Looking for advice on lifts, wheels, and tires

[2005ExpeditionEB]

Hi, first post here. Im looking for ideas for new wheels and tires. I like chrome stainless steel type wheels, not the popular black ones i see everywhere. They look good, just not for me.

Ive never bought different wheels before so its been very enlightening and disappointing to findout there are all these different varieties that dont seem to work w 2nd gens.

I intend on doing a level lift 2.5/3.5. Any that are recommended or i should stay away from?

Will a lifted Expedition fit in a normal house garage? I believe mine will, if not the roof rack can come off.

With the lift will come new tires, most likely 35s. This is a 2wd. I live in Florida, last night we got at least 3” rain in 45 mins. Good tires for rain? The last couple years ive noticed hydroplaning even when there was like normal rain, the tires are old, came with it 5 years ago.

Will a 35” tire fit and hold in the spare tire holder? I assume it will but would like to be sure.

I appreciate the help & advice and will show u the progress. Spring semester just ended so thats why im doing this now fyi.

 

[Vincent Vega]

@2005ExpeditionEB welcome. I obviously am not the guy to talk to about wheels, but with the 3.5/2.5 you will be pushing the limit of the garage height. Also your upper control arms may start banging into your coil springs upon full extension. 35s will not fit in the spare tire space and most people report that 35s noticeably affect performance because of the effectively taller gears and weight of the bigger tires. Upping the gears to 4.11 or 4.56 will mostly fix that. I know I sound negative here but the garage thing, spare tire space, and overall performance are why I stuck with a more modest lift and 33s. 35s look cooler and are better offroad, on the other hand, believe me I get it!
Several people on here run 35s so hopefully they will chime in, too.

 

[2005ExpeditionEB]

Thank you. What does changing the gears entail? How much money time and hassle? I didnt know the gears would need changing. I measured the garage and it will fit lifted.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Thank you. What does changing the gears entail? How much money time and hassle? I didnt know the gears would need changing. I measured the garage and it will fit lifted.

If you go with the 35s, try it out and see if you notice sluggishness. If you feel like it is a big problem, you can change the rear differential gearing. Around here it runs $800-1200 per axle depending on if it needs new clutch plates (if it is a limited slip) and bearings. Good news about the garage, stuff lasts alot longer in a garage, esp in FL with all that rain.

 

[2005ExpeditionEB]

what level lift did u do with the 33” ? U said u went with a more modest lift. I believe 33” can fit without a lift, right? Im gonna hold off the 35” for sure, go with 33s but at least level it. Maybe even squat it an inch up.

 

[2005ExpeditionEB]

I see now, you went w 2.5/1.5 bilstein lift. Ive not heard of bilstein before

 

[Broncoholic]

I've been running the Daystar 2.5"/2" lift for over 6 years. It's hard on the front upper control arms bushings at the frame mounts. I've replaced the Moog arms twice (i.e. on my 3rd set), but with lifetime warranty, it's only my labor. I added a spacer to the rear struts so that made the lift pretty even about 2.5" all around. I've been running 35" tires (315/70R17, they're actually 34.5") for the last 3 years. I started with a take-off set from a 2016 Raptor. That was a great tire/wheel combo. The inside tire wall would rub on the lower control arm at full turn lock, and would barely touch the corner of the front bumper valence at half turn (I trimmed 1/4" and it was good). It still fit in a standard house garage. I don't think performance was affected too much, but these aren't quick anyway. I bought a used programmer (Hypertech 42000) so I could recalibrate the speedo for bigger tires. I also programed it for premium gas, but I don't think that did much either. Six months ago I replaced my strut assemblies with Rancho Quicklift assemblies that add another inch of lift, so now I'm at 3.5". I think it will still fit in a standard garage, but I haven't had the opportunity. I bought new wheels and tires. I wanted just a little less wheel offset to push them outward just a little more. I also bought one of the most mild tires I could find because I never go off-road. I'm very happy with everything now. There's no rubbing, it still rides great and the Continental Terrain Contact tires do great in FL rain.

With Raptor tires/wheels.


With new wheels/tires.

 

[Vincent Vega]

@2005ExpeditionEB Yeah you can fit 33s with no lift. I did that for about a year until a couple months ago I installed a lift kit. I did a short post about the lift I did, see below. Bilstein is one of the best shocks out there for the money. Most or all guys on here who have done lifts did theirs with strut spacers front and rear - alot of them do 3.5/2.5 inch spacer kits and 35s. You can get them from places like Supreme Suspension and Ebay. The 3.5/2.5 is the most amount of lift I have seen available for the Gen 2. Some guys with 35s or 37s on here to check out - @OverlandExpy, @Jb14, @Vancouver Bob, @Gruz7. Some guys go with the Rancho Quicklift lift kit. Find more info about lift kits on shocksurplus.com (also see their Youtube channel, lots of info).

I did spacers on the rear only because there are no better products or options out there. There aren't alot of performance products out there for our trucks, which is too bad because they really are good offroad. My fronts are awesome with the F150 Bilstein setup - night and day improvement.

Install F150 Bilstein 5100 or 6112 products on my 2004 Expedition?

I have a 2004 Exp and am considering installing the Bilstein 5100 or 6112 adjustable-height shocks (made for the F150) on the front of my Exp to improve the suspension off road, and to get about 1 inch lift without using spacers. The Bilstein 5100 does not include new coils, the 6100 does. The...

www.expeditionforum.com

 

[Cavinator]

It is all about geometry. The 2nd can handle up to 3" lift without replacing drive shaft etc

I have the Rancho Quicklift Adjustable I put on a set of Falken WILDPEAK A/T3W LT285/75R17 (Stock King Ranch Rims). The tires are awesome. I live on the Oregon Coast. Tires perform well dry or wet. Rarely hydroplane.

 

[mbtech2003]

this is what I did on mine. With a 285-70r17.