Skyjacker 4" Lift Feedback

[4x4junkie]

Wow, a bunch more replies on here snuck past me. Only just now seeing them.

Thanks everyone for weighing in, I appreciate the feedback. I've seen lots of people talking about DIY-style lift kits, I'd love to know more about that if anyone has good details to share. I do plan on a V8 swap, so something that can hold the extra weight in the future is preferable.

DIY can be a practical option if you have an ability to work with metal (homebuilt extended radius arms are a popular item).
With a welder and knowing how to use it, it's a great way to both save a little $$$ and tailoring things more to your own needs. But otherwise in general you would be better off getting a complete kit.

Skyjacker's coil springs are a bit on the softer side, If you're planning a V8, you might want to get their 6" kit because you'll lose some lift height to the engine's weight (the fact you have a Supercab (heavier) adds to this as well). You might also need higher-end shocks for it that can better-control the extra weight too (or a dual-shock kit).

 

[Shran]

Drop brackets are the hardest piece to build from scratch and there really is no reason to, up until very recently you could get a set on eBay for $120 (still available but for more money.) https://www.ebay.com/itm/143680293572 that was the old listing. Home built extended radius arms are fairly easy if you know how to weld and understand caster/how to build your arms accordingly. Piecing a lift together does require some leg work on your end, it's not a matter of just bolting a kit on for sure, really just depends on how small you want your budget to be.

I hadn’t thought about buying different leaf springs, that’s a good idea. Are Deavers springs stiffer?

Dunno about stiffer but better quality for sure. There are other brands too - a million options out there for leaf springs. Maybe SJ springs will work fine for you - everyone is different there, my buddy has a leaf sprung buggy and is breaking a spring almost every time he goes out. I've bent two on my crawler. None on my Explorer or the YJ. A friend of mine down the street had a brand new set of Explorer springs from RockAuto sag out really fast. Lots of variables is what I'm saying.

Something to keep in mind is your ride height vs suspension travel vs tire size. My Ranger crawler has roughly a 6" lift (8" Duff early bronco coils with some cut off and 6" SJ leaf springs with no blocks) with 35" tires. It actually sits a couple inches higher than the Explorer I'm building and that truck is on 36's. I am starting to prefer less lift if possible... body panels trimmed for tire clearance and such. A lower center of gravity is never a bad thing. If you want to keep your body panels intact and run bigger than 33's then you might have to do a 6" lift. 93+ body style helps a lot with tire clearance though so you have that going for you.