yeah no lift...thats stock with air suspension activated and compressed when parked...i like the look of the compressed the lifted...wish mine drop'd down that far...maybe it'll look the way i want when i put 26's on it
If you are talking about my black Expedition in the above pics, I do not have air suspension. You are right that I do not have a lift kit. The truck is completely stock except for the new tires.
As I described above, the last photo was taken when I drove the truck off-camber through a drainage ditch so that the back-left tire was completely off the ground and the back-right tire (in-photo) is bearing all the weight of the rear axle. In the pic the tire has 60psi, yet notice how the sidewall is flexing due to all of the weight on the tire.
I did this to test whether or not the tires would rub when offroading, and the tires never came closer than 1" from touching any part of the truck. After further testing, it seems that the tires will perform and wear optimally at 50psi all around (I did the chalk test to find the appropriate tire pressure as described at
http://www.fourwheeler.com/techarticles/wheels/129_1204_4x4_tire_pressure_pointers/index.html I plan to do further pressure testing as the tires break in, but 50psi seems just about right.
Also, the truck was lifted exactly 1" at all four corners just from installing the taller tires. I measured the fender height at all four corners before and after installing the new tires. I also measured the distance from the center of the differentials to the ground, and I gained exactly 1" of lift there as well. I only expected 1/2" of lift since the manufacturer specs said that the 255/70/18 Pirellis are 32.1" tall and the 275/70/18 Goodyears are 33.2" tall. I think this is due the fact that the tread on the Pirellis was about half worn down when I took measurements, and also the different manufacturer specs may vary a little bit.
If you have any other questions, just ask. I hope this is a resource to 3rd generation Expy owners who want to install bigger tires. My advice is to stick with 275/70/18s if you don't want to trim the running boards or the fenderwells. A lift kit would give your more clearance from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fenders, but you don't really need more clearance there anyways.
