94 Explorer Lift Advice

[Robudda723]

I will still be driving this on road for now. But want it offroad capable. I was thinking of 3 options.

1. 4" lift with 33" tires

2. SOA rear and 5.5" front with 35" tires.

3. SOA rear and 5.5" front with 33" and go up to larger tires and regear when I am ready to have this for offroad only.

Or am I going to still need to re-gear for 33" tires so just go 35 and re-gear?

And pros and cons are very appreciated.

Rob

 

[Toad]

Figure out how much lift you need in the front to run the tires you want spring over the rear to match. The Dana 30 in the front is decent. It is plagued with all of the problems of any Ford TTB axle though. I would look into a Dana 30 swap from a Jeep. One website to check out is the ranger station.

 

[phatfoto]

Actually, the front is a Dana 35, NOT Dana 30. And the Dana 30 from a Jeep is a little light weight for the Explorer. Although, that depends on the wheeling you intend to do. For the heavy Explorer I wouldn't go bigger than 33 on the 30. Plenty of Ranger guys running 35s with the D35 front. Twin Traction Beam IS a challenge to keep aligned...

 

[Will3161]

you should put a long travel suspension on it. more money but would be awesome. throw some prerunner fenders on the front and you can run 35's. what motor do you have? if its the 4.0 you can probably get away without regearing for 33's...35's, maybe, but they will slow you down a bit (and hurt fuel mileage. but if you cared about that, you probably wouldn't be lifting it)

 

[iamsparticus]

The great thing about the explorer that you have is its so easy to unbolt all the IFS TTB stuff and swap a bronco or 70's truck 44 into the front almost a direct bolt in when you add some long radius arms and a panhard bar, thats what i would do. But if your stuck on a TTB lift id go with a 6 inch and run 35's and re gear at the same time

 

[Xploderkid97]

i am an explorer lover i had a 97 explorer as my first wheeler... wheeled it to death and took it so many places it shouldnt have made... but best of all it taught my how to wheel having ifs. Check out 4x4central.com it was my main site that i follow the explorer things. As far as the combo if you can afford it i would say 35's and what ever it takes to fit. if not the 33's will work for now but like mentioned will hurt power and gas mileage. I ran 32's on my explorer and loved it but got about 14 mpgs.

 

[Robudda723]

Thanks for the info all. I will take everything into consideration and make a build thread once I decide.

Rob