AAL & Shackle lift?

[Hossexplorer]

Currently on my 93, I have cheapo shackles in the rear and rough country 1.5" leveling coil springs up front with 32" tires.

My dad gave me the add-a-leaf kit from his 91 ranger and I want to use them on my Explorer with some warrior shackles. My question is...

Can I use the AAL and shackles together? And how much lift will I need in the front to match the rear? I was thinking maybe a 2" coil spacer or F150 seat would match the added lift in the rear. And I know I will need to buy drop brackets for the front.

Has anyone done this? Or have pics? Thanks!

 

[Anime]

Sure, you can use the AAL and shackles together, it's a fairly common way of getting a cheap small lift.

The thing about AALs is they wear out over time, and eventually give little to no additional lift, they just add to the stiffness of the leaf pack due to another leaf being in there.

What amount of lift you get depends on how worn out they are, and also how much lift they were originally made for, and what they were made for. AALs will give a lot more lift to a pickup truck than an SUV due to the weight of an empty bed vs. an enclosed rear body. You may find the AAL gives either no lift, or just half an inch or so if that. If you're lucky you'll get maybe an inch or so, I doubt you'd get 2 inches of lift unless the AALs were brand new and the vehicle was completely empty, including the gas tank.

You can use large 3" diameter washers with a 1-1/4" center hole from a fastener supply store as spacers, stacking them as needed to get the lift you want. If you stack them 4-5 high or more for an inch or so of lift, it can be a good idea to weld them together so they don't shift even a little during use. F-150 coil spacers might be a little too much lift unless there is already some additional rake to level out.

You might be at the limit of the front end alignment bushings with springs and spacers, so drop brackets would certainly help that, and bring back a lot of the droop/downward travel.