I have a 1999 ford ranger 4x4, do I need the large or small housing?

 

you need the small housing, you have an 8.8 28 spline axle. the large housing is for the 8.8 31 spline axle found on the level 2s.

 

ok thanks rangerboy

 

no problem brother

 

31 spline,

but answer is small

 

Will they need any other modifcations other than drilling the holes? I was reading some where they had the bend one of the plates and grind some off the other one. were the cheapest place to get them also?

 

nope just drilling the holes in the front spring hanger....

 

anyone know the part # because they only have the large housing listed

 

The part numbers were listed as shown below until recently. I don't know why they dropped the 5304 listing.

#5302 '97-back Ranger Classic
#5304 '98+ Ranger Small Housing
#5305 '98+ Ranger Large Housing

 

did they stop making them?

 

The large housing Ranger axle didn't exist before 2002 and it has only been on 3% of Ranger sales since 2002.

I don't know why they would discontinue the small housing bars unless they decided that the Classic (also small housing) is close enough that it will work without them having to stock another kit. I guess it's possible - we used to just modify the Classics to fit the newer trucks before the bolt on 98+ bars came out.

 

I emailed them and they said the #5304 '98+ Ranger Small Housing are no longer available.
is there any other companys that sell traction bars that will fit, that dont cost to much?

 

It would not be very hard to make the 5302 Classic bar kit work on your truck. As I said before, we used to do it all the time before JD came out with the 98+ kits. I have a 2003 axle running the 97-back bars which are now called Classics.

To make the Classics work, the holes in the L-brackets may need to be slotted slightly for the U-bolt spacing and/or the edges beveled to clear your Ranger's spring plates. Neither of these small modifications is a high precision operation and can be accomplished by filing. Most owners also straightened the slight kink formed into the front plates but some didn't even bother with it.

 

hey bob is there a tech with pics on how to mod the classic traction bars ? do you think i should just go ahead with the classics ? do these ones have problems with the brackets hitting when the suspension is fully compressed i remember reading there was a problem with that. if i can see some pics to show just what i need to do then i'll modify them . duff must be loosing some money cuz seems quite a few people want the small housing ones .

I'm pretty disapointed that i've been waiting about a year to get my traction bars and now they don't make the small housing ! I was hopeing to get them for xmas and test it out when i go offroading on new years !

 

Issue 1: The 97-back had a small interference on the 98+ spring plates. You can just lay the Duff L-brackets on the plates and you can see what needs to be ground or filed off. Pretty easy.

Issue 2: The front bracket has a slight bend in it for the 97-back spring hanger. The bracket will fit the 98+ hanger better if that bend is removed. A little hammer work will flatten it out.

Hitting the bed: Under severe use, the 97- bars could hit the pinch weld on the bottom of the 98+ bed. It's not a real big deal but it can bend the edge about 1/2" when the suspension bottoms out. Most Ranger owners don't bottom the rear suspension unless the truck is heavily loaded and/or used hard off road.

The above info is for the 97- as we used to install them on 98+. I haven't seen the most recent version of the Classics yet and I don't know for sure if they are exactly the same as before or not. It's possible that Duff changed them a bit. At any rate, getting them to fit your truck shouldn't require too much effort at all.

 

This might help:


http://www.generation-edge.info/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1642

As mentioned, you may have to grind a little off the rear brackets to get them to fit the spring perches. The bend in the front is to accomodate older Rrangers with angled from leaf spring mounts. I did not have to grind the rear brackets on mine, and straightened the front ones in a vise. The pics in the article should give you an idea what you're up against.

I don't remember which part number I used on my truck, which is an '03 Edge. Bob is a whole lot more up to date on this than I am, so he'll probably be able to add whatever corrections may need to be made to the how-to posted above.

 

so nobody has try to fit the #5302 Classic Traction Bars