Finally going to lift it

[joecrotch]

Hey guys I know its been a while since my intro thread. But had a beautiful little girl named Morgan, And well as i am sure some of you know a kid takes a lot of time lol.

Anyway I am gonna order my rear spacers tonight and tires after I see what kind of room I have. My question is, all the threads about spacers have links to ebay listings but they are no longer valid. So can someone tell me which 2 inch spacers to get. I am planning on getting the aluminum ones I see on ebay for about 60 bucks unless someone tells me something bad about them.

My local tire shop is selling a set of Super Swamper Bogger 36's for $100
I really was thinking of buying them and trying to make them fit, But I dont know. Anyone try squeezing 36's with just a TT and spacer.

I am running 285\75\16's no and I still have like 10 inches of space all the way around.

Heading to work in about an hour will check this thread through out the night thanks guys!

 

[panda24619]

people have both. the aluminium ones and poly ones. some will say alum is better some other. but i wanna get the alum ones your talking about for $60. and you can squeeze 36s in there, but your gonna have to do a lot of trimming. ive seen 35s squeezed in there and its pretty tight.

 

[joecrotch]

Hmm I guess I am just gonna go for the aluminum ones being that they are $100 bucks less than the poly. I was thinking of trimming a piece of rubber to fit on the spacer between the spring and spacer just to keep metal to metal contact down.

Also I think I'm just gonna try and find some beefy looking 33's that way i still can flex a little without rubbing.

thanks panda.

 

[GAINMOB]

whats $100 for polished vs aluminum...nothing...now if it was per wheel...then i'd think about it

 

[rewarder]

How are you getting Super Swamper's for $100?

 

[joecrotch]

whats $100 for polished vs aluminum...nothing...now if it was per wheel...then i'd think about it

What I meant is the poly ones are $180, and the aluminum ones (which I kinda like better) are $67.

How are you getting Super Swamper's for $100?

The local tire shop has a set of 36x12.50x16 swampers for 100 bucks used but the tread is like 75%. but I dont think i will get em.

 

[walnuts4x4]

well IMO boggers are gonna suck... unless your expy is mainly a offroad toy... on rain, ice, snow boggers are horrible and they ride like crap and are very loud.... but the deal would be great but they will be tight as hell with minimal lift... and congrats on your daughter and good name... mine is Morgan as well

 

[Thermo]

Joe, you are going to have rubbing issues specifically at the back of the front wheel wells and most likely also at the bottom edge of the metal bumper. Now, this all assumes that you are getting 36x12.5" boggers on 8" wide rims running 4.5" backspacing. If you are running a wider rims or less backspacing, then you are going to have a lot more issues. Specifically you are going to be hitting the back wheel wells a lot and tearing the tires up.

I tuck my 37's with my 4" lift under full suspension articulation. So, with 2 less inches of lift and only a 1/2" smaller radius on the tires, you are going to be hitting the body easy if you don't have a very specific setup. TRUST ME!!!!!! I have pushed the 1st Gen Expy's to their limits with minimal lift.

If you have any more questions, just ask. I will assist however I can.

 

[joecrotch]

Joe, you are going to have rubbing issues specifically at the back of the front wheel wells and most likely also at the bottom edge of the metal bumper. Now, this all assumes that you are getting 36x12.5" boggers on 8" wide rims running 4.5" backspacing. If you are running a wider rims or less backspacing, then you are going to have a lot more issues. Specifically you are going to be hitting the back wheel wells a lot and tearing the tires up.

I tuck my 37's with my 4" lift under full suspension articulation. So, with 2 less inches of lift and only a 1/2" smaller radius on the tires, you are going to be hitting the body easy if you don't have a very specific setup. TRUST ME!!!!!! I have pushed the 1st Gen Expy's to their limits with minimal lift.

If you have any more questions, just ask. I will assist however I can.

Great explanation thanks. I wasnt going to get the boggers anyway but that gives me some confidence while tire shopping now.

