i know its against common logic and personally i never thought id see the day, but im sick of breaking my truck all the time in the woods. what do you guys think of doing a flip kit in the back and flipping the torsion keys to drop the old edge. im also going to do sway bars and shocks front and rear.......then maybe an awd transfer case? but what do you guys think of the drop first?

 

bought

wrong

truck

to

lower






What exactly are you breaking? You're truck appears bone freakin' stock and they can take a decent beating in stock form. My truck's an excellent example of this, even on 35's now. Only when I abuse the **** out of it is when I blow up tcases or trannys. lol.

 

thats the onyl pick i have of it. it has a torsion crank and 31 10.5 15 cooper stt's. its got a couple trail dents. i have to replace the rack because the seals are junk and its leaking like a seive, ive redone the drum brakes twice because they get packed with mud. its sucked up water (still running fine after a fresh air filt and an oil change) the spring perches broke off (common ford thing but still) and im just looking at either 2000+ to lift and put better tires on it or for like 1000 i can have a sick handling street truck.

i know the thought process is that 4wd belongs in the woods but i live in mass i need 4wd just to get up my driveway in the winter time. i wouldnt ever buy a 2wd truck.

 

spring perches coming off ARE NOT a 'common' thing at all...

rack thing is wear and tear...normal

31's are tiny so that's not a concern for beating up parts...

idk how drums get packed full of mud....maybe not wheel in mud because mud is stupid? Converting to stang discs is really a very affordable swap. check out hte how-to section....there's a write up.

 

ive seen the perches go on at least 3 differnt f150s that my friends have driven. the rivets just rust right out. and its not like the drums are peerfectly sealed you get into a deep puddle and those bad boys are getting filled. i would like to convert to discs in the back. itd make doing brake jobs so much easier.

 

rivets? lol....welds on rangers.

 

no mine had 3 or 4 rivets....when i put the new ones on i use grade 8 bolts as a replacement.....lets see those f**kers rot. lol

 

Ummm..... you don't know what Spring Perches are do you? Are you talking about Shackle hangers/spring hangers? Because that's a very common thing on trucks in the belt that aren't cared for during the winter.

 

the perches are the part that is riveted on the frame the shackles are the part that connect the spring to the perch. i know what they are because i replaced them. 130 bucks for the perches shackles and hardware from my local ford dealer because the perches you cant get aftermarket (well at least i couldnt at my local advance auto or napa) and i wash my truck pretty regularly....especially after wheeling.

 

i <3 living in the desert. rust is a *****. lol

and it sounds like the stuff thats messin up, is mainly your own fault. the leaf hangers are a given if you don't pay close attention to your **** in that kind of environment. but the drums filling with water is your own doing, which still sounds weird. i've had my truck in muddy water up to the rockers multiple times and never ever had a problem.

and if you want a lift to clear better tires, get a body lift. can get a summit kit for under 200 last i checked. and clear 33's with no problems.

 

idk man theres a different breed of mud in new england than in the dessert id imagine.

 

without a doubt, im sure you've got that goopy stick to everything kind of mud. but i've wheeled in that stuff before. when i lived up north.

 

i was just trying to get an opinion from you guys about how that drop worked because ive read about it a few places and every other one seems to contradict the other but i guess i just get told i dont know what im talking about and that i dont take care of my truck. thanks anyways ranger forum.

 

all in all....keep it selectable 4wd like it is now, ditch the rear block, decrank the bars, you can get about 2" drop all around.....but front end alignment(camber namely) won't be correct and it may not be adjustable to do so with the stock upper control arm bolts. Toss on some smaller tires like 28's...BUT....you'll be stuck to car sized stuff for good tires. No good all terrains that small....only option is studless snows which do in fact kick ***....I've owned a few sets and absolutely love 'em! Toss an LS into the truck if it doesn't have it now. Tha'ts a BIG help in winter crap road conditions.


All in all...do what you want. I wouldn't. If you enjoy playing with the truck, why stop? IDK what I'd do with myself if I had a 100% street pounder. If I was so concerned about little issues here and there, my truck would never leave pavement and I probably wouldn't drive it and get a Mustang. OH WAIT....my names not Ty. LOL! jkjkjk Ty. In summary...gotta pay to play. If you don't wanna pay, get out the game.


The parts you replaced are not spring perches. spring perches are the flat part that welded to the axle and it's what the springs rest on. What you replaces are the shackle hangers or spring hangers. Those rivet/bolt to the frame and refer to my earlier post about the reasons they go out.

 

i beat the livin **** out of my truck when i go wheelin and its pretty much stock. the only thing ive broken was a leaf spring

 

learn how to drive?

 

wow, I just joined this forum and already im seeing alot of hostility........ All this guy asked is what you guys thought about him lowering it, not harrassing him about his driving. Just my 2 cents.

 

I think Shane gave great answers. the description of the "New Ideas" section says "Be prepared, though. The public can be harsh."

 

no hostility here friend. just trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about.

 

oh, and like shane said, you would only be able to drop it about 2" or so. but with the right wheel/tire setup and nice backspacing on the wheels that could look pretty sweet. you would also probably need some camber bolts to get more adjustment too. i've thought about doing it, but i would have to reverse too many things due to the body lift to do this. exhaust, bumper etc etc.

 

the drums filled with mud actually is VERY COMMON! stupid mud getts everywere... almost ****ed up muy clutch due to that the dealer never sealed it and it soaked mud and even grass..

its still giving me probs.. but o well.

with the drums its just swap in stang disc brakes or get used to be cleaning the drums after mud wheeling...

and u guys he just asked a question that he really didnt know how to explain himself probably.. mud sucks and it gets everywere even inside my winch i found mud when i opened it...

bout the drop i dont know what u expect from it or acutally didnt understand much what u were looking to get.. prolly if u have an idea or a pic of something similar uve seen that might help us understand what u want?

 

Easy fix: Don't go in mud. I went through a mud-hole once, and i will never do it again.

One thing on the drum brakes: I don't know how, but my drums were actually perfectly clean after I went through that mud pit for 45 minutes. i had my truck pretty buried a couple times too (had to have a lifted 350 pull me out one time lol

I''ve jumped my truck, had it sideways in the snow next to a cliff (ran over a rock that kicked my back end around) driven it at 30-45* and overall beat the hell out of it, and never broke anything. Thought I did, but nothing really broke. The only time I actually broke something is when I ran a red light, got t-boned, and flipped.

my truck was completely stock too suspension-wise, except I put better shocks, and cranked the t-bars.

I would not recommend lowering your truck if your in new england, cause when it snows, you'll want that extra ground clearance. One time I was out in about 1.5-2 feet of snow with some friends, and his 4runner had a lot less ground clearance than my ranger. The drag from plowing the snow with his crossmember was enough to stop him with the open differentials when he got out of the tracks that me and the truck in front of me had made.