More upgrades to the Explorer!!

[Evan]

I haven't actually done any work yet, as I'm still waiting for all my parts to come in, but I figured I'd start the thread and let you guys know what I'm up to.

I'll be removing my progressive body lift that starts at 3" in the front and goes to 0" in the rear. It's going to be leveled out to a uniform 1.5" all around. Then I'm going to ditch my F-150 spring front for a Superlift 5.5" kit with extended radius arms. I'll be adding Skyjacker Nitro shocks, 4" pitman arm, swaybar disconnects, and SJ stainless brake lines all around. I'm going to add a power steering cooler as well, since the longer pitman arm will tax the steering a bit more.

Should be sitting around 7" for lift then, and flex MUCH better than it does now, as well as drive better on the road. I have a set of Jeep coils I was going to use up front, but decided against it. From searching around it appears that many people have issues with those coils on the road, and this truck gets driven as much as 4 hours one way to the trail.

Brake lines, pitman arm, and shocks were purchased from TRS fab, for some pretty good prices. Thanks Jim! :beer:

I bought the 5.5" lift used for only about $400, and the previous owner, mtwheelin, has already done a great job beefing up the weak points on that system.

Pics and progress to follow...

http://photos-e.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v1194/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31724604_5937.jpg

http://photos-f.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v1194/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31724605_6266.jpg

http://photos-g.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v1194/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31724606_6566.jpg

[86ford]

someone needs some jeep coils........


86

[Combs Customs]

just letting you know. I had the Skyjacker extended lines. 2nd trip out, drooped the passenger front tire, snapped the line right off. Not long enough. Ended up going to a custom line shop, got some lines 32" long now.

[Evan]

just letting you know. I had the Skyjacker extended lines. 2nd trip out, drooped the passenger front tire, snapped the line right off. Not long enough. Ended up going to a custom line shop, got some lines 32" long now.


Hmmm. I'll be sure to check the max down-travel on each side and make sure I have enough line.

[Combs Customs]

Yea i would. Mine broke 300 miles from home, and i had to drive it with 3 brakes. Almost as much fun as driving 110 miles with just rears, but thats another story.

[Todd]

lookin forward to the build!!

[swiperfoxx]

Sounds Like Fun!

[CheapThrillB2]

awesome look forward to seeing pics of the upgrades or the possibility of seeing the upgrades being used in person

[Evan]

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1734/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31733438_9116.jpg

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1734/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31733439_9359.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1734/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31733440_9617.jpg

F-150 coil vs. 5.5" Superlift coil. 4.5" ZJ springs rear.
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1734/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31733441_9866.jpg

Does anybody know the best way to get the balljoint out of the pitman arm, and the pitman arm off the steering gear?
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1734/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31733442_117.jpg

[CheapThrillB2]

big hammer or a pickel fork thing on the tie rod and a pitman arm puller on the gear boc for the arm.

[Evan]

I beat the crap out of that ball joint....maybe I'll try some heat.

I have a jaw puller, maybe that will work on the pitman arm.

[dude772]

they take ALOTof force to get off most times. i suggest paying the $20 to get the proper tool to get the pitman off.

[LittleBigFoot]

ACE has cheap gear/bearing pullers. Did me well on my many visits to the junk yard.

[Destroyer000]

hit the pitman arm with a hammer sideways.. should pop right off couple good blows as far as removing the arm i would suggest a pitman arm puller so that nothing gets messed up

[crawlin91]

I need to get my superlift brackets gussetted like that before they break.

balljoint-use a pickle fork, but it may destroy the boot which only matters if youre reusing it...or try hitting both sides of the pitman arm where it attaches to the balljoint with hammers while pulling on the steering assembly. just use your third arm

pitman arm-get a pitman arm puller, tighten puller till its tough to turn whack pitman arm with a BFH "hammer" where it attaches to steering gearrepeat. 3-4 times should do the trick.
plenty of pb blaster never hurts either

[mjonesjr]

Looks good.

What coils are you going to be using in the front?

[Evan]

Got it pretty much all done. It looks bad ass. Front end is sitting about 1.5" higher than before. I think it's around 6.5" total lift, right where I wanted to be. The beams and steering linkage are nice and level. I'll get some pics posted tomorrow.

For now I went with my F-150 coils with 1.5" spacers up front, as I had too much trouble getting the Jeep coils to drive well on the road. I need a Skyjacker extreme drop pitman arm, even longer brake lines, and custom shock hoops and I think I will be able to run the Jeep coils.

With the extended radius arms and 150 coils, I have enough flex to fully cycle the Skyjacker 8" shocks.

[milje]

Were you having the same type of problems that Todd was having at first, front end jacking up when you go forward?



Looking forward to the pics!

[Evan]

Were you having the same type of problems that Todd was having at first, front end jacking up when you go forward?



Looking forward to the pics!


