Well my goal is to fit 325/65 18's on my 03 Expedition. (Without the out of my price range 8" RIZE kit) In looking at the general setup of the 04+ F150 I'm seeing a lot of similarities.. and some differences. Putting aside the IRS of the expedition anyone have any ideas of the difficulty of a body lift on the newer expeditions? I currently have Daystar spacers front and rear which are said to be 2-2.5" of lift.
My other concern is how far down the frame and guts hang down underneath.
I have a feeling nobody else has done this though.
that would be a first for me...the F-150 guys use PA Body Lifts
You might should check with them...but I'd be really scared of all of that extra weight up top.
if the suspension is the same as the 04+ F-150, you should be able to slap a 325/60/18 on there pretty easily since you have the lift spacers already. I know the shocks are the same, and it looks like the springs are as well.
Well I got my 325/65 18's tody from UPS, went with hankook mud tires. Bit the bullet and the Performance Accessories 3" body lift kit for 2004-2005 F-150 is on the way to me.
So I'll be the first one to jump in feet first to this project, pics will come.
Total lift (if everything goes fine) will be 5-5.5". Total investment of the spacer/body lift will be in the neighborhood of $750.00 - quite a bit nicer than $4000.00 !!!!!!!! Crossing my fingers that this wont be a waste of time.
I'm excited now but I'm sure the expletives will be flying upon digging into this project.
No offense, but 3" of body lift is really dangerous. I would upgrade ALL of your mounting bolts to SAE 8 while you are removing them. (I don't know what Ford used as stock, usually SAE5) and who knows what the lift actually comes with.
With 3" of pucks, you have increased your shearing loads on the bolts very considerably (and they are most likely harder material than the OE mounts, so less "give")
Now, having said that, if you haven't ever done a body lift before, here's some tricks (I haven't done an expy, but I've done 6 or so jeeps and pickups with 1" pucks)
1 - spray EVERY bolt with PB Blaster or Aerokroil (not WD40) to help them break loose
2 - If you don't have one, get a Hi-Lift Jack - harbor freight usually has them for about $35-$45
3 - Loosen the original bolts but don't remove them completely.
4 - wrap the lift portion of the jack with a towel and duct tape to prevent it from scratching the body.
5 - start in the corners, remove the old bolt and puck, use the hi-lift to jack up the corner, slide the new puck and bolt in and finger tighten.
6 - repeat all the way around, and then go back and tighten all the bolts down. I'd recommend threadlocker blue also.
Good luck either way, and let us know how everything lines up afterwards. Have fun, make sure everything is tight when you are done, and be careful.
I hope you have some fabrication "skiells". I've done 3 3" body lifts, and even though the kits were for the specific truck I was working on, I had to cut, fabricate and/or weld something on each one. I imagine it'll be twice as bad in your case, using a kit NOT for the specific truck.
Definitely GOOD LUCK. And post up some pics and major issues you come across.
Don't forget about checking: brake lines, fuel lines, steering shaft and engine fan/radiator shroud.
I'm a decent home mechanic nothing I would brag about but I have no problem doing everything I can to finish a project. I probably wont be able to dig into the body lift till next week, but in the meantime I did some "trimming" and got the 325/65 18's to mount up and get this... turn lock to lock without rubbing!!!!
You may think that's a load of BS, but I assure you it's not. On the road and driving around I dont get any rubbing - BUT the moment I go off road and the suspension moves more than say an inch I hear that ever annoying of tire fighting with plastic.
Ahh too bad it is rubbing. I think it looks pretty good right there. I've never been a fan of huge fender gaps, even on my crawlers.
Could you get away with a 1" BL and maybe bump-stops to limit the up-travel instead of the monster BL? Sure you loose a little upwards articulation, but it's much easier to deal with. There's always the sawzall route
Extension cords my friend, especially with a sawzall!
Can you not return the 3" lift pucks from wherever you got them? I don't think there's a snowballs chance in h3ll of cutting all the pucks to the same height.
Interestingly enough, I did a little internet digging and couldn't find a 1" kit, but found a ton of 2" kits around. That would be a little better (I know, you are saying but it's only an inch!) I am really surprised there are no 1" kits around. Heck at this point you might have to go with the 3" kit and let us all know how it works out.
6Cyl Bill - What year is your F150 and how did that installation go? In Theory the trucks should be a bit (much!) easier as you can do the cab and bed separately. I'm guessing you didn't need to move much from the bed (maybe extend the fuel filler hose?) but what all went into the cab side?
6Cyl Bill - What year is your F150 and how did that installation go? In Theory the trucks should be a bit (much!) easier as you can do the cab and bed separately. I'm guessing you didn't need to move much from the bed (maybe extend the fuel filler hose?) but what all went into the cab side?
My truck is a '94
The fuel filler hose didn't need to be extended. The only issues was the rad hose; it had to be mated to a peice of exhaust pipe to get it to reach and not touch any hot or moving parts.
I didn't do the lift myself, I had a shop do it. I didn't have time.
From what I hear, these installations are a paint in the butt - but if you know what you're doing, they aren't so bad. It's just a minor headache. You will hear different things from different people.
Oh, and with my truck, the bumper didn't flush up with my grill like before. I'm sure it would have with the 2''. The thing is about these body lifts you almost always have to fab something up to get them to work.
I put a 3" body lift on a 95 F150 extended cab about 10 years ago. The biggest thing I remember with that one was having to notch the front end of the frame to raise the front bumper. Also had to custom mount the side steps so they weren't hanging down all dorky like. Different companies kits come with different brackets. The kit I used had brackets to raise the bumper after notching the frame and had brackets to drop the radiator down 3" so it was still in line with everything. That was a bitchin truck, it was a sad day when it got traded in.
Well, at least he won't have to worry about the side steps (if he puts them back on) -
they are body mounted, or at least are body mounted on the 1998's. I havne't looked through the engine compartment far enough to see what needs to be moved there.
My jeep was the easiest one. The kit even came with radiator brackets to move the shroud and you couldn't even tell there was a lift in there cause the winch covered up the gap in the front. But, again that was a short one at only an inch.
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That's why it doesn't rub for daily driving.
