or it doesnt balance out right. or to much money, or whatever reason. all i know is it has given me pleanty of trouble free years of service. and that my axle doesnt bind out. and both are axle front trucks. 97 5.0 AWD and a 99 4x4 4.0 ranger. so lets all just stick with the program, this thread is to help anther with his choices. thats exactly what he wanted. so its up to him to do what he wants. but dont bash other member's because there idea's dont go with what YOU think it correct. in the end no one wins...... well good luck yeehaw. hope u get what u need out of this.
 






;) Just because you CAN do sdomething does not meant you SHOULD, nor does it mean that it is a wise decision.

All in all I want to see a picture too. You see if I jack the front end of the X up and release the front shocks the arms droop only a couple/ three inches before they are stopped by CV bind. And actually if you were to figure out that angle it is closer to 30 degrees on my rig, I don't really know why, I just know it is :p . Mind you all the above is noted on a vehicle which runs 2" inches of TT.

I think I could get 5" out of those Torsion bars, however I would not waste my time just to say that I can. I know that I would be operating close or past the binding area of the CV's regularly, not to mention all the other stressed mechanical components. Furthermore I am well aware of the basic fact that for every inch you go up with TT you lose that inch of Down travel. If you actually likel to drive dowtravel is as relevant as up trave why would you want to lose all of it.

Enough though why do I debate this point with one who obviously has never looked into the subject with any attempt to gather wisdom. I say this because a quick google search showed me that the Chevy, Dodge, Nissan, Toyota, etc......guys all agree with the general 2-3 inch rule of thumb. Unfortunately some of them do have to replace their Torsion keys to adjust more than a half inch or so, Some have to replace or at least flip their T-bars to get any lift. Us Explorer guys have it easy, Just crank the damn bolt and up you go...........
 






Fordx...in all due respect, and out of sheer curiousity.....i ask of two things from you. Did you have to get longer t-bar bolts? The second thing i ask, is if you could pm me or post a pic of your front, im really interested to see how it looks. Im askin cuz ive seen someguys on this furom with 4" TT. Like you said every truck is different. So whadday say?
 






with the question of longer bolt.... no i used the same stock bolt. i ran them all the way in. didnt even think about longer bolts to be honest. i know some people think i shouldnt run this way. and i know u lose down travel. buts its moslty for show, and i do go off road, but not any rock crawling or anything..... as far as pics, i have no camer. but ill see if my sister would let me borrow hers. only thing is id have to mail it to an elite member, as i cannot post pics as a wanna bee. thanks
 












wow. this got pretty whack! yeah, i'm not really sure what road i'm gonna take with a big lift, but i'm pretty sure i'm gonna start with a 3"bl, tt, aal, and maybe shackles if the back is still low. it should take me long enough to find money for that and then install it, that by the time it's done i will hopefully know a little more about my x and what types of lifts are better than others. once again, thanks a whole lot for all of your input on the subject. just for the sake of arguing. i don't see how you have 5" of tt with 70k on it and the same cv joints. i mean that would be really sweet if i could do it reliably, but i know better, and i kinda like suspension travel, and i like not breaking things. j/k.
 






Now that I amk done bickering :p
I'll try to be more helpful in your question Yeehaw :D

4" IFS Kits
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133899

Soa
Dead Link Removed

AAL
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97676

Lift and tire size info for explorers
http://explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=67200

How to disable the AUTO setting for Control Trac
Dead Link Removed

Warrior Shackle Install
Dead Link Removed

Torsion Bar 101(with Pictures)
Dead Link Removed

Adjusting the torsion bars
Dead Link Removed

Body Lift
http://mudmarine.tripod.com/3bodyliftinstall/index.html

All around good read
Dead Link Removed
 



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removing the sway bars increases suspension travel, right? if so, how do i take them off? i don't mean to bring up an old thread,but if someone has the link to it, i'd appreciate it. thanks
 






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