Went wheeling today and had this sick poping noise coming from the front so i crawled under to take a look and find this. I'm looking for a part name.



The stearing has been shakey for a while, figgured my tires werent ballanced even after they re-ballanced them. I think we found what the real problem was.








The front end has also been Squeaky when i hit bumps, think it was the same thing?




Here's a shot of it on the lake.




Anyone ever try the KYB GR2's? http://cgi.ebay.ca/KYB-4-GR2-SHOCKS-...item5d27686b79

 

well typically since i'm assuming you go offroading in it often. i would think the squeaking would be coming from the bushings especially the shocks from dirt and mud getting into the bushings. dang yeah that would be why your steering is so wobbly. looks like you busted your sway bar link

 

looks to me as if the muffler bearing is shot... maybe try walmart? they always have really good deals on those kinds of things and honestly not that hard of a job to replace. feel free to ask more questions?

 

Yeah i'll get right on the muffler bearings, thanks for the help.

 

anytime!

 

that would be a sway bar linkage. most auto parts stores should have them.

 

You just need a new sway bar end link and bushings. Better yet, just remove the whole thing!

 

I was missing 1/2 a sway bar link for a while, some how the top half of mine went on sabbatical? I got a new one for like $16 but now the bushings are destroyed. It's not an important part and it can help you offroad if you leave it off.

 

What bushings should i be replacing to remove the squeeking when i hit bumps. ( thinking its time for new shocks as well)


What shocks are good for 2" of lift, or do i go back to blistens again or has anyone tried the BILSTEIN - - 5100 Series


Anyone ever try the KYB GR2's? KYB 4 GR2 SHOCKS FORD RANGER 4WD 98 to 07 on eBay.ca (item 400093113209 end time 31-Dec-09 18:40:53 EST)

 

Yeh the same thing happened on my truck. Still havent got to replacing it. Untill i fully removed the Swaybar link it made some noise while turning and stuff.

 

Ball joints or tie rods may be your squeak when going over bumps.

 

Yep, That happened to mine to. Get both sides replaced.

 

I would get sway bar end link replacements for both sides, bushings couldn't hurt either. I think a lot of people use Moog, I generally just disconnected mine or ran quick disconnect end links. Here is what the moog end links look like. Look at rockauto.com for some options.


For shocks, you need to go with stock length assuming all you have done is cranked the torsion bars. I really liked my bilstein HD shocks on my ranger. The squeaking could be a number of things. Shocks, upper ball joints, lower ball joints, tie rod ends. You will have to figure out where the noise is coming from yourself or have someone check it out. If you can duplicate the noise by bouncing the truck, have a friend bounce it around and get under there to track it down.

 

that has nothing to do with your steering being shakey, so might still want to look into it

 

I put them on the g/f's Corolla, I find them softer than OEM, wish I would have gone a different route.

Look at the KYB gas-a-just's, $40 a piece, mono-tubes, I run them on my lifted 2wd Ranger, drives awesome. Basically, a billstein without the pricetag.

 

I have the gr-2's and I got no complaints.

 

will removing the sway bar allow for more travel in the front?

 

Not necessarily more travel, it will just allow the suspension to travel easier. The ride is also 10x smoother over bumps and uneven surfaces since you don't have the big sway bar working against itself. The left and right suspension can actually work independently of each other. The trade off is a little extra body roll, but I didn't mind it most of the time. I'm not sure if I have pictures of my ranger easily accessible, but here are a couple with my sport trac (same front suspension) with the sway bar disconnected. The suspension is 100% stock.
http://www.rotor-heads.com/images/sporttrac/flex1.jpg
http://www.rotor-heads.com/images/sporttrac/flex2.jpg
http://www.rotor-heads.com/images/sporttrac/flex3.jpg
http://www.rotor-heads.com/images/sporttrac/flex4.jpg

If you want to try it out, you can remove just one end link on the front sway bar and drive it like that. That's what I did most of the time. The sway bar won't contact the CV joint, control arms or anything else as long as one of the end links is still in place.
If you like it off road but not on the road, disconnecting it again is as easy as removing one end link which only takes a couple of minutes.

 

i dont have a sway bar any more. took it out, havent noticed any differences without it either.

 

I just recently removed my sway bar because I had a death wobble hitting manholes and potholes. I was trying to change my ball joints and couldn't get that to go so I just decided to pull off my sway bar so my tires didn't rub. Long behold my sway bar bushings and endlinks where completely shot and I just took the dang thing off. My trucks rides much smoother now and I actually aim for the manholes and potholes to see if I can get my truck in a death wobble (not the best idea ya know). It will make it smoother and I don't really notice a change in my handling after removing it. I don't feel unsafe either having it off.

 

worst pics i have ever seen!

 

okay well i'll have to try it and see what happends. i know this is off topic but what ever happend to that guy that was offering the coil over converstion kits that he designed? i wanted to put that on my truck but he never got back to me on my pm i sent him

 

Off Road Warehouse (a site sponsor) is selling complete Coil-over conversion kit check out the thread

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...-brackets.html

 

Same thing just happened with mine as well. I heard a clunk when the suspension was compressed and climbed under to take a look and found the same thing. The truck feels much better over bumps now tho, might just ditch the whole thing when I get back. I'm a 7 hour drive from home now tho and that clunking is going to **** me off on the trip home.

 

Wish the link on your thread actually worked?