New to all things lift....

[Eagl986]

I have a '97 Mountaineer that I would like to put a lift on, mostly for cosmetic reasons. I was just trying to get a feel for prices, and figured I'd ask around here. I can't install a lift myself, having no tools or experience with working on cars, so labor costs would have to be included. I'm guessing on maybe 3" of lift, not too much or too little. I realize that there's many kinds of lifts, and from what I hear body lift seems to be the cheapest. So is there anyone here who can give me a rough estimation on getting the lift? And also, what would prices be for tires? Because I have a feeling my truck would look pretty bad with the tires it has right now. Any help?

 

[Critical_Level2]

A cheap and simple lift would be to do a torsion twist and rear shackles. The torsion twist is free, all you do is crawl under your truck and tighten the adjuster bolt. The rear shackles are not hard to do, but a mechanic would probably charge very little to install them. The two types of shackles people run are warrior shackles which are around $50-$60 and generic lift shackles (which I have) which run about $13 and can be found at autozone, pepboys, etc. What kind of tires are you looking for, because tires can range from $80-$180 depending on what size and type (AT, Mud, etc.) they are. I run 31x10.5r15 BFG All Terrain KO tires which I got on sale for $107 each including mounting and balancing.

 

[dreamr]

My pet subject for winter

2nd gen lifts

Body Lift
1-3" Performance accessories kit (it'll be for a ranger) PA-883 for the 3" not sure on other part numbers.
Some work will be neccessary to make the bumper brackets work, or you can make or have made new ones.
Cost: about $200

Suspension lifts:
The good ol TT/and war-153 shackles will likely net you about a inch and a half, add a single add-a-leaf from explorer pro-comp and you can even the TT out at an 2 inches. You may have a slight rake, but doubtful with the rear sag in explorers.
Cost: Shackles = 60
AAL = 40
Alignment = 75

For that same 2" you could choose to have your leaf-spring re-arched
replace with lift leaf springs. Or just start with a double aal.

Trail master and superlift both have an IFS 4" lift kit available for the second gen explorer. Cost is around $1600. This does not include the extended driveline, breaklines, or their nifty skidplate.

You could also go for about 6" suspension by utelizing the 4" kit on front. Twisting the torsion bars for a couple more inches, and doing a spring over axle conversion on the rear.
Cost will probably come in under a grand by a hair.

 

[dreamr]

Tires. I forgot. I think a fair average would be to say that for a good tire you will pay 150 each. Give or take 20 either way for brand and size differences. If you like to shop you may be able to cut that in half with a sale

 

[96ExplorerXLT]

A cheap and simple lift would be to do a torsion twist and rear shackles. The torsion twist is free, all you do is crawl under your truck and tighten the adjuster bolt. The rear shackles are not hard to do, but a mechanic would probably charge very little to install them. The two types of shackles people run are warrior shackles which are around $50-$60 and generic lift shackles (which I have) which run about $13 and can be found at autozone, pepboys, etc. What kind of tires are you looking for, because tires can range from $80-$180 depending on what size and type (AT, Mud, etc.) they are. I run 31x10.5r15 BFG All Terrain KO tires which I got on sale for $107 each including mounting and balancing.

where is this torsion bolt? would it be in the haynes manual??

 

[Eagl986]

A cheap and simple lift would be to do a torsion twist and rear shackles. The torsion twist is free, all you do is crawl under your truck and tighten the adjuster bolt. The rear shackles are not hard to do, but a mechanic would probably charge very little to install them. The two types of shackles people run are warrior shackles which are around $50-$60 and generic lift shackles (which I have) which run about $13 and can be found at autozone, pepboys, etc. What kind of tires are you looking for, because tires can range from $80-$180 depending on what size and type (AT, Mud, etc.) they are. I run 31x10.5r15 BFG All Terrain KO tires which I got on sale for $107 each including mounting and balancing.

Do you any pictures of an X with the torsion twist on it as you described so I could get an idea what that looked like?

 

[dman726749]

here is my truck with 2" lift with a tt and shackels on 31" bfg allterains

and here is a link to my photo gallery with lots more pics of it so you can get an idea of what it looks like

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/showgallery.php?cat=500&page=1&sort=1&perpage=12&ppuser=18333&=

 

[Blee1099]

Check the Useful thread forum..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=54
How to adjust the torsion bars..
Dead Link Removed
How to add shackles..
Dead Link Removed
How to put a body lift on a 1997..
Dead Link Removed

 

[96ExplorerXLT]

how are the CV joints since you raised your x 2" up front?

 

[Blee1099]

Every truck is different.. I think the maximum angle that cv's can handle is 22 degrees or something like that.. The CV axles along with the ball joints are the areas that needed to be looked at occasionally since the heavier tire is gonna cause more wear & tear on a truck.

 

[ExplorerSportNu]

how are the CV joints since you raised your x 2" up front?

Mine are just fine as well, haven't had a problem with them at all knock on wood My ride got a lot stiffer when I raised mine, most of the people on here have this and few have expierenced problems with this mod

 

[Critical_Level2]

how are the CV joints since you raised your x 2" up front?

My cv joints have been holding up for the last 20k miles it has been lifted.

 

[dreamr]

I have had no issues with the TT.

One concern I did have was a knocking sound from the passenger front wheel.
Ford's end-links are crap and often do this on their own, however the TT did exagerate the sound. Since they have been replaced with Energy Suspension links and I have rarely noticed the sound with the exception of really pot holed forest roads.

Another thing to consider is that you are using up the same amount of down travel as your actual lift. Hence your suspension may reach full extension easier while off roading. In my case the factory shock length seems to stop the down travel about an inch shy of where my cv's begin to bind. For this reason I am sticking with stock shocks. I figure they are a lot cheaper than a cv joint.

But listen to me and my negative attitude. Must be Monday.

Really you have no need for concern, but there are couple cons to add to the pro's of doing a TT,

Here's a pic of my X with 1.5" TT and shackles running 30x 9.5. Hopefully it will look much different (bigger) by the end of winter.

 

[96ExplorerXLT]

how hard is it to put in the shackels and AAL for someone that doesnt tackle projects like this much? ive seen the pictures of it and stuff but i was just wondering the time frame and ease of installation. also, where can i get a AAL for cheap? im thinking this could be a nice springtime mod, thanks in advance

 

[dman726749]

took me 2 hours to finnish.....its really easy, and if you have a friend help it will go by even faster

 

[dreamr]

Check the Useful thread forum..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=54
How to adjust the torsion bars..
Dead Link Removed
How to add shackles..
Dead Link Removed
How to put a body lift on a 1997..
Dead Link Removed

These links posted by Blee are very helpful and will give you a good overview of the project. Install of the shackles was maybe a thirty minute job by myself.

The TT is extremely simple, however took me about an hour to get everything perfectly level. ( I am a very picky individual )