Hi, back after about a year of medical problems. When last was here I was looking for suggestions to improve handling on my 02 xlt ext. cab, 4x4, 4.0, auto.
At the time my truck needed a lot of suspension.upgrades due to previous owner's neglect.
since then I have replaced all 4 shocks with Bilstien 4600s, wheel hub bearing assemble by Timken, all new Hankook Dynapro ATM RF10 tires. I also changed all fluids with synthetic, and had it aligned.
The truck is lIke getting in a brand new one. The Hankook are amazingly quiet for off road tread and provide exelent handling and the Bilstiens have really impressed me with how well they keep the tires on the road.
but I am a bit disappointed with the way the truck handles hard turns and I would like some suggestions as to what rear sway bar to buy.
As I've said, I am very pleased with the choices suggested by members here, although I chose Hankooks despite the suggestions I received here for a number of reasons, the least of which is that the shop I like taking all my vehicles will not mount tires they can't or don't carry.
If it matters, the truck is neither lifted nor leveled.

What sway bars do you members suggest? I want to achieve the best handling I can afford.
I am not bound by the situation with my mechanic as I will be buying it online and installing it myself.

 

I bought a stock OEM sway bar,made a big difference. Some people use a Bronco 1" sway bar. I bought this set which is OEM Ford and sold the front sway bar on Craigslist and recouped most of my expense for the rear bar. Link:http://hillbankmotorcorp.com/19rafrandres.html

 

I can't really recommend anything on the rear, however u should consider using energy suspension sway bar endlinks on the front..... I did , and am more than happy with the lack of body roll using the polyurethane bushings.. I just recently installed these as the one Oem link had broke on me, and noticed a huge difference over Oem

 

Bob,

How do you like the rear sway bar?

I am not sure I found it anywhere but how would this work with someone using lift blocks and lift shackles? I noticed there are 2wd and 4x4 rear end links available. The 2wd is something like 200mm between the eyelets on the endlinks while the 4x4 is something like 270mm.

-Nigel

 

Nigel I seen a big difference in handling in the curves,the truck is more stiff and that is what I prefer. Can't say on the lift blocks,mine is a stock 4X4. I remember it was hard to get a wrench on the drivers side, by the gas tank..

 

Bob,

Awesome! I just got mine today. Will be testing fitting it tomorrow. It's a tad rusty in places but nothing a little sanding and coat of paint to make it new to fix it up.

Looking forward on hopefully seeing an improvement with this. I measured the bar and it's .68mm thick. I believe what I got came off a 1999 ranger. I'm probably replacing the actual links and bushings since those are cheap.

I'll snap some pictures tomorrow.

-Nigel

 

Some people remove them and others add them,like me. Hopefully you'll like it.Watch your steering at first,the truck will go where you point it. Bob

 

It may feel better around corners with a rear sway bar but I doubt it is faster. I have been racing with SCCA since 1987 and the rule of thumb on rear sway bars is; add a rear sway bar to get the rear to slide out more (less traction in corners), use less (or remove) rear sway bar to more grip in the rear.

On the street you normally don't drive on the edge in corners so having less lean in the corner should feel better. A Ranger is already kind of tail happy (tends to over steer) and I am sure that is why Ford eliminated the rear way bar. Balance of front and rear is very important in cornering and there are some changes that can be done to the suspension that would require a rear sway bar to maintain that balance.

 

^^^Agree^^^

Front/rear balance is critical for stability. Going overboard on the rear bar stiffness can be a dangerous move. Safer to err on undersize rather than oversize.

Ford's factory rear bar is only about 5/8" / 16mm. Aftermarket bars tend to be much larger, in part, I'm sure, because many customers think more is always better. Diameter is just part of the equation though. The length of the arms and the distance between the pickup points also matter. So, take that into account when comparing bars.

For 98 and later Rangers, the rear bar is most commonly found on regular cab 4x4's. There must be a handling issue on this configuration or Henry would not have spent the extra money. You can bet on that.

My 03 4x4 Supercab was not originally equipped with a rear bar. I added that smallish factory rear bar after I bought my Ranger and I like the change. It is an improvement for how I use my truck.

 

Got the bar. Here's some crappy pictures of it. This came off a 4x4 I'm sure because it has the 4x4 longer links to the frame. I was actually not sure what I needed since I have a 2wd but have lift shackles and 2" oem lift blocks. Luckily when testing everything it bolts right up. The extra length links are perfect and I guess in all reality my 2wd is at the height or slightly above a 4x4. The guy said parts were rusted but were solid. He was telling the truth. Spent about 30 minutes taking an angle grinder with steel brush and removing all the surface rust. I will be spraying it black tomorrow if we don't get snow. Should look brand new once done. (I'll post an update). In the last picture you can see the bracket in the upper left corner and how much better it looks just from wire brushing it. Doesn't look anything like how it did in picture 1-3.

I am replacing the links and bushings and the lower bolts. The link bushings had some tears in them so it's just easier and cheaper to buy new and be done with it rather than spending half the cost on bushings and be a pita pressing them out. The stabilizer bar bushings looked OK, but at almost 15+ years old, why not change it. Be a nice little project to finish here in a week.

I have much larger aftermarket sway bars on my STi and the rear/front are adjustable. I actually have the rear on that one set up so it's more biased for oversteer. I much prefer that than understeer.

Not looking to turn the ranger into any sport car. I mean in all reality it handles pretty good now. I think that is greatly in part with the springs/shocks I have and all the suspension items are still newish from when I did everything a year ago. I've been in some trucks and they just bounce everywhere or float... my truck doesn't feel like that at all. Surprisingly had I not been looking at the diagram of parts I would have never known there was an option for a stabilizer bar in the rear... I've driven the truck now for 5+ years without ever noticing obviously, but knowing that it was out there and an option and not having it bothered my OCD personality.

I would have loved to find a bronco II 1" rear stabilizer bar but it seems like those are unicorns. For $60 and a little bit of time on this one I think I did well.

It's funny ordering parts at the dealer some prices are super high while others are not. RockAuto is usually where I get my stuff but it soooooooo annoying when they ship from Warehouse A, B, and C... and you have $35+ just in shipping. At that point I usually order the parts from the dealer because they still come out a couple bucks cheaper.

w00t w00t for a better handling ranger hopefully...haha!

-Nigel

 

Looking forward to pics of the finished project!

 

Installation notes on the Ford rear bar:

The passenger side axle clamp actually fits partially over the diff housing casting. It looks a little odd at first but that's how it is set up. Driver side clamp is mounted on the tube only. Because of this, the forward clamp halves are different PS and DS.

The clamps need to be rotated correctly to ensure that the bar does not contact the PS shock. Set it up like the photos and there should be no issue.

 

Excellent information! I was going off of about 3 different picture of various not clear views...lol

I will post pics once it's all done.

Did you paint the rear axle black? Looks awesome all black! I want to do that now.

-Nigel