3/2” lift – Not so pleased with…

[Bernard]

I will try to be as informative as I can, hopping you find the writing helpful.

I got the 2012 EL (EB) some 3 months ago..

Got any pics of the finished job? Any noticable difference in the ride and handling?

I'm debating doing the same with my rig (07 EL EB) only putting 285/55 20s on it.

Did you refer to my lift?
Didn’t take any pics. I’ll do it tomorrow.

Any way.
I got the 3/2 spacers off eBay.
The work was a pain… all the bolts ware over tighten and wouldn’t open.
The kit came with rear instructions for 2gen Expedition, not for 07-on.
For the front, they tell you to disassemble the 2 bolts that connect the lower “A” arm to the chassis. Although it makes it easy to take out the strut, once you reassemble the suspension (tighten the bolts “at ride height”) you completely loose the front alignment…

All installed, it looks good.
I got just over 2” lift rear and just over 3” for the front – all measured from center of the wheel to the arch, above it.
Once I finished the installation, it was 2.5”/3.5” but it was settled to about 2”/3” after driving the EXPY for a mile or two.
Aside for the lost alignment, I think the ride is a bit harder. Just a bit.

One thing did have me worried, during the installation.
After reinstalling the front strut and bolt everything in place, when the suspension is in full “drop”, the upper “A” arm is touching the spring.
Actually, it’ was pushed hard to the spring.
That made me worried I did something wrong and I disassembled everything and start over – twice…
The upper “A” arm is moved away off the spring after the lowering the wheel, to take full weight of the EXPY and the suspension move up a little.
I am still a bit concerned because when offloading, if one wheel dropped (articulate) the “A” arm will get into contact with the spring – this is something to take under consideration if/when driving off-pavement.

As for the tires.
285/65-20 are almost the same size as my current stock 275/55-20.
I don’t think there will be any problem with the 285, even without any lift/level installed.

I do want to go for the 295/70-18 but…
kawika36??

Well...

Maybe its just me but I think that the front is higher than it should be.
I didn’t understand why the rear only gets 2”, to begin with and I still don’t get it.

Although the lift performs is as promised (3” front and 2”rear), I think I’m missing an inch on the back.
I definitely should realign the headlamp.


Any way.
After installing the 3/2 lift/leveling kit, I went to get some measurements, to see how much rubber I can get under the EXPY.
In order to do that, I got to “flex” the suspensions – to fully compress one side and get the minimum space between the tire and everything around it, in order to determent the largest tire size that will fit without rubbing/touching anything.
Well, first I learned that “flexing” is not a term that can described any action of the EXPY’s suspension – the truck articulates as an ironing board… at list as long as the sway bars are connected.


Second, as I suspected, at full compression the (front) upper “A” arm’s ball joints /knuckle come into contact with the spring – in both sides...


Can't upload more pics here.

 

[Bernard]

The upper “A” arm move down and get pushed hard to the spring. Although it is not much of concern if you don’t get off the pavement, it is definitely something to take under consideration if you do go/get into uneven terrene.

I can see why some manufacturers have concerns with the angles and powers the ball joints have to deal with, with that kind of kit.
If you want to do this right, you have to consider modifying the front upper “A” arms and/or ball joints and/or knuckles...

 

[Bernard]

...

 

[Bernard]

As for the tires, the closest parts to front tires remain pretty much the same, despite the 3” lift.
I have about 2” between the tire (OEM 275/55/20) and the power side steps and a little less than 1.5” from the tire to the upper bull joints/knuckle.


Bottom line – apart of the EXPY is looking A LOT better and is better proportioned (especially with the soon to come larger tires), I don’t see significant improvement with the 3”/2” lift/leveling kit – at list for my purposes ..




The next step – deciding which tires to buy.

 

[fasterthanlight]

Not sure about size, but I am thinking about the GoodYear Dura Trac's and the Firestone Destination AT's.

The GoodYear's look great. Aggressive on the sides, but I fear they are made out of butter and would not last long.

 

[tallsville]

looks good. as for the reason the rear gets an inch less lift. the expy is "truck" based and sits an inch higher in the rear for load leveling.

 

[sgtowing]

I like how its waving in the first set of pics.

