Newbi suspension tech question
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From: prescott valley
Newbi suspension tech question
Hi everyone
I just bought a 1999 3.0 4wd 5 speed manual ranger and the shocks are shot. Im wanting to replace them with some more offroad friendly ones such as fox or icon as I do enjoy driving dirt roads and I do also want to eventually build it into a pre-runner eventually. I can't seem to find any that fit the front or hardly the rear unless it's brands such as rough country or skyjacker. I know most trucks are built off of 2wd platforms and that's probably the case why I can't find any.
I just bought a 1999 3.0 4wd 5 speed manual ranger and the shocks are shot. Im wanting to replace them with some more offroad friendly ones such as fox or icon as I do enjoy driving dirt roads and I do also want to eventually build it into a pre-runner eventually. I can't seem to find any that fit the front or hardly the rear unless it's brands such as rough country or skyjacker. I know most trucks are built off of 2wd platforms and that's probably the case why I can't find any.
Welcome to the forum
First off for on or off road you want springs and shocks that allow easy deflection at resting weight
So take one end of shocks off the axle so they are no longer "in the picture"
Then bounce that corner/end of the vehicle, should deflect easily, with your weight added when you push down, if not then its "over sprung", this is very common on the rear in a pickup truck because, in the case of a Ranger t6he springs are rated for and EXTRA 1,000lbs, 1/2 ton load, which can make them a very stiff ride with empty bed
You can get lower rated springs and an overload spring, overload spring is only touching when load in bed exceed say 500lbs, so better ride and same load capacity
Your 1999 Ranger 4x4 has torsion bar springs up front, very common for people to "crank them up" to raise the front of the truck up, but this makes the ride stiffer because the weight of the truck can't "hold springs down", so when you hit any bump the whole front of the truck goes up because springs are not set at a higher weight rating
Shocks can not help with stiff ride caused by wrong spring weight, they can make it worse, lol, but never better, so start with the springs to see what shocks you might want
You mentioned "pre-runner"
If you were to just lean on any corner of a pre-runner the body would go down, very soft suspension in the center, then it gets more resistant the more it is deflected
This is to keep the wheels on the road, you want the wheel to go up and down NOT the body when you hit a bump
You can't steer and have no traction if any wheel is off the ground
Stiff suspension pushes body up and with it the wheels since there is not enough weight to hold them on the ground, i.e. wash board road and rear wheels start skittering sideways, lol
Once you have springs sorted then you get shocks that keep the springs from bouncing after hitting a bump, so they have easy defection in the center but slow recovery, so you can go flying off a drop and have a soft high deflection landing and slow return so no 2nd bounce and wheels stay on the road
First off for on or off road you want springs and shocks that allow easy deflection at resting weight
So take one end of shocks off the axle so they are no longer "in the picture"
Then bounce that corner/end of the vehicle, should deflect easily, with your weight added when you push down, if not then its "over sprung", this is very common on the rear in a pickup truck because, in the case of a Ranger t6he springs are rated for and EXTRA 1,000lbs, 1/2 ton load, which can make them a very stiff ride with empty bed
You can get lower rated springs and an overload spring, overload spring is only touching when load in bed exceed say 500lbs, so better ride and same load capacity
Your 1999 Ranger 4x4 has torsion bar springs up front, very common for people to "crank them up" to raise the front of the truck up, but this makes the ride stiffer because the weight of the truck can't "hold springs down", so when you hit any bump the whole front of the truck goes up because springs are not set at a higher weight rating
Shocks can not help with stiff ride caused by wrong spring weight, they can make it worse, lol, but never better, so start with the springs to see what shocks you might want
You mentioned "pre-runner"
If you were to just lean on any corner of a pre-runner the body would go down, very soft suspension in the center, then it gets more resistant the more it is deflected
This is to keep the wheels on the road, you want the wheel to go up and down NOT the body when you hit a bump
You can't steer and have no traction if any wheel is off the ground
Stiff suspension pushes body up and with it the wheels since there is not enough weight to hold them on the ground, i.e. wash board road and rear wheels start skittering sideways, lol
Once you have springs sorted then you get shocks that keep the springs from bouncing after hitting a bump, so they have easy defection in the center but slow recovery, so you can go flying off a drop and have a soft high deflection landing and slow return so no 2nd bounce and wheels stay on the road
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GenerationKill
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