Called Bilstein and this is the shock they gave me for a 98 ranger 2wd. Yours has the plastic coil going around them. Is your truck stock height.

 

Called Bilstein to get part number for shocks and they told me O'reilly's had them and they were $115 each plus freight and Amazon sells them for $63 each with free freight. Did you buy yours from Amazon. I guess the only downfall to buying them from Amazon is they don't offer a lifetime warrantee like the part stores do. But double the price makes it hard to not buy from Amazon.

 

Nope didn't use any primer at all. Just get the dirt grime and grease off and paint away once the loose rust is off.

I can't see spending double when you can get them from Amazon... I bought mine from amazon. Does Bilstein not cover their warrant if sold through amazon? Seems silly to me if that's the case. I would get them from amazon personally since it's half the price.

My truck isn't stock height. I have a 4" spindle lift up front and about that in the rear with stock blocks and lift shackles.


These are what I bought for my 01' Coil spring ranger:
Fronts:
Rears:
-Nigel

 

Yea, I talked to Bilstein today and they advised me to not buy from Amazon because of the warranty. It seems Bilstein would stand behind their product no matter where you got it but he said Amazon has their own rules. Do you have pics of your 2wd with the 4" spindle lift up front and lift shackles in back. I have 16" rims with 245/75/16 tires that might look pretty cool.

 

Yea I would just get them from Amazon. IF you need to warranty them just go from there if that road comes up.

I took a picture of the truck in the garage. Hopefully you can see the lift.
I believe those are my tires as well 245/75/16. Had I known I was going to do a spindle lift and rear lift I would have gotten larger tires. I got these before I did the lift and it filled the wheel well very nicely.. Now I think they should be slightly larger by an inch or so. It's not enough to make me want to ditch the $800 I paid for tires a couple years back just to do it all over again, but when the time comes for new tires and/IF the truck is still running I will then get larger tires. I'm not a fan of wide tires as it looks silly to me. I'd rather go with the same width but taller if that is possible... Maybe 255/75/16 or if there is an 80 option for that. Even a 245/80/16 would be cool.

I'd say the majority of people looking at my truck think it's a 4x4 then they are shocked when I tell them it's not. I did lots of things and it looks like an Edge. The previous owner put Edge stickers on it and I just left it on because I don't want to deal with the ghosting/paint under the decal that will be brighter...lol It doesn't look like a 17 year old truck though. Power dome hood, headlights/side marker lights, taillights, updated mirrors, newer sport wheels...etc. Gives it a fresher look.

I like this tool for tire sizes. Really helps to show the difference when picking sizes side by side.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc...5r16-255-80r16



-Nigel

 

Not ready to do the chassis painting yet too cold. However, I have my upper control arms ready to go back into place with the new camber kit and the area where you bolt all that in is really rusted and don't really want to put the control arms in until I put something on that rust. Is there anything I can put on that rust for the time being until I can paint it.

Also did you say that when you open up that chassis paint you pretty much have to use the whole gallon up all at ounce.

 

Nigel, The lift looks pretty cool. My truck is identical to yours. When you get time can you give me the part numbers for the lift kits on both front and back.

Also I talked to the Chassis Magnet Paint company today and they said if you put a thin layer of xylene over the unused portion of a gallon of paint that you can close up the lid and it will still be good to use over and over. Just wanted to know if you did this. Nothing like the real world experience to get answers. They also said if you give it more then one coat it is best to let it dry only an hour then give 2nd coat other wise if you let dry 24 hrs you have to wire brush it to give 2nd coat.

 

When I did the chassis paint I didn't use the entire gallon all at once. It was spread out over several days. I believe the directions stated on the back you have a re-coat time of 3-6 hours or when it's still tacky but not wet. After that they recommend you scuff up to take the shine off of it. I tried pretty hard to make sure that the re-coats were within that time frame but then after I was all done with painting and still had some left over I just painted over the already dry paint. No issues with it sticking. I did not use any of the xylene. I just put the lid back on and when opening it back up I took the skimmed top layer off.

I still ended up throwing out about a little less than 1/4 of the can out.

This is the spindle lift kit I got:

In all reality I think the front spindles would have been better if it was a 3" lift because they only give you 2" rear shackle lift. So the front ends up being taller and it looks like a cali lean. I purchased rear OEM lift blocks. I believe mine are 1.5" tall. Used those and then replaced the u-bolts for 4x4 ones and it's level. Most people think my truck is a 4x4 and for all purposes for parts that's what I use. When I added the rear sway bar I used 4x4 links to the frame because they are longer and it worked perfectly.

I'm actually excited to drive the truck to see how the rear sway bar affects driving. I hope it feels more planted in turns. Not that I am looking for it feels like it's on rails on my STi but just slightly less body roll would be nice. We'll see.

-Nigel

 

I ended up buying the Bills shocks like you recommended. However, I tried to get my rear shocks off today and tried every socket I had to fit the nuts. 17 and 19 mm 11/16, 3/4, 13/16 The only socket I don't have is a 18mm. Do you remember what size it takes.

Also there was a rubber hose connected to the top of the shock that I tugged on and it came disconnect or broke not sure. What is that and is that necessary.

 

Nigel,

Do you remember how many miles you got out of your inner and outer tie rods. I just replaced my upper control arm and lower ball joints and thought I would stop there. I inherited this truck from my dad and it only has 105k on it so thought I might be good to not replace them.

 

Honestly I can't remember what size sockets were used. I did find this:
How To: Install Your Own Shocks | Ford Explorer and Ford Ranger Forums - Serious Explorations

That might help not 100% sure if everything is correct in terms of sizes, but it should help.

