Spindle Lift Turning Radius
#1
11-11-2015
Spindle Lift Turning Radius
Hey everyone, I have a 2006 2wd 4cyl reg cab shorted ranger. I'm considering doing a 3" spindle lift and 2" shackles or blocks. I've read that unless you notch your LCA, your turning radius will be affected.
My question is, how much larger is the turning radius with lift shackles WITHOUT timing the LCA? I can't find an answer anywhere. Just a bunch of people saying it's worse. Thanks
My question is, how much larger is the turning radius with lift shackles WITHOUT timing the LCA? I can't find an answer anywhere. Just a bunch of people saying it's worse. Thanks
#2
11-11-2015
#3
11-16-2015
Member
I just did this two weeks ago. I went with WNP 4" front spindle lift. Install wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. If you have changed out the ball joints then you are familiar with the process.
IF you do not trim your lower control arm you will be able to turn about 3" in each direction. It's bad. I was really concerned with how much material needed to be trimmed but honestly it isn't bad at all. The trimming took me longer than the actual install of the spindles. What I slowly did was use my angle grinder with a grinding disc and start grinding the lower round part of the control arm. NOTE: I did this with the spindle OFF. You could to it with the spindle on but honestly I thought this was better.
I would put the spindle on, hand tighten the ball joint castle nut and turn the spindle left/right. Saw where it touched the metal and then used a sharpie to mark the lower control arm. Took spindle off then grinded. I did this for probably an hour on each side. You can't even tell it's trimmed when looking at it. I have seen some people on the forum really hack their lower control arms up and or the spindles and it looks really bad. With my kit I did not touch the bump stops so before you grind yours off just make sure that the caliper doesn't hit the bump stop.
My turning radius is exactly how it was before the spindle lift so I know I did it right...lol
I did have to move the brake lines down about 2 inches just to make sure they weren't pulled too tight but other than that it was a fairly plug and play setup. The grinding took the longest amount of time for sure.
-Nigel
IF you do not trim your lower control arm you will be able to turn about 3" in each direction. It's bad. I was really concerned with how much material needed to be trimmed but honestly it isn't bad at all. The trimming took me longer than the actual install of the spindles. What I slowly did was use my angle grinder with a grinding disc and start grinding the lower round part of the control arm. NOTE: I did this with the spindle OFF. You could to it with the spindle on but honestly I thought this was better.
I would put the spindle on, hand tighten the ball joint castle nut and turn the spindle left/right. Saw where it touched the metal and then used a sharpie to mark the lower control arm. Took spindle off then grinded. I did this for probably an hour on each side. You can't even tell it's trimmed when looking at it. I have seen some people on the forum really hack their lower control arms up and or the spindles and it looks really bad. With my kit I did not touch the bump stops so before you grind yours off just make sure that the caliper doesn't hit the bump stop.
My turning radius is exactly how it was before the spindle lift so I know I did it right...lol
I did have to move the brake lines down about 2 inches just to make sure they weren't pulled too tight but other than that it was a fairly plug and play setup. The grinding took the longest amount of time for sure.
-Nigel
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