Alright so in about 2 weeks I'll be ready to order a lift kit. I've been looking around and I like the 2.5" rough country lift. For about 369$ it comes with shocks, springs, blocks, I beam drop bracket, radius arm drop brackets, and U-Bolts. I dont like the idea of blocks, so I was thinking just getting add a-leaf instead.

I was looking around and I like how 94 XLT White/ Silver 302's bronco looks. I think I will stuff some 33's under it and put some 4.10's in.
Also I'm going to make this my build thread to so its not as much spam lol.
So before I do order it (About 2-3 weeks) Is there anything I should know/be aware of?

 

if 33's is as tall as your wanting to go than 2.5" lift should be fine. i would look up a gear ratio calculator before you buy new gears to be sure the 4.10's are what will work for you, it sounds about right but i dont know your factory tire and gear combo or the trans final ratio.

 

4.10's with 33's is accurate. Any bigger on the tires and consider going taller gearing. Avoid blocks in the suspension at all cost. The only thing they are good at is shortening the life of the springs they are mounted under.

 

I'm subscribing! I've been thinking about doing this to my Bronco for the last year or so. I think that 2.5" lift looks great on our trucks, should've been factory like that.

 

i have found some of these calculators helpful for picking tire and gear combo's. also, though not really needed here, if going with much larger tires it can be a good idea to drop to next lower set to compensate for added weight of the tires.
http://www.rocky-road.com/calculator.html

 

you dont need a lift to fit 33's. just a little fender triming and spacing the front bumper out a bit and run some good quality shocks.

 

...If you really want to start cutting up the body of your truck. Fender trimming leads to flare-needing or refinishing/painting, sealing at the very least. Not sure everyone likes the idea of all that work for a couple inches of clearance that could still be an issue at full compression of the suspension anyway.

I personally like the body lines with the entire fender intact. If you have the chrome fender welt, you lose that as well.

Just another opinion.


The way to be certain you have the right axle gearing is to calculate what you have with the stock setup and then keep the numbers as close as you can after the gear and tire swap.

For example, your '94 with 3.55:1 axles and stock tires has your 302 spinning at about 1722 rpm at 60 mph.

To keep as close to those rpm's at that speed with 33's, you will need to run 4.11's. This will put your rpm's @ 60 mph at 1799 which is about as close as you are going to get.

If you do 3.73's (1632 rpm) or 4.56's (1996 rpm) you will be way under or way over the stock rpm's and it will throw your shift parameters off especially in the E4OD that relies heavily on VSS information to determine shift points. This pushes the engine out of its power band when it really needs to be within it. It also causes automatics to "hunt" gears or "stutter" as some refer to it.

The formula is simple: MPH (gotta be a speed that ensures you are in the highest gear of the transmission so 60 mph is typical) X axle gear ratio X 0.71 (E4OD overdrive gear ratio - don't skip this one) X 336 (constant "it NEVER changes") / 32.7 (actual tire diameter not nominal diameter). Or 60 X 4.11 X 0.71 X 336 / 32.7 = 1799.04881 rpm

33's are actually between 32.3" and 32.7" diameter depending upon manufacturer and inflation pressures.

 

All this talk of lifting and oogling at the end result pictures is gonna get me in trouble with the wife. I thing I need 33's. Gotta regear and find power first. Too much money either way she looks at it.

 

Thanks forthe input grey, just a quick update, my suspension is completely shot right now amd im getting this weird bouncy "shutter" on the front drive side. Ball joint seem to be good. Will post another update when I get the kit. No matter what I need new suspension so I figured just lifting. I dont like the idea of cutting my fenders they are still very clean with little rust.

 

I fit 33's on stock suspension, and it only rubbed slightly full lock to lock...didn't cut anything.....my previous bronco




this is my current bronco...4" or 6" in my opinion...I personally wouldn't bother with the 2.5"...you won't have enough clearance for offroading....This is a 4" with 33's, and I still smack my rear bumper on rocks all the time...

 

Honestly I'd love to get a 4 or 6" lift but that aint gonna happen unless someone has a few hundred to spare lol. It looks like your doing some serious offroading in those pics, Ive got mainly small hills and lots and lots of woods here.

Anyways Ive got one more week left before I order it, and there were a few other things I was concerned about..

I'm still running stock rims and stock tire size (sadly 235's)

1. Whats the width of the stock rims, 8"?

2. I want to put 33's would I be able to do 33/12.50 on stock rims or have to go to 33/10.50 or 33/9.50

3. I know with theres a high chance of rubbing, if I do either 33/10.50 or 33/9.50 would I have to have to change the backspacing? If yes any idea of what it would have to be?

 

You know i had though about lifting my 78 about 4 inches, and removing my body lift. I run 35s and my rear end gearing is 273. It does ok at 60 but i don't have a tach so i figure it sits around a calm 1200 RPMs unless i am going up hill or passing someone (or feeling a bit dangerous ) my concerns with mine would be any links i have to lengthen like radius arm drop an track bar drop. With 35/12.50 tires mine to rub hard at full lock on my radius arms so in regards to NewEnglander there, i think you would be better off at 9.50 and 10/10.50 at very most. Though i am not super knowledgeable it just makes more sense to me.

Anyone got a lifted 78 with 35s, about 4"? I'm sure i've seen it and it looks good, and my brother said if i am going to do a 4" i might as well go 6 but i figured along with more work and money 6 inches would just be too high and not as comfortable to me.

 

Actually i found a good picture. From another site, 4 inch sus lift with 38s, i don't know who it is or anything but it looks pretty good.

 

1. 7.58" on the Ford alloys.

2. Most tire manufacturers will not honor warranties on tires installed on wheels less than 2.5" narrower than the tire's section width. (So, a wheel that is 7.58" rim width could only accept tires up to 10.5" section width). The concern is bead failure under normal (on-road) pressures. The added compression puts additional strain on the beads and if you would curb a tire (which spikes the pressure upwards) the bead could more readily fail. Folks who like to get off-road will push the other way and insist that you need to go wider on narrower wheels to KEEP the bead from failing under off-road inflation pressures which are significantly lower and the narrower tire on a wider rim will tend to slip free under low inflation pressures. Personally, I do too much on-road driving to sacrifice my tire warranty for the few times I get off-road with my truck and even fewer times I actually "air down" to do so.

3. Backspacing doesn't have to change but it WILL help to run a wheel that is shallower than stock. The stock wheels have nearly 4.5" backspacing. That draws those big tires well under the truck and if you are lifting, this hinders in two ways. It leaves a better chance of rubbing on radius arms and bumpers AND it keeps that extra section width that would serve to help stabilize a truck that has gotten taller, tucked under where it won't help increase the truck's "footprint". Remember physics class... if it gets taller the base needs to get wider.

 

Thanks Grey, I cann only afford craigslist specials right now and ive found quite a few people selling 33's on rims for a half way decent price. Ill have pics up and updates once the kit is in.