 

[eddiemoney]

That sucks about the contact....i wonder if there is a way to put in a stop to prevent contact

 

[samrider777]

Look nice with the ready lift kit

 

[donalds]

what the hell is a "bull joint"?
my has "ball joint"

 

[Bernard]

what the hell is a "bull joint"?
my has "ball joint"

Too much use of the “copy-paste” option…
Correct it all, I think.

 

[Bernard]

looks good. as for the reason the rear gets an inch less lift. the expy is "truck" based and sits an inch higher in the rear for load leveling.

I don’t know. I think I would prefer it with the extra inch – especially when you all load up with the 3 kids and gear for a week…

That sucks about the contact....i wonder if there is a way to put in a stop to prevent contact

At first, I thought it was "content"…

There are ways to prevent it.
You can install larger/longer knuckles (ones made for lifting F-150 up to 2010??), use limiting straps ( to limit the down travel/movement), modify the upper “A” arm or use a different BALL joints.
I wonder if there are ball joints that attached to the knuckles at a lower point – like a ball joint with a longer body or a longer conical stud…

What about the tires?
Any one runs 295/70/18 and can upload pics and comments?

 

[tallsville]

im with you bernard i would rather have an equal amount of lift. but you have to go with whats available some times.

 

[sgtowing]

If your willing to ride with a lean backwards, take the rears out and go to a trusted metal working place and add the appropriate amount of metal. I would think no more than a 1/2 inch should do it.

Sent from my Galaxy SIII Using Tapatalk2

 

[Bernard]

If your willing to ride with a lean backwards, take the rears out and go to a trusted metal working place and add the appropriate amount of metal. I would think no more than a 1/2 inch should do it.

Sent from my Galaxy SIII Using Tapatalk2

That was my thought – adding some more metal to one end of the rear spacer but because the lift isn’t equal to the spacer’s height, I don’t know how much thickness to add to the spacer - How much spacer height = how much lift?

So do you think 1/2 inch of added thickness will get me the 1” I want?

 

[tallsville]

if you are going to a metal fabricator. you might as well have them make you new ones. since you already have the other spacers measure them and then add the appropriate amount of height to the spacer to get the lift you want.

 

[Bernard]

if you are going to a metal fabricator. you might as well have them make you new ones. since you already have the other spacers measure them and then add the appropriate amount of height to the spacer to get the lift you want.

I intend to do that myself - not going to mess with fabricating all new ones, just add a piece of metal to get the extra 1”…

 

[donalds]

i dont see the issue. the only pic where it is on solid ground is on a driveway with a slope downward on it. if you are trying to get the rear fender opening as high as the front i think the rear will be WAY higher than the front. mine sits level on level ground like a parking lot with the 3/2 lift

 

[sgtowing]

i dont see the issue. the only pic where it is on solid ground is on a driveway with a slope downward on it. if you are trying to get the rear fender opening as high as the front i think the rear will be WAY higher than the front. mine sits level on level ground like a parking lot with the 3/2 lift

That's just it. He want's the rake back.

 

[Bernard]

i dont see the issue. the only pic where it is on solid ground is on a driveway with a slope downward on it. if you are trying to get the rear fender opening as high as the front i think the rear will be WAY higher than the front. mine sits level on level ground like a parking lot with the 3/2 lift

In the first pic, the truck is level to the ground/slope, so the slope doesn’t affect the rear or the front height nor the tire-fender clearance.

Leveled or not, the rear got an inch less lift than the front (measured), the head light point to the sky (not that much but it is higher..)
You can see in the following pic (taken on fairly leveled ground, before the lift) that the gap between the wheel and the fender is about the same, front and rear.
I was happy with the original height F/R differences (if there were any to begin with) and would prefer to keep it that way. If the front gets 3”, give the rear the same. That’s all I’m asking


But it is just a matter of preferences. I prefer the rear to be a bit higher than sagging when loaded.

Usually, when you (I) go on a trip (on or off road), I “load up” the family and some gear for the duration of the trip (a lot more gear for offroad..) and I don’t want the rear, where the majority of the load is, to go down too much and minimize my ground clearance, bottom up the rear suspensions and get worsen the departure angle that is bad (to say the list) to begin with.

As I said, a matter of preferences.
Not a big issue but I would have just like to have the option to decide…