A cracked frame. Bumpsteer. Deleted four-wheel drive. Our Sport Trac was plagued by numerous troubles that started long before the current editorial team came on board at OFF-ROAD. We weren't privy to the conversations, agreements, and wrenching sessions that originally transformed the 'Trac from a nerdy stocker into a good-looking truck that was a downright scary experience to drive. We weren't there, and furthermore this truck's past is just that: the past. It was time to get on with the present and go forward into the future.
Yes, we did this one in the driveway. We worked as fast as we could, but story deadlines and other schedule demands meant that lots of after-hours and weekend time was needed. Eventually some "concerned citizen" ratted on us to City Hall. We're guessing this person never even checks his or her own oil and absolutely never dreams of venturing off the beaten path between home and the mall.
The Sport Trac's designers and engineers came up with a good thing when they designed this truck. Based on a Ranger Edge front suspension and drivetrain, the Sport Trac seats four adults and is propelled by Ford's potent 4.0 SOHC V-6. There's just enough of a bed to carry a day's worth of gear. Need more storage space? Add a camper shell or a tailgate enclosure or a roof rack.
The Sport Trac also has a lot going for it as a prerunner. The aforementioned seating for four means you can take more friends along or use the rear seating area as lockable storage space. With dimensions akin to the Ranger, the Sport Trac has enough wheelbase to feel stable at speed. The truck isn't so bulky as to feel awkward and clumsy when the turns get tight and the trail gets narrow. We think Goldilocks would feel at home prerunning in a Sport Trac.
We cured our front-end troubles in one fell swoop with a King-shocked Dixon Bros. Racing long-travel kit. Had we begun with a stock vehicle, the installation would've taken a fraction of the time we needed. Instead, we had to spend many cubic hours cutting, patching, and welding sections of the 'Trac's damaged frame before we could begin to set the Dixon parts in place.
It was worth it. From our first drive around the block to our first trip back in the dirt with the new front end, this truck is 200-percent better than before - twice the truck it used to be.
A good set of jackstands is essential for safety and for proper access under and around the front end. We didn't have a set that would extend high enough, so we cut the tops off of our shorty jackstands and built a pair of bases under them. Our new stands are both sturdy and tall enough to fit our requirements. | 
Dixon Bros. offers an optional steering clevis kit that allows the use of Heim joints on the inner end of the tie rods. In keeping with the rest of the kit, it's precision-machined, well engineered, and looks great. | 
This optional brace bolts between the rearmost lower control arm mounts. It adds strength and clears the front differential. |
The Dixon kit deletes the low-performance OEM torsion bars and replaces them with high-quality coilover shocks. Since the coilovers hold up the truck's weight, proper design and overall strength must be built into the shock hoops. These 4130 hoops use a simple, strong design to get the job done. Check out the way that the tubes are welded to plates. The plates are then welded to the frame and distribute stress over a larger area. Welding the tubes directly to the frame without plates tends to concentrate stress into a small area and often leads to cracked and torn framerails. A crossbar adds strength by tying the hoops together. | 
Dixon Bros. Racing had the solution to our truck's woes. The Dixon 4WD long-travel kit fits several Fords, including the '01-'05 Explorer Sport Trac 4WD, '98-'05 Ranger 4WD and Edge 4WD, and '95-'01 Explorer 4WD. The Dixon front end is 4 inches per side wider than stock and nets 14 inches of travel with functional four-wheel drive. The tubular upper control arms are 4130 chrome-moly, and the lower control arms are rendered in internally gusseted boxed plate. The kit uses Moog's stout Problem Solver ball joints and is compatible with OEM knuckles. The lower control arms are the polar opposite of a Saturday-afternoon hack job. Aaron and Ian Dixon are both degreed engineers, and their expertise shows in this prime example of metallic finery. The arms are laser-cut, internally gusseted, and expertly welded. The ball joint receptacle is precision-machined for reliability. The lower shock mount is boxed, and the bumpstop landing pad's dimensions are generous. Once installed, the Dixon Bros. Racing long-travel front end aligns to factory specs. | 
King Shocks' reputation for high quality and a smooth ride is well established in our pages. Let's establish it a bit further. Our Sport Trac already sported the high-end blue dampers at both ends, but the existing front shocks were too long for the Dixon design. The DBR long-travel kit is designed around an 8-inch-stroke shock, which facilitates full suspension travel without invading the fender wells. For the final inches of compression travel, we'll rely on a matching pair of King bumpstops to keep things stable and controlled. The DBR kit calls for 2.5-inch-stroke bumpstops. |