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.

 

[INHWMW]

if you know how to weld

I'm actually a welder by trade, so I'm fairly competent. I have definitely heard that SJ coils are soft. In this article:
-->https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/optimizing-the-skyjacker-suspension-kit/#gsc.tab=0
The author (present in this thread haha) mentions that coil spacers can be a viable option to combat sag in the front due to V8 or Extended Cab weight. I know I have a pair of those bouncing around here somewhere, so if I found them I could use them in the front. I could also purchase another set of shocks to double up at the front if that would be wise. I suppose I could also just go for a stiffer shock. Feedback welcome!

My main concern with building my own kit is just that I don't know enough to do a good job. I'm a pretty decent fabricator, I just worry about design and how my potential mistakes would affect drivability.

There are other brands too - a million options out there for leaf springs.

On the note of leaf springs, I had the idea to use the SJ coils and add a helper leaf (like Hellwig or another brand) to help manage the load when I use it for actual truck things. Thoughts on that idea?

 

[INHWMW]

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.

Amen to that, I'm not going for a super high lift. Really just some increased wheel travel, maayyyybe bigger tires (on 31s now) and a slightly more aggressive stance. I have a "leveling kit" on it now but it's not doin it for me.

 

[gaz]

@INHWMW
I was reluctant to speak about the 1996 rear pack until I looked them up. Looks just like an 83-94, I have taken junkyard 91-94 Explorer's pack, used the thickest bottom leaf then just added little leaves from the Explorer pack until it met my height needs. May ride a tad stiff in the rear but it is great with a heavy load and keeps the rubber stuck to the Earth.

The cost, hardly worth mentioning; I believe the most I've paid for a wrecking yard set of Explorer packs is $60. $ometimes it's more cost effective to buy the vehicle, take everything useful the get paid to WRECK IT

 

[Shran]

I'm actually a welder by trade, so I'm fairly competent. I have definitely heard that SJ coils are soft. In this article:
-->https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/optimizing-the-skyjacker-suspension-kit/#gsc.tab=0
The author (present in this thread haha) mentions that coil spacers can be a viable option to combat sag in the front due to V8 or Extended Cab weight. I know I have a pair of those bouncing around here somewhere, so if I found them I could use them in the front. I could also purchase another set of shocks to double up at the front if that would be wise. I suppose I could also just go for a stiffer shock. Feedback welcome!

My main concern with building my own kit is just that I don't know enough to do a good job. I'm a pretty decent fabricator, I just worry about design and how my potential mistakes would affect drivability.


On the note of leaf springs, I had the idea to use the SJ coils and add a helper leaf (like Hellwig or another brand) to help manage the load when I use it for actual truck things. Thoughts on that idea?

I cut out some coil spacers on my plasma table, they were 100% needed when I lifted my Explorer just to level it side to side. It was almost an inch low on the driver's side. Pretty handy, cut them out of 1/4" and stack them to your heart's desire.
Post #3: https://www.therangerstation.com/fo...l-and-dxf-files-to-share.215726/#post-2123903

Building radius arms would be the most complicated part if you pieced a lift together, you would need to measure caster before you take it apart and build in at least what you started with into the extended arms. An alignment afterwards will get it back in spec. Helps to kick them in a bit for tire clearance too. Most kits have them set up to where they share the same mount with the transmission crossmember. I like that because it opens up the area where your radius arm crossmember currently exists for a skid plate. If you build your own trans crossmember, you can build skid plate mounting points into that as well.

I've never used helper springs of that style. Coilover load leveler shocks - yes - those work great especially for a rig that's always loaded, ride quality will be pretty stiff when empty. Add-a-leaf will make it stiffer too. You could run dual shocks in the rear and have the second set be air shocks that you can air up - or do airbags! If you do air shocks I would build better mounts for those so you don't have a ton of weight sitting on just the factory style mounts...not real strong.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I cut out some coil spacers on my plasma table, they were 100% needed when I lifted my Explorer just to level it side to side. It was almost an inch low on the driver's side. Pretty handy, cut them out of 1/4" and stack them to your heart's desire.
Post #3: https://www.therangerstation.com/fo...l-and-dxf-files-to-share.215726/#post-2123903

Building radius arms would be the most complicated part if you pieced a lift together, you would need to measure caster before you take it apart and build in at least what you started with into the extended arms. An alignment afterwards will get it back in spec. Helps to kick them in a bit for tire clearance too. Most kits have them set up to where they share the same mount with the transmission crossmember. I like that because it opens up the area where your radius arm crossmember currently exists for a skid plate. If you build your own trans crossmember, you can build skid plate mounting points into that as well.

I've never used helper springs of that style. Coilover load leveler shocks - yes - those work great especially for a rig that's always loaded, ride quality will be pretty stiff when empty. Add-a-leaf will make it stiffer too. You could run dual shocks in the rear and have the second set be air shocks that you can air up - or do airbags! If you do air shocks I would build better mounts for those so you don't have a ton of weight sitting on just the factory style mounts...not real strong.

Caster was the easy part of my extended radius arms, level the axle beams and go from there, my caster was completely jacked before and now I get to use the adjustment of my upper bushings just for camber which is nice... I'm a big fan of the extended arms now that I have them... no regrets staying with the stock bushings either, everything is super solid and with that length the bushings have less to do.