Suspension Tech General discussion of suspension for the Ford Ranger.

suspension fab help

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Old 07-10-2009
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suspension fab help

Ok so my 2000 2wd is lifted via 3 inch coil springs. i have the doetsch lift upper control arms. which without them i couldnt even get the truck aligned haha. Anyways now the truck is aligned, rides nice, and tire wear seems fine. The question i have is, the upper control arms maybe has 1 inch of down travel before it bottoms out on the upper spring pocket/frame .Its contacting about 2 inches away from the ball joint on the rear tube of the control arm. when i had the stock control arms the suspension topped out every bump. now it doesnt but off road on some nasty bumps it tops out. any fixes that anyone has for this problem? Ill post pics tomorrow of the suspension, just checking if anyone has ran into this problem

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Last edited by BLACK00; 07-10-2009 at 11:11 PM.
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Old 07-10-2009
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Getting a pair of Fabtech upper arms would cure this issue... Or contact Alon, I think he was making or was going to make upper arms that clear the frame better.
 
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Old 07-10-2009
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i have a pair of the doetsch arms which are the same design i believe. bent tubing to give the arms more clearance. i thought about cuting the spring pocket and welding in half tubing to make a slot for more travel but where it is rubing is right where the spring sits in the upper pocket. doestch said these arms would do the same thing you are saying the fabtech would do. they did help but maybe by 1 inch. they are the doetsch arms that come with the 5.5 lift
 
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Old 07-10-2009
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also the upper control arms came with upper bump stop. whats the purpose of the upper bump stops? i still have my factory lower bump stops
 
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Old 07-11-2009
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limit straps?
 
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Old 07-11-2009
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Originally Posted by The S-10 Killer
limit straps?
x2 this is really your only fix.
 
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Old 07-11-2009
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yup, fabtech arms do the EXACT same thing, just that the bumpstops are located differently i believe. lifting a 2wd, your just outta luck because that is the nature of the kit...limit straps might help you from hittin the frame, but regardless, yur pretty much out of travel.

cutting the coil bucket, might help but regardless the suspension has to stop somewhere...best choice, get shorter coils...less lift, more travel on a SLA suspension.
 
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Old 07-11-2009
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Originally Posted by Fx4wannabe01
Getting a pair of Fabtech upper arms would cure this issue... Or contact Alon, I think he was making or was going to make upper arms that clear the frame better.
HAAHHAHA, Yea Alon and I know of a cheap solution to your problem. You get to keep the ride height that you currently have, while also gainign some more down travel. Contact me personaly if interested.

FYI

Alon is my roomate
 
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Old 07-11-2009
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I have been told that changing the spindles would help. That being said it is a bit pricey.
 
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Old 07-11-2009
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Originally Posted by ROOSTTHEMOON
HAAHHAHA, Yea Alon and I know of a cheap solution to your problem. You get to keep the ride height that you currently have, while also gainign some more down travel. Contact me personaly if interested.

FYI

Alon is my roomate

Well alrighty then, I know a the roomie who'll deal with me when I crash and pass out at Alon's then huh? lol. Been meanin' to get my butt down there.....may be living not that far away while I'm at school in SoCal in a few months...
 
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Old 07-12-2009
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anyone make a lift spindle for these?
 
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Old 07-12-2009
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Do you have a lift spindle? If not maybe its time to invest in one. That will put the control arm a little more ways away from the frame.
 
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Old 07-12-2009
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Originally Posted by Shaklakan
Do you have a lift spindle? If not maybe its time to invest in one. That will put the control arm a little more ways away from the frame.
Would the spinlde correct the suspension geometry as well as the spring travel? Right now I am running the same set up and it is putting too much strain on my upper ball joints.
 
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Old 07-12-2009
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Originally Posted by Darock
Would the spinlde correct the suspension geometry as well as the spring travel? Right now I am running the same set up and it is putting too much strain on my upper ball joints.
From what i have seen the spindle pushes the lower and upper control arm away from each other so if your running a lift coil then i would assume it takes it back to almost stock the way the control arms sit. And since you guys are running upper control arms that are bent for more clearance then you should have plenty of clearance when you put in the lift spindle.
 
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