Thank you for all the great info here. Deciding how im going to setup my new to me X.

Pirate 4X4, i have would like to pick ur brain, if you dont mind.

1. I see that bilstein seems to be the shock most mentioned. My question is what are your thoughts on the Ranchero 9000's?

2. Whats your thoughts on going with a stock 18" lariat rim with 285/75 tires to reduce sidewall to help with sway?

 

the ranchos are ok-ish but over priced for a twin tube shock any 99% of the people put them on #3 and never adjust them


a 285/75/18 tire has a 8.4” sidewall while a stock 265/75/16 has a 7.8 sidewall so i think that your idea is backwards.

that said a correctly setup suspension and alignment on the Ex doesnt have a “sway” problem so even if you spec out a tire with a lower profile all that is going to do is diminish ride quality. might look cool but not going to help with “sway”

 

I'm a 1%er!

 

this is a widely know fact.

now post up that loaded spring pic

 

Illuminati
Freemason
Skull and Bones

Stewart

 

Thanks pirate, thats what i was wondering.

I had the tire size wrong, i should have said 275/70r18's.

With putting the 22415's on, what would be ur recommendation on a 33" tire? Stick with the 16's or go up to the 18" and get a sidewall size that matches the 7.8 sidewall.

the reason for all the questions is i bought a new to me 2004 Eddie Bauer X 6.0. I will be removing a set of 22415's off my f250 (and a set of 2" lift front spring brackets) to bring down to stock height, love the lift, though dont like the ride or the height for a work truck, lol. I want to put the those on the X w/ airbags, though im afraid it might raise it to much with u saying 4"s of lift and can fit 35's. The PO put C rated tires on the front and E rated on the back. Im assuming for ride. It rides nice as is. It needs some wheel or driveline balanceing do to slight vibration around 75. This vehicle was bought for the purpose of pulling a 32' TT and housing 7 people on the trip. Though will my driver in between. So im looking for the best towing setup w/ the best unloaded ride i can get with that.

 

Where do u set ur 9000's during the different driving situations (towing, daily, etc.)?

 

275/70r18 has the same sidewall as the stock 265/75r16. 8.4". and 8.3". you will never know the difference and like I said, there is really no issue with running a larger sidewall. I run a 40" tire on 17"s with a 11.5" sidewall and sway is not a problem, so much so I do not run a sway bar front or rear. built a correct suspension and sway is not an issue.

reusing your old 2" lift hanger is a poor idea.
the procomp 22210/22415 setup that I advocate is a well balanced suspension if you build its the way I have laid out, it will result in a mid travel suspension that rides nice and has improved geometry, ride quality and handling. if you keep your current front springs and use a lift shackle then you are only raising the ride height but keeping the stock suspension travel and crappy spring geometry which will give you the same problems associated with the stock suspension.... spend the $200 on the procomp 22210 front springs and skip the shackles.

The 2* rear shims I list will fix your vibration in the rear and your caster in the front.

Tires, I like many different tires and no tire MFG makes the best tire in all categories so to narrow it down what sort of tread pattern do you want ?
highway, all terrain, mud terrain.

the rank the following by importance to you.
cost, traction, noise, lifespan, ride quality, keeping in mind your towing goals and usage of course.

( fwiw, I have worked for a few of the major brands doing tire testing so I tend to get a bit tire nerdy )

 

I did take a couple of squashed spring pics that I will post up, but on the road I'm posting on my iPad and it refuses to play nicely with Imgur, it keeps adding a bunch of gibberish to my photo links. I'm sure that it's a simple fix but I'm an electronics idiot along with being a 1%er. . Another ten days and we will be back home and posting pics from the pc.

I think (but my brain is both rusty and slightly pickled at the moment) I currently have them at 2 or 3 up front and 8 on the rears. I can check tomorrow when hitching up. I do change the settings every so often but while towing really haven't felt much difference. My EX is a dedicated tow rig and sees very little unloaded use, mostly like today sightseeing here in Western GA, wild animal safari park (I drove one of their rental vans!), then a local winery, and finished with dinner and shopping (gotta keep the ladies happy ) in Warm Springs. And even that "unloaded" drive was with 4 adults, 2 bikes, 3 kayaks, 2 step ladders, a cooler, 20 ton bottle jack and my 3 tool bags, so far from empty! I did have them set at 2/6 last Summer for a non towing trip out and back to OH moving our son into an apartment at school, seemed to ride a little better but as Pirate will tell you I am sitting on a ton (or several tons worth) of spring, so the ride does suffer a bit from that (modded X / modded B codes).

 

Guilty as charged.

 

WE3ZS, thanks for the info. I can see y u say its always loaded. Lol

Pirate, id like an all-terrain. Though i might give that up since the X will only see off pavement maybe 20% of the time. Even then, it will be caliche roads, logging or mining roads in the mountains. These are how i rank the category's: noise, traction, ride quality, lifespan, cost.

the best tire i have ever put on a truck was The Goodyear Silent Armors when they came out 12 years ago. Lol.
My dad and brother run the Discoverer A/T and they aren't bad.
The Michelin LTX's m/s i loved on my suburbans though i read that they have a softer side wall and dont good under loads on the suburbans. Also dont know how the A/T's hold up. Ive heard they are just as good as the Silent Armors.
The BFG's KO's from what i have read seem to be the best for the big SUV's, though im not a fan of the tread pattern.

The X currently has the Discovery A/T's 265/75R16 with E rated on the rear and C on the front, and i cant complain at all about the ride and noise. Like i said about 70 it gets a little vibration once you get going 80 or over..... the vibration is bad. Lol. Which u said will.be fixed with the 2* shime.

 

right now I think Nitto has the edge in AT tires,

since You rated quietness first I will recommend the Nitto Dura Grappler even though it is Highway Tread it is aggressive-ish for a HT

in a true AT category the Nitto Exo Grappler AWT stands out which is hard for me to admit being a long time BFG sponsored racer but that is what I would buy with my money if I wanted an AT
( unless I am doing a tire test I run M/T on my vehicles )

 

I will second the Dura Grapplers for quietness, I am close to 40K into a set that is the quietest truck tire I have ever used and they are wearing great even having been run heavily loaded most of those miles. I will definitely be replacing them with another set if I ever wear these ones out.

 

I have been looking at the Nitto Grapplers though didnt know if they were worth the money. Yall have convinced me they are. So ill be going with a set of those when i setup the rig. And i really like the aggressive-ish HT tread. Lol.

Thanks again for all yalls help. When i get all the parts rounded up and start in on thr rig, i will start a thread with the progress.

 

So I have ordered the Pro-Comp springs and the shocks according to Pirate's recommendation. I am away from the leaf springs now and I'm getting ready to place my order with WFO. Do I need longer spring pack center bolts or will the ones currently in the pro-comp leaf springs be long enough? If so, how long will be good? Also, what was the final consensus on if the leaf Spring plate needs to be replaced? I am also away from the truck to check mine out. What would cause them to be damaged in the first place?