Rubber hose in the rear is the rear differential vent tube. Normally it's connected to the rear diff on the driver side and goes up the frame. You should see a little clip if not just zip tie it to something making sure the hose doesn't point up so water can get in it... Normally it's under the upper frame rail.

I don't think I have changed my tie rods at all. So I believe they are stock to the truck. No play in them either. I have replaced upper control arms and lower ball joints though. When I bought the truck years ago both were bad.

-Nigel

 

No wonder I could not find the vent tube. I was looking to change my diff fluid and thought why would Ford not put a rain plug in the Differential. I was looking for the normal small plug mounted on the diff. gear itself. This rubber hose was connected to my factory shocks with a plastic round plug and when I touched it it came disconnected. Well I am glad to hear you have not changed your tie rods. However, can you tell me how many miles you have on your Ranger.

 

I believe my ranger has about 184k miles on it. Technically more I guess since I have larger tires and my speedo is slightly off. But give or take.

-Nigel

 

Nigel,
I am wanting to change my differential fluid in my 98 ranger because I believe it has never been changed with 105K miles on it. I was going to use a 100% synthetic in the diff and wanted to know if you have ever used it and what brand did you go with. Also did you use a regular paper gasket or silicone for the plate.

 

Yep I use synthetic. I use amsoil. This one actually:

https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...?code=AGLQT-EA

Very pleased with it. It's actually the only amsoil product I use...haha

If you haven't changed it yet and it's gone 100k miles then this should go that according to their website.

I just changed mine back 20k miles ago before I knew I was going to change the rear diff cover, so I kinda wasted a ton of it by not really using it to the max... but it's not expensive and I just bought 4 more when I did my diff. I think before the larger cover I just needed 2-2.5 qts. After the new diff cover I ended up putting 3.5qts in, so gained a little fluid.

I always used to just use RTV silicone for the gasket. It's cheap and never leaks. It's a bit of a pain removing it though. With this new diff cover it game with a nice gasket so I just used that. I'd say do which ever is easier for you.

-Nigel

 

Nigel,
I have used AMSOIL in my diff on other vehicles also good stuff. So when you put your new diff cover on did you use a gasket along with silicone or just the gasket by itself. I was able to find a FEL-PRO gasket for my diff cover but it seems everybody on this forum uses silicone by itself. Don't want to do all this and have it leak.

Also wanted to know what brand of Diff cover you have and did you buy this because you do a lot of towing and the extra fluid and fins keep it cool.

 

Nigel, Getting ready to install my Bilstein 4600 front shocks. Been trying to call them for 2 days no answer or return call. The front shocks have this small plastic washer attached to the stud and wanted to know if that was suppose to remain on the stud when I put the metal washer on to hold the bushing. Also do you remember the torque setting on both front and rear shocks

 

Nigel, Man trying to get in touch with someone at Bilstein shocks is a nightmare. Been trying for 2 days now. I am installing the front shocks at the same time I am putting upper control arms on. Box did not come with any instructions but thought no problem. I have the tires off both sides and I was trying to bolt the top of shock first and the nut just spins the whole bolt. There is no 2nd nut to hold the shaft so do I need to put a load on these shocks to hold the shaft so I can tighten the top nut.

 

Nigel, I just installed my Moog upper control arms along with the new camber kit on my 98 ranger with coil springs. Just wanted to know how you did your pre load on tightening your camber bolts. I could not keep my tires on because there was not enough room to work the torque wrench so I took the tire off and jacked up one side and placed a stand on the frame and then put a bottle jack under the lower control arm and lifted it just to the point where the stand on the frame was barely loose and then did my 100 ft lb torque. Do you think this will be good to keep the rubber bushings on the proper load. What I also did was before I removed the tires I measured the distance from the wheel arch to the center of the hub to see if that was close and it was.

Greg

 

Greg,

100% honest I can't remember the torque at all. I just tighten them down then a little more. Nothing crazy. I remember a thread somewhere stating you want to compress the bushing but not squeeze the life out of it when you tighten the strut bolt.

My diff cover is made by PML:
https://www.yourcovers.com/

I only replaced it because my stock red one was looking not great and while I had everything off the truck figured why not... It added about .5 qt capacity. I don't tow anything with my truck. I will have stuff in the bed but have never towed anything.

I believe my Bilstein struts had a spot on the bolt shaft that I could tighten with both a socket and wrench to prevent anything from spinning. And with the struts I definitely kept the wheels on/truck on the ground. I didn't see a need to take anything off. For upper control arms I just tightened the bolts snug and then drove it to the alignment shop so they could do the rest and they would then finalize any torque specs on them.

Hope that helps.

-Nigel

 

Hello,

I have a 1998 Ranger 2.4L that I simply cannot let it go! It has a cap and a long steel lumber rack on it. Once I put these two items on the truck, the rearend sagged! The truck has 15" wheels with 31" tires. She looks great!

I just replaced the rearend with one from a 1997 XLT that has the larger ring gear 4:10, rear stabilizer bar and 10" brakes. Completely rebuilt the brakes, changed gear oil, replaced transmission rear seal, replaced ujoints, replaced rear leaf springs with new 1750 rated ones, new rear shocks that are the Monroe Sensa-Trac Load Adjusting. I believe this list is complete?

Now I need to address the front end: I was searching for Monroe front shock reviews which lead me to this thread. I now believe I will go with the Bilstein for the front. My question is about replacing my front coil springs with stronger ones, because they are old and sagging as well, plus after installing the new leaf springs and shock, the truck has has a front/rear difference in height of 2". I wish to reduce this difference between the front/rear by replacing the front coils.

I read some posters mentioned "Moog" springs. Could someone provide information about front coil springs? I am also considering replacing the front sway bar with a larger one, any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Regards,
~PD