To get this part out of the way, I have searched and sifted through hundreds, if not a thousand, threads and nothing has answered my specific question. That question I will get to shortly. Truck info is 03 Ranger, XLT, ex-cab, 4x4, 4.0, T bar crank 285/75R16. I have questions regarding suspension travel and the best ways to increase it. I know that the front is limited by half shaft angles and can't be pushed much more than stock. The shock is the limiting factor. I was however contemplating getting slightly longer shocks and taking my chances. I would like to possibly build a set of tube uca's with uni-***** since the choices seem few and really expensive. Now that I have babbled on enough, my question is, what limits the rear travel? I know longer shocks would help but what is the next limiting factor? I was thinking that on the cheap I could come up with longer shocks, remove the overload spring, open up the clamps that hold the leaf pack together and put a bolt through the ends so that the leaves could open up a little more but not separate completely. What about the shackles though? Do they allow the stock length springs to cycle completely or would longer shackles help? Just for *****-n-grins I ran my truck up my friends 30* rti ramp and was un-impressed by the rear end. Even while backing the truck up the ramp the pass rear tire was off the ground and the driver side was 4" from the bump stop. Thanks for reading my novel...

 

longer shackles on the rear will give you more droop and should help up travel minimally. the longer length will allow the spring to hang a little lower but also flatten out more when compressing. it is really all about the spring pack, the spring rates will determine how much flex you get. shock and brake line length will hinder droop and compression if the shock over extends or bottoms itself before hitting the bump stops

 

Yeah I would measure for the correct shock travel. I was just wondering about the shackles. I know that they can help in most situations but I didn't know if the shackle hindered travel on these trucks. I'm thinking about building a set of angled ones, for a little more droop and to get back the half inch or so I'm going to lose when I pull the overload leaf. Totally didn't think about the brake lines, I would have eventually, when I realized that they were holding the rear end up. Also didn't mention that I don't run sway bars at all.

 

I run a little longer shocks in front with crank t-bars and it does fine =) the shocks i use are rancho rs5374

 

the very first sentence in my previous post talks about the shackles

 

A lot of people including myself run belltech 6400s for longer shackles. If all you're running is a crank and longer shocks up front ( I have the same set up) I wouldn't do much of anything to the rear , it will still have more flex and more travel than the front end even with the Ucas resting on the frame rail

 

Yeah, I was just saying that prior to your post I was curious about the limitations of the shackle. With the limitations of the front end I want to make the rear as capable as possible.