Who has been satisfied with the 2" lift?

[Nuetral]

Its time to be thinking what to do for lift size and tire size. Im wondering if the 2 inch lift with springs on the front and shackles for the rear has satisfied anyone? Im not looking for anything crazy big lift i do some mudding, abit of climbing and just straight up trails. Or should i go with a 4inch lift kit? I will also be running 31" tires.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Freshmeat]

I've done a couple variations with 2" lift and in my opinion, if you can swing one of the 4" kits, go for it. Once you piece together a 2" lift front and rear including new shocks, alignment bushings, and alignment... It's not that much more to get a matched 4" lift kit that will ride and flex better, as well as provide room to go a little bigger in the future.

Go with the 4" and never look back.

 

[rngmStr]

if you can swing one of the 4" kits, go for it. Once you piece together a 2" lift front and rear including new shocks, alignment bushings, and alignment... It's not that much more to get a matched 4" lift kit that will ride and flex better, as well as provide room to go a little bigger in the future.

Go with the 4" and never look back.

x2

 

[technoboy235]

Personally I love my 3 inch setup with TT AAL Warrior Shackles and 1 inch BL with 32 inch Tires. It handles great on road and is quite capeable offroad.

 

[Anime]

It's more a factor of tires and gears than lift.

You can fit 31" tires just fine without any lift at all, though spacers/shackles or whatever you want to do for a little lift can help any rubbing issues depending on what tires you have.

You can do a small lift and get a good amount of flex over stock, using the 2.5" OME springs in the rear, and 2-2.5" lift springs in the front, but you'll need extended radius arms for the TTB, otherwise the stock arms will limit travel since you'll be lifting by essentially keeping them dropped 2".

A 4" lift looks pretty silly with 31" tires. The 4" lifts also cost more than a 5.5" lift, since you can just put the leaf springs over the rear axle rather than get a whole new spring pack. A 4" kit and 33's with 4.56 gears is pretty nice, but that's a lot of hardware. You can always go with a 5.5" lift now, and put 33's on there, and maybe 35's later.

31's and a small lift is a nice budget route if you don't want to get into the expense of gears and beefing up everything to deal with larger tires.

 

[bgh1441]

I went with a 2 and like it. maybe a 1 inch body lift to come. but the reason i like two is the cost and hassle. with a 4 everything changes driveshaft angle, more stress on u-joints, have to regear, bracing, and u should get the extended radius arms cause ive heard the bracktes crack and arent very good, so $$$$$.

Yes i am happy and do pretty good, the only thing is no big water holes since i have no snorkle.

 

[Brian1]

I have been running a 2" kit for years and dont plan on changing it. I am running 32s with it and a 1" body lift.

 

[Nuetral]

Thanks guys definiatly going with the 2 inch lift first then after awhile i can go bigger. Sounds good to me anyways haha. Thanks.

 

[tigercat]

i would go with 4 inch springs brcause i bought my 2 inch front springs hoping to get rid of the front way lower than the back. but it did little for my situation.

 

[Welshdragon79]

I did a little different than what your looking at and did the spacers in front and shackles in the rear with a 3" body lift. If I had the time and money I would do a SAS and SOA right from the start
But lets get real I was lucky to scrape enough together for what I have. The shackles limit my departure angle so my custom bumper is doing squat for me. I have read about people "building" spring packs on here but there seems to be mixed reviews on safety and performance. I also ran into someone who said you can run F-150 rear springs, trying to track that thread down.
With 31's and a 2" you'll be right where you want to be with power and gearing clearing the tires, BUT clearance under axle and body will limit you on trail. Here is mine on a local trail called Red Lake ( around Fresno, CA) with the 3" body lift I drag the frame and not the body

 

[little x]

2'' is plenty. i hve 34's with my 2'' lift nd love it.

 

[Freshmeat]

2'' is plenty. i hve 34's with my 2'' lift nd love it.

According to your CarDomain you're running around 5" of lift, not 2".

 

[untouchable]

I got 4" on mine and it works great. I'm running 31X12.5x15. I had 33" but they rubbed so when i wen't to buy new i got 31" for power issues also. Mine see's more on road then off so needed more power with out regearing. in my opinion if your going to lift you should just go 4". It all depends on what your doing and budget.

 

[little x]

According to your CarDomain you're running around 5" of lift, not 2".

nope, *ll the pics *re with 5", but *s I mention in the current condition section, the body lift w*s just removed *nd the fenders cut. Hence it's now 2" front 3" b*ck.

 

[Freshmeat]

nope, *ll the pics *re with 5", but *s I mention in the current condition section, the body lift w*s just removed *nd the fenders cut. Hence it's now 2" front 3" b*ck.

Oh, sweet. Should have read more!

 

[little x]

I figure if I c@n fit 34's, @nd 35's will fit @lso, with only 2" of front lift, then why bother with @ 4 or 6" lift, your just r@ising your center of gr@vity more then you need to be, since running @nything l@rger then 35's will const@ntly sn@p @xles.

 

[Spdrcer34]

Little X is your "A" button broken/missing?

Ryan

 

[unclemeat]

The advantages of a 5.5-inch lift is in the rear axle. It is a spring over axle conversion. No new springs are required. It removes all the crap under the axle and leaves only the axle tube and differential to hang up on trail obsticles. The SOA conversion uses a stock length shock. So you can also reuse old shocks or replace with any stock shock, I prefer Bilstien. You will need an extended brake line.

Next, you can run a 33x12.5 tire without trimming. It is very likely that you can run a 35 inch tire with little or no trimming.

 

[glfredrick]

For your stated purposes, a budget 2" lift would get the job done.

I'd shoot for suspension travel versus lift, and you can get that with 2". What I've found with the Explorer suspension is that lift = dollars. One thing leads to another and the more you lift the more you have to spend.

Travel, on the other hand, is basically free (or very inexpensive) compared to lift brackets, springs, etc. Just re-located shock mounts, longer brake lines (can all be stock pieces from another vehicle -- i.e., salvage yard stuff) and cutting away a bit of sheet metal that might rub at full stuff.

What I found to be THE limiting factor on the 1st gen Explorer are the front leaf spring brackets. It never failed that I hooked them on whatever I was trying to climb. The only cure for those on the Explorer is either radical surgery to the frame or 35+ tires. The larger tires are big $$$ plus you need a re-gear which adds about $2000 to the cost. So, the most cost effective way is to know your limitations and have fun with what you have.

Here are a few links of interest:

F150 springs
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101035

Shackles
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48965

A good plan for a cheap-effective off-road build
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237302

 

[little x]

Little X is your "A" button broken/missing?

Ryan

yep

The lower left hand of my key board had one too many beers!
Now I've copied one and am pasting it in. Hopefully I don't need the letter to the left of X any time soon