Greenhorn
#1
11-20-2018
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Chester
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#2
11-21-2018
Member
Welcome to the forums!
Meow, when you say 'turn it into an off roading vehicle", will you still be driving on-road? Daily driver? Weekend warrior?
Off-road only?
If you plan to keep it registered and smogged, leave the engine alone, but that suspension, doe!
There are quite a few suspension manufacturers that can take your rig from mild to wild in both 2wd and 4x.
Mild is bolting on new lift springs (torsion bars if you have them), shackles, spindles, and wild can be replacing every little piece from a-arms to welding on new shock mounts for coil overs.
Camburg, Fabtech, MaxTrax...just a few off the top of my head.
Google "2004 Ford Ranger lift suspension" and watch the hits come at you.
Meow, when you say 'turn it into an off roading vehicle", will you still be driving on-road? Daily driver? Weekend warrior?
Off-road only?
If you plan to keep it registered and smogged, leave the engine alone, but that suspension, doe!
There are quite a few suspension manufacturers that can take your rig from mild to wild in both 2wd and 4x.
Mild is bolting on new lift springs (torsion bars if you have them), shackles, spindles, and wild can be replacing every little piece from a-arms to welding on new shock mounts for coil overs.
Camburg, Fabtech, MaxTrax...just a few off the top of my head.
Google "2004 Ford Ranger lift suspension" and watch the hits come at you.
#3
11-21-2018
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Chester
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#4
11-22-2018
Member
Sure.
Start shopping around and determine how much you’re willing to spend. This can get REAL expensive REAL fast, but quick and easy stuffs are lift springs and shackles. It will get you a few inches if lift to clear some bigger meats.
Body lifts (not my choice, but...) will also do that. Just know you may have to lengthen/replace some lines/wiring to accommodate the new distance.
if you’re looking to build a serious off-roading, you’ll have to step away from bolt-on stuff to fabrication.
With mine, that means front and rear shock towers, a-arms, trailing arms for the rear, roll cage, trusses, gusssets, grinding and cutting the old mounts off and welding on the new.
Front and rear “excuse me” bumpers, too 😜
Like I’ve mentioned before, there are manufacturers out there at have bolt-on, bad-*** stuff, and its much simpler than the fab’ing.
Check them out and see what kits they have that even will satisfy your liking.
Camburg has a few choices for my rig if I wanted to get a sexy lifted stance and look. Bolt-on stuffs.
For me, I’m going to start with lift spindles, coils, shackles, and re-arched leaf springs. This way I won’t have to change much and keep all my steering stuffs and shock mounts.
for now. 😜
Start shopping around and determine how much you’re willing to spend. This can get REAL expensive REAL fast, but quick and easy stuffs are lift springs and shackles. It will get you a few inches if lift to clear some bigger meats.
Body lifts (not my choice, but...) will also do that. Just know you may have to lengthen/replace some lines/wiring to accommodate the new distance.
if you’re looking to build a serious off-roading, you’ll have to step away from bolt-on stuff to fabrication.
With mine, that means front and rear shock towers, a-arms, trailing arms for the rear, roll cage, trusses, gusssets, grinding and cutting the old mounts off and welding on the new.
Front and rear “excuse me” bumpers, too 😜
Like I’ve mentioned before, there are manufacturers out there at have bolt-on, bad-*** stuff, and its much simpler than the fab’ing.
Check them out and see what kits they have that even will satisfy your liking.
Camburg has a few choices for my rig if I wanted to get a sexy lifted stance and look. Bolt-on stuffs.
For me, I’m going to start with lift spindles, coils, shackles, and re-arched leaf springs. This way I won’t have to change much and keep all my steering stuffs and shock mounts.
for now. 😜
#5
11-23-2018
Off-road is about ground clearance and traction
Rear Wheel Drive(RWD) Pickup trucks are at a disadvantage with traction right off the bat because there is no weight on the rear wheels to get good traction, even with a good set of off road tires they will just spin with no weight holding them down on the ground
So easy fix is to add some weight to the bed, but it must be secured weight, don't want it to shift or bounce around or come though the back window in a sudden stop, lol
You can use water jugs secured to the rear corners of the bed, then you can fill them up when you need the traction and empty them for best MPG on the highways
"A pint is a pound the world around", 8 pints in a gallon, so a gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, 5 gallons 40lbs, 20 gallons 160lbs
Full gas tank is about 20 gallons and 160lbs
Also a small air compressor and a good pressure gauge, you get better traction with lower tire pressure, 20psi rear, 25psi front with RWD, but you don't want to drive longer distances on pavement with lower pressure as it will wear out the tires pretty fast.
Limited slip rear axle(posi-traction)
On your drivers door is a label that will tell what type of rear axle you have, read here: https://therangerstation.com/tech_li...le_codes.shtml
OPEN means only 1 rear wheel gets power from the engine, and worse than that, this 1 wheel will always be the EASIEST wheel to turn
So once a wheel starts to loose traction, spin, it takes all the power away from the other rear wheel.
Limited slip(L/S) axles do the opposite, if 1 wheel starts to spin faster than the other wheel it transfers power away from the spinning wheel and sends it to the other wheel
Lifting for better ground clearance is fine, and for "the look", but traction should be addressed first, IMO
i.e. ground clearance helps you clear an obstacle, traction helps you get to the obstacle, lol
Rear Wheel Drive(RWD) Pickup trucks are at a disadvantage with traction right off the bat because there is no weight on the rear wheels to get good traction, even with a good set of off road tires they will just spin with no weight holding them down on the ground
So easy fix is to add some weight to the bed, but it must be secured weight, don't want it to shift or bounce around or come though the back window in a sudden stop, lol
You can use water jugs secured to the rear corners of the bed, then you can fill them up when you need the traction and empty them for best MPG on the highways
"A pint is a pound the world around", 8 pints in a gallon, so a gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, 5 gallons 40lbs, 20 gallons 160lbs
Full gas tank is about 20 gallons and 160lbs
Also a small air compressor and a good pressure gauge, you get better traction with lower tire pressure, 20psi rear, 25psi front with RWD, but you don't want to drive longer distances on pavement with lower pressure as it will wear out the tires pretty fast.
Limited slip rear axle(posi-traction)
On your drivers door is a label that will tell what type of rear axle you have, read here: https://therangerstation.com/tech_li...le_codes.shtml
OPEN means only 1 rear wheel gets power from the engine, and worse than that, this 1 wheel will always be the EASIEST wheel to turn
So once a wheel starts to loose traction, spin, it takes all the power away from the other rear wheel.
Limited slip(L/S) axles do the opposite, if 1 wheel starts to spin faster than the other wheel it transfers power away from the spinning wheel and sends it to the other wheel
Lifting for better ground clearance is fine, and for "the look", but traction should be addressed first, IMO
i.e. ground clearance helps you clear an obstacle, traction helps you get to the obstacle, lol
Last edited by RonD; 11-23-2018 at 12:22 PM.
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