Yup. Wheels where jacking up and down in an unpredictable manner. I read through Todd's old thread, and PM'd Junkie to verify that I need an extreme drop for the coils to work.

It's amazing how well even stiff 150 coils flex, once you ditch those stubby stock radius arms and drop the beam pivots down a bit.

[milje]

I'll get some pics posted tomorrow.


Hi it's tomorrow and I want pictures.





















:icon_twisted:

[Evan]

Hi it's tomorrow and I want pictures.

Will post pics soon. The truck has been in the garage for awhile. I'm tweaking various things on the front end. I am also installing a 20 gallon RCI foam-filled fuel cell with an MSD in-line pump:

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1926/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31766060_53.jpg

[Evan]

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1926/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31772094_6512.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1926/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31772097_7348.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1926/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31772098_7630.jpg

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1926/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31772100_8194.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1926/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31772122_750.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1926/131/19/6601727/n6601727_31772099_7912.jpg

Man, I really wanna go wheelin and try this stuff out!

[mjonesjr]

Those are the same radius arms I have. i really like them a lot.

[dogboy]

Looks good! I bet it does really well offroad.

I didn't see anything in your posts, but what was the reason for going with a fuel cell? Did the regular tank get in the way of something?

I see you have the Pro-Comp M/T's as well. Do you like them at all? I got mine with about half tread from a swap meet, and I personally, the FireStone ATX's (235's, stock size) that I had before, except for thier size, I think preformed better than the ProComps... They seem to do somewhat decent on rocks, but nothing else, especially bad in snow.
I don't know if that is becuase they were half worn out, and either no siping, or the siping wasn't deep enough and is now gone, or what.

Just curius what somebody else thinks about them.

[Hahnsb2]

If I wheeled a sploder I'd fuel cell it too. I hate how far the tank hangs down and how its so close to the t-case and axle.

[dogboy]

I've never really look at the tank on an Explorer...

[Hahnsb2]

I'll take some pics of mine tomorrow for ya :icon_thumby:

[Evan]

Looks good! I bet it does really well offroad.

I didn't see anything in your posts, but what was the reason for going with a fuel cell? Did the regular tank get in the way of something?

I see you have the Pro-Comp M/T's as well. Do you like them at all? I got mine with about half tread from a swap meet, and I personally, the FireStone ATX's (235's, stock size) that I had before, except for thier size, I think preformed better than the ProComps... They seem to do somewhat decent on rocks, but nothing else, especially bad in snow.
I don't know if that is becuase they were half worn out, and either no siping, or the siping wasn't deep enough and is now gone, or what.

Just curius what somebody else thinks about them.


The old tank hung down too far, and I had several close calls with trail obstacles, even with skidplate. Then when I installed the doubler the tank had to go for clearance reasons. I put a 13-gallon cell back there with an in-tank pump, but the tank wasn't quite big enough. The pump was noisy and started to go out recently, so I figured I'd upgrade the whole system.

As far as the tires, they do horrible on slippery roads. They do alright in deep snow. They do well on rocks, not not too good in mud, though I haven't aired them down yet. If I make it up to Houghton for some wheelin this spring I'll have Todd help me take out every other outside lug with the tire groover, or else I might take a sawzall to it. The tires do ride very well on the road. :rolleyes:

[cbc24]

hey what could i do im gettign a 92 exploder 5spd 4dr and im thinkign of buying offset rims i dono whats the biggest i can lift the front with out fckin with anything

[Evan]

5.5" is about the max you can lift these trucks before you run into steering issues. If you lift 5.5, you'll want to install extended arms and a drop pitman arm.

You can lift the body 3" on top of that, for a 8.5" total lift. That's high enough (with a little fender trimming) to fit 38s, which are about the most a Dana 35 (or 44 for that matter) can practically handle.

I run 35x12.5 tires on a 10" rim with 4.75 BS. That taxes the Dana 35 wheel bearings quite a bit, so you need to be sure they're set up perfectly. Then torque the outer locknut to 250 ft. lbs. And I added some material to my lock ring notch with a welder.

[Evan]

Ok, gonna get the Jeep springs swapped in finally, and do some more upgrades. I ordered a set of Duff coil buckets, and an extreme drop pitman arm. I'll be running dual shocks up front.

For the rear I will be removing a leaf, and adding a 1.25" extended shackle. I have an ARB on order that I'll be swapping in.

[CheapThrillB2]

You'll have to modify the jeep coils or the duff buckets.....they don't fit well together.

[Evan]

You'll have to modify the jeep coils or the duff buckets.....they don't fit well together.

Yeah, I just realized that. Order hasn't shipped yet so I will cancel it, and build my own buckets.

[compleckz]

where'd you get the extreme drop pitman? the cheapest price i've been able to find is about 190 shipped, and thats like a kick in the nuts..

[CheapThrillB2]

I see you are now Explorer less........Its up for sale on another board I am on.