lifting the trac

Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Mike Sove

Active Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
228
Reaction score
0
Location
southfield, MI
well, id like to lift the trac, and im interested in a body lift over a suspension lift for now ($$).. any suggestions?? lurking around online i cant seem to find one for my 04. i see alot for 01-02, im wondering if they are the same. any suggestions are appreciated. thanks guys
 
Any kit that you find that works for an '01 or '02 will work for your '04. If you are trying to save some money, I would suggest that you do it yourself with the help of some friends. Any place that would install the lift would be really expensive, plus there is a project on how to do the lift yourself.
 
If you are thinking a body lift is cheaper, you are wrong. A simple TT/Shackle lift is by far the cheapest lift you can do.





Tom
 
I did the TT and Sl on my 04. I liked it till the hubs went bad. I believe the TT was to much strain on the front end and wore them out. I had the TT/ SL for about 2 years. I put it back to stock and am getting a body lift in about 3 weeks when I get back home. I am not saying that the TT will wear them out but I feel like it did on my ST. I might have twisted them to much, but anyway, I wish I had the body lift to begin with. Just my 2 cents.

TT/SL about $100

Body lift $700 (parts and labor) The lift is about $250
 
Body lift is simple. I did 80% of lift by myself, even lifted the bed section by myself with the help of a couple motorcyle straps. I did need some help for a couple of the body bolts, needed 1 person under the ST holding the body mount while I used the impact to remove it. Just make sure you soak the body mounts with PB blaster for a couple days before you start.



Chad
 
I agree with chad the lift is not that hard to do yourself. I did almost all of it by myself with out the use of impact tools.... A second person to help would be recommended and most likely speed up the install.
 
(PLEASE HELP)Where did you get the body lift from? I have a 2004 2wd and I don't really see anything on the web with products for the 2004. I have also heard that the 2001 and 2002 lift will not work on the 2004, is this true? thanks for any feedback.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I did the TT and Sl on my 04. I liked it till the hubs went bad. I believe the TT was to much strain on the front end and wore them out.



If your CV joints went bad, then I would agree with you. Doing a TT does not increase the load on your bearings, but does on your CV joints. A lift changes the angle of the CV joint.



I honestly feel that the hubs (bearings) went bad because they failed on you like many other 4x4 Explorer owners.





Tom
 
As chad said earlier, BP blaster the bolts a few days ahead. Between corrosion and lock tight they can be hard to remove. I drove up on ramps in my driveway and that gave me clearance to work under the trac. Go slowly when lifting and check that everything has cleared in the engine compartment. The fan guard on the radiator needs to be seperated from the radiator so it can move. Other then that the instructions are pretty good that come with the kit. With help you can complete this in a weekend.
 
Nothing to look out for it is pretty straight forward. Just pay attention the bolts, there are different lengths and my directions did not specify where they went. The guy helping me put 4 in the wrong place, and I had to add some washers to 2 of them, so I could tighten it down, because I ran out of threads. And I did not notice it until about week later I kept hearing a funny rattling noise:eek:



And DO NOT FORGOT about adding some zip ties or something else to hold your A/C line away from the serpetine belt. I did that too, and had to replace the line, after it was all said and done that mistake cost me about $300



Chad
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top