lifting the stock front end

yodaman1151 · Post by **yodaman1151** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:56 am

so i'm new on here and i have been looking at your guys' trucks and i notice that most of them have straight axels up front. first off what goes into that swap, what parts do i need and how much is it going to cost me. i have read about some people putting explorer springs or f-150 springs on the front. is that with the stock front end?

ranger5.0 · Post by **ranger5.0** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:17 am

If you are looking to lift the stock front end, the best way is to get the kit that is made for your rig and the height you want. There is a lot of Geometry issues if you don't have the drop brackets to match. The guys doing the SAS usually have a donor for the extra parts. This does get to be expensive. Look around on the internet for the lift that you may want. The prices always vary from 500 to 1800. Just depends on what options you want. Good Luck.

yodaman1151 · Post by **yodaman1151** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:27 am

so what vehicles are best donors then? i'm looking for a 4.0L explorer cuz thats the motor i want but i think they have the same front end right?

yodaman1151 · Post by **yodaman1151** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:55 am

also is it a bad idea to disconnect the sway bars when wheelin? i found in a different site that a guy used hitch pins as quick disconnects for his sway bars when he wanted to go wheelin.. bad idea or not?

onewyr · Post by **onewyr** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:05 pm

the explorer has a D35 front axle and a ford 8.8" axle in the rear these are a good upgrade from the D28 and 7.5" that they are stock I have done this swap and it is great I found an explorer with the ford trac lock in the rear and i bought a powertrax lock right for the front and my B2 is an off road beast now much better than when it was stock. I also have a 4.0L sitting in storage waiting to be swapped in for the 2.9. I removed my sway bars because I had explorer springs front and rear so it was kinda stiff it didn't have much sway. now that I am running skyjacker springs it seems to sway a bit more but still manageable with "good" driving by the way what are you working on.

jwillie · Post by **jwillie** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:09 pm

I took the swaybars off of my b2 a couple of years ago. The first time I drove it after that was a little scary, but know I don't even notice it. My bronco has a couple inches of lift. For a SAS an early bronco or late 70's ford are the prefered donor rigs. I've seen a couple of full width 78 broncos on craigslist for under $1000 here in Washington.

yodaman1151 · Post by **yodaman1151** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:19 pm

i'm wanting to add a lil lift to my '87 b2 but i'm strapped on funds (aren't we all?) and i'm just learning all the stuff that i can use or that is compatible

onewyr · Post by **onewyr** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:29 pm

when I did my 8.8 swap I bought some tall perches and ran explorer springs in the rear and I did explorer coils and 2inch spacers up front and ran 32's with a bit of fender triming it did well then I busted a hub and I wasn't sure if I broke anythinng else so i pulled the axle to check the shafts and the gears and went ahead with the 4" skyjacker lift and did my front locker while it was all out

yodaman1151 · Post by **yodaman1151** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:30 pm

ok i'm sort of new to the whole off road scene. i got my b2 christmas a year ago. i don't know what the perchs are.

ledfordwc · Post by **ledfordwc** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:15 pm

perches are the mounts on the axle housing that the springs mount to

yodaman1151 · Post by **yodaman1151** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 4:28 pm

ok so there isn't much i can do without putting a real lift kit on?

BAMF · Post by **BAMF** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:08 am

how high are you trying to go ?

yodaman1151 · Post by **yodaman1151** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:51 am

i want to clear 33's i have 31's now and they only rub on the swaybar but i wont clear 33's. i plan on cutting the fenders when i find a set of good looking flares. i want an inch or two

BAMF · Post by **BAMF** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:09 am

you just gonna put in coil spacers and camber shims?
Thats what i have that and 3"bl with 2 inches trimmed and i run 35's with hella room for more, i could run like 38's if i had something stronger than the dana 28.

ledfordwc · Post by **ledfordwc** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:56 pm

depending on what you want to do with it you can put about a two or three inch body lift on it and their cheap (i bought a three inch from jims offroad here in oak ridge for $96.00) and get the sawzall out and you should be able to clear 33's pretty easily, i ran 31 inch buckshots on mine for a while i had to beat the inner fender in out back a little on stock lift and barely rubbed at all