well you will probly have to get hoops... most of the shoxs your going to want to want are going to be too long for the factory mounts and will be the bushing style of mounting aposed to the pin style that go in factory. you can get universal hoops from tril gear for about 50 bucks. also your going to want to go with about a 8"-10" stroke for the shocks.

as for the glass, if you go with a 6" bulge it will probly look kinda dumb... you can get a 3 4 bulge and be ok

 

how do you mount the shocks with the hoops? whats the difference between bushing and nonbushing shocks? im lookin at the 5150's and they seem to have good reviews but is there a way to measure for the shock length and amount of travel i need?

I was going to get the 4" flare i figured the 6" would be too much. How does the inner fender fit once you put the bigger fender on?

 

when you get new shock hoops they have to be welded to the frame. if you want to go DBR u are better off waiting to get the whole kit. It comes with the appropriate sized hoops for the shocks. just get a set of stock replacement shocks for now. the inner fender usually doesnt fit...i have some people use a cut up plastic trashcan as an inner fender. dont have any pics of that though

 

there is a pin style (factory) that looks like a bolt on the the the shock body. the bushing style is what is used on the bottom of the factory shock, but will be on the top as well.

 

well i wont be going DBR for a couple of years and i shocks now. will the bilstien 5150's mount like the factory ones?

 

If they are designed for the Ranger they will work. Or, you can change the mounting styles.

 

i dont think the 5150 is short enough... i think the shortest they make it is in a 10 inch stroke.. deffinetly not disgned to work with the ranger...but doable

 

has anyone put these on a ranger? I really dont want to spend $450 for them not to fit right.

 

ah, i see that there is a kit to convert to stem style(pin as i described) for these, i say your golden!

heres a link to what you may need...and a better price by the look of it

Bilstein Shocks at TRS Fab & Off-Road

 

ThankYou!!! i found something similar on a different site but this is better. How do i figure out which amount of travel i need?

 

well i doubt the 8's are gonna be what you need, so l would guess that it would be the
6's. i would just ask before you order

 

isnt there some way to measure the amount of travel i need?

 

found how to measure. I'll go out tomorrow and see what numbers i come up with.

 

hey check these! oh la la!
1998-2009 Ford Ranger 4wd Performance Shock Upgrade - Long Travel Suspensions - Dixon Bros Racing

 

yeah but thats alot of money for only the front shocks especially when i can get all four for less

 

ahha yeah, but they will decimate all! best thing u could have in stock buckets

 

i know i would love to have them but unless someone else is picking up the bill for me its not happenin. what exactly will the new shocks help with i know handling but what exactly does that mean? What improvements will i see over stock.

 

smoother and plusher.

 

how will they do offroad say a really bumpy dirt road?

 

epicly! thats pretty much what there made for!

 

ok so the 6" travel ones should fit but will installing the 8" ones make a difference or would they be too long when compressed and act as the bumpstop?

 

hard to say, i think no. i would think if anything the 6's would if either of them would... ive called bilstien before and you actually talk to a real person pretty well. i would give them a call and see honestly. write the 2 part numbers down and pick there brains.

 

well i sent an e-mail to one of the local paint shops and he quoted me $550 for a factory match color job for painting the fenders and blending the doors. I think i'll just wait and get the rear and front together and have them painted at the same time. I do have a question about the rear fenders though, i have bed rails on my tuck now and i like the look of them but will i still be able to put them on with the new flared fenders? Also how do you put the fenders on? (front and rear)

 

do you have bilstiens number?

 

does anyone have the bilstien 5150's? I went up too 4wheelparts today and they couldnt really tell me for sure what sizes i needed.. They did say that i could do the 10" travel in the rear but up front was hard to tell because you have to account for the stem adapter which is about 1.5"-2". plus he didnt know if the shock would even fit in there because of the piggyback reservoir. I also e-mailed DBR about there shocks and they said the shocks have a little over 5" of travel. so im guessing the 6" 5150's should work but im going to take the wheel of and make some measurements before i get them unless anyone else is running these.