 

[joecrotch]

here is some pics of my spacing with 285\75\16's TT in front and nothing in back yet but already ordered the 3 inch spacers. I am thinking of looking for some beefy 33's


Untitled by joe30bmw, on Flickr

Untitled by joe30bmw, on Flickr

 

[Paul T]

Hi Thermo, Did you itemize your lift issues and or tire clearance issues in a thread? I didnt find find any.... could you or would you please im going from 33x12.50 16's to 36 or 37's
Thanks Paul

 

[Paul T]

Oh And I want to do it with little or no lift kit.... some body massage work required

 

[walnuts4x4]

thermo is defiantly the one to answer your body massage issues to fit 37s or 36s... it is a lot of work but can be done... alternatively I have 11" of lift with 37s but could trim and cram 40s into it depending on the tread of the tire

 

[Thermo]

Paul, if you are wanting to fit 36's or 37's, 4" if lift is pretty much a bare minimim. You can probably do it with only a 3" body lift, but that is going to be really pushing things. TRUST ME!!!!!

As for a write up, none on this site. If you go to http://www.fordtruckworld.com, you can probably find a few write ups there.

Now, if you are looking at fitting 36's or 37's with only 3 or 4" of lift, you WILL!!!!!!! have to run 8" wide rims with 4.5" of backspacing. NO IFS, ANDS, or BUTS. You WILL!!!!! also be limited to a 12.5" wide tire. NOt following this WILL!!!!! result in rubbing regardless of how much work you do unless you spend a few thousand on body work.

As for work, the rear of the truck is good to go as it sits, so, all the work is going to be focused on the front end of the truck. The first thing to do is to take an angle grinder to the lower A-arm and remove the jack mount (small tab sticking out the front edge of the lower control arm). The next thing you will have to do is to cut the metal part of the bumper. To do this properly, you will need to put some tape on the bumper and then following the line of the factory bumper facing the tire, the bottom cut in 1" and then taping this down to 0 at the top of the bumper. You will then need to also cut the plastic valance to match this metal cut.

The final modification is to push the back of the front wheel wells back. For this, you will need to purchase a 1" long bolt, a fender washer to fit the bolt, a nut for the bolt, and then a 2 rubber washers. THis is needed for each side of the truck. Now, remove the fender liner and locate the metal support that joins the firewall to the door support. Using a 3 pound hammer, bend this welded joint over 90 degrees, bending over about 10" of this welded joint starting at the bottom of the body. Now, put the fender liner back in place and locate the bent over joint through the fender liner. NOw, using drill, make a hole through the fender liner and the bent over welded joint. From here, you are going to make a stack where the bolt goes through both holes, but you will have the bolt head, the fender washer, a rubber washer, the wheel well liner, the second rubber washer, the welded joint, and finally the nut. Tighten this down. THis will hold the fender liner back the extra inch needed to fit up to 37's.

 

[walnuts4x4]

or by a fabtech..lol.... way too much work for me Thermo

 

[Thermo]

Walnuts, most of the work takes but an hour to do. SO, that is much less work than installing a lift kit. Besides, as you have found out, there is only so much lift that you can get before having to go custom. NOt to mention some of us have to worry about bumper height laws.

 

[walnuts4x4]

there is a lift law for NY but I am so far north they don't worry about it....

 

[panda24619]

its not so much bumpers here as lights and exhaust. my dad had an old chevy luv and he lifted it high. a cop pulled him over and measured his exhaust. got a ticket for it.

 

[Kevo]

so per say with 2.5" front keys and 2" spacers in the rear then using a set of 35x12.5R20 on 20x9 with -12mm backspacing would you need to do any massaging??

 

[Thermo]

Kevo, yes, you will find out that no amount of massaging is going to help you for the rear. Now, please keep in mind that I am talking about taking the truck to its limits and not having any issues. You will be able to use that setup to drive down the highway just fine. BUt, what you will find is that if you have to make a turn that is at the bottom of the hill, you are going to have rubbing as you make the turn. Depending on how steep the hill is, at a minimum you will rub in the front, but also possibly in the rear too as the tread is going to touch the top of the wheel well. The only way that you could fix the rear with that setup is to have the rear fenders rolled to push them out a half inch or so. The front, the list of things I mentioned above will need to be done.