I am thinking about getting a 3" body lift on my 99 ranger. How bad does the stock tow hitch look with a 3 inch bl? Would i have to remove the recovery hooks? Also the hole to drop and lift the spare tire would that still work? Also my bullbar goes under my front bumper so I do not think that would be affected but correct me if I am wrong. Sorry this is my first thread if I did something wrong.

 

Your tow hitch and bumpers are attached to the frame, so think of your tow hitch and bumpers 3 inches "lower" in appearance because the body is now off the frame. You can keep your hooks where they are and the spare won't be affected...except you'll have to drop it down further to remove it

You might have to get pigtails for wiring to accommodate the distance.

To lessen the obvious gap in your wheel wells, you can get some thin, rubber mats (Home Depot or Walmart), cut them into strips to fill the gaps, and attach with rivets or bolts.

If you can live with the look of the "lower" bumpers and hitch, cool, but you can also fab some relocation brackets, but keep in mind, this will lessen any impact protection as they are now on pieces of metal instead of bolted securely to the frame.

Welding steel stock to the frame for the bumper mounts is a better idea, but it's still not the bumper mount.

I would go with a suspension lift myself. Keeps the body and bumpers OEM-crash-tested safe(r).

 

Which suspension lift kit would you recomend? I do not do major offroading i mainly want it for looks, i thought of body lift because it is cheaper.

 

You will have to remove your tow hooks because they will make contact with the bumper and will not be usable without cutting into the lower valance.

How much your hitch will hang down depends on the way the hitch is built. Some will hang lower than others.

As for the spare tire, there is a hole in the bumper right behind the license plate. You can put the extension bar for the jack through that and reach the lift mechanism. You'll have to remove the license plate to use it each time, unless you pick up a flip up license plate holder.

 

Mr. Zilla speaks truth. Take those factors into account if you still intend to do a body lift.

As for the suspension, a simple lift for me with coils springs is a simple coil spacer (or torsion bar crank) and shackles in the back for the leaves. you can get a few inches there. Costs about 30-40 for the shackles and about 10-15 for the spacers, but keep in mind, this is the simplest of lifts. it will basically be the stock ride (no change in spring rate) with a higher stance, but also a higher center of gravity, so don't take those corners too crazy

There might be enough travel left in your shock to keep them, but I would replace with 1-2 inch longer travel shocks.

If all you want are bigger tires, keep it simple with the spacers and shackles. Don't read any further than this if this is the case LOLZ

It can and will get more gnarly in cost the more technical you get with the pieces. I plan on a coil and lift spindle replacement along with re-arched leaves to gain about 4-5 inches of lift.

My cost will be about 800 bux with minimal steering and alignment issues.

Some kits go crazy with desert prerunner kits going in upwards of 8 grand.

The lift will aid in wheel travel and axle articulation to keep that precious traction under your rig. Bigger tires have a bigger footprint so there's a reason for a lift, too.

 

I have a 3" body lift on mine. Some hitches look more "tucked", but IMO the factory hitch on mine looks like crap now. As soon as it warms up, I'm taking it off and selling it. As others have said, you can remove the license plate to access the spare tire winch, but I just removed mine and put it in the bed since a. it also looked goofy and b. the winches tend to seize up here.