Explorer Leafs+ 04 Ranger = Awesome

[86_FX4]

Hey all, been a long time lurker and have owned a few rangers over the years. Wanted to chime in an post a fresh update to my experience throwing on some explorer leafs onto my (new to me) 2004 FX4 4.0 4x4. I searched a lot prior to this and my experience differed from what I read everywhere, so just keeping everyone in the know!

My rear end was sagging BAD. My last camping trip I wanted to use my shell and there was some decent 4x4 on the way in.. with the shell and a decent load in the back, the truck rode horrible, bottomed when it shouldn't and was dragging a** ridiculously. Once I got home took a quick peek under and saw my leafs were literally less than flat... inverted even. lol. I set out to throw on some explorer leafs like I've read in so many places to restore the height, and maybe get a small lift so I could 4x4 safely and not drag butt the whole time with a load and shell in the back.

Went to the junkyard and scoured for explorers. I was looking for a 4/1 leaf pack, but could not find any in the roughly 10 explorers they had. I hear bronco II leafs are also compatible, I did see one, but the leaf pack was in pretty bad shape and looked WAY overkill. Very thick and stout. I ended up with a 3/1 leaf pack from a v8 2001 explorer thinking it would have a higher load and/or spring rating. I pulled them pretty quick as someone else already took the axle and walked out, $63 dollars poorer for the set.
-----Later I learned you could check the door sticker to get the spring rate. I would do this next time-------

I struggled getting my body high enough to drop the axle low enough to get the new leafs in. While it was up however, I noticed my problem... both middle leafs, BOTH sides, broken.. just snapped.. lol I ended up having to reinstall all the original equipment to get it back on the ground safely, and went to harbor freight for some taller jackstands. My little 3ton ones just weren't tall enough.. got some 6 ton, roughly 23.5" tall stands ($40 w coupon) and that did it. Install was a snap, however the forward eye bolt size is different. The stock ranger bolt is a 5/8th while the explorer front eye is 9/16th.. Luckily I saved the bolts from the explorer leaf, so I had to use that for the front. I torqued the u bolts but kept the eyes loose. Once the tires were back on and truck down, I torqued the eyes down to reduce bushing twist. The mismatch in bolt size doesnt bother me, it seems very snug, doesnt clack or shift, I'm confident using the 9/16th bolt in the eye mount made for a 5/8th. You may not, or you may have an older ranger (I believe 03 and older shares bolt sizes as explorer).
-----For my 04 ranger, had to use the front bolt from the explorer, and the rear I could use my original bolt------

Couldn't believe it. I gained over 3.5" in the wheel well. My truck sits very noticeably higher and feels great. Smooth, less bounce or chop, just rides great. With that being said, I did also pull out the shocks to inspect them after finding the broken leafs. Blown. Completely Blown.. They were the Rancho variety. I threw in some new Bilsteins (82$ from rockauto, or cheaper as a full 4 set from amazon) and I'm very impressed with the ride quality, looks, and height gained. It feels SO much better, so much that I went ahead and got new front Bilsteins, and some new tbars (code1, 203$ for both R/L) so I can crank them slightly to level things out, then get some slightly oversized tires and an alignment and feel really good about my suspension.

Note: The MOOG rockauto shackles ($25 ea) for my truck came with the rear eye bushing, so in the next few weeks I plan on dropping the leafs again to press in the new bushing and seal the deal on my rear.

NEXT, i'm tackling the front end. I have sitting pretty and waiting for the next few weekends:
-Moog tierod ends
-Moog sway bar links and bushings
-Moog full lower control arm with bushings/ball joints
-Bilstein front shocks
-code1 tbars

Once thats all tackled, I'll slap on some 265/75/16 KO2's or michelin AT2's (havent decided yet), get an alignment and I'll drop a pic in here. Should be suuuuuuuper sexy compared to where it was just last weekend!

Pics are before the front end is done or cranked. Think I got room for bigger tires?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Glad you're happy with the results. I'm curious as to what you read and exactly what differed in your swap? With a broken leaf on each side and blown out Rancho's it wouldn't take much to improve what you had.

Welcome to TRS... looking forward to seeing your truck.

 

[86_FX4]

I know... lol. Pretty bad, never seen that before on my past Rangers.
But to answer the question, I didn’t see a clear answer anywhere about the front eye size differing... everywhere I seemed to see people were able to just slap them in. On researching leaf spring replacements I found out the size differs in 04 and up!

 

[Uncle Gump]

I thought that was documented here... I think @85_Ranger4x4 just went through this on his spring swap.

 

[sgtsandman]

He did mention a different size bolt. Like his originals were too small for what should have been there.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I'm going to have a look... if that isn't in the Tech Library... it probably should be.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

He did mention a different size bolt. Like his originals were too small for what should have been there.

Originals were fine, the ones I stuck in a few years ago (2009 Ranger) had bigger front bolt holes than what my truck originally had. The later Rangers were bigger than the earlier trucks, not sure when they changed. You will get some weird axle movement with the wrong bolts.

Some findings I had about some different bushings/bolts:

Explorer Leaf Spring Bushing Notes

Kind of a team effort thing we cooked up in the 4x4 Suspension section... Replacement bushing for Explorer leaf spring specs. For steel multileaf springs commonly swapped into Rangers: 91-94 Explorer Front: RB-159 A-Outer Diameter:1-5/8 inch B-Length:2-1/2 inch C-Length:3 inch D-Inner...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[86_FX4]

This is what I found after my bolt size issue, and what I found to be true from the junkyard searches. Should be added somewhere for sure!

Ford Ranger Leaf Springs, Ford Explorer Leaf Springs, Ford Bronco, Ford Bronco II Leaf Springs

 

[Uncle Gump]

I see you posted a couple pictures... nice truck. I believe a 32 inch tire will fit just fine. You could probably even go 33x10.50. You probably have a 4.10 gear and in my experience a 32 inch tire works well... a 33 inch tire and I would probably go for a gear change.

I copied the spring spec table in the link you provided and put it into excel. Then converted it to .pdf. I'm going to post it in the Tech article submission page and see if @Jim Oaks thinks it would be worthy to add into the Tech Library.