ok personally i think its a great idea and if you can do then do it. i think first of all it looks awesome and would give more performance off road. i think its a great thing to do to improve your truck. i got a friend who believes the opposite
he says that is the stupidest thing you could do to a ranger, he had a 88 ranger i believe it was with the 2.8 4x4 single cab he said that he NEVER got stuck in it and NEVER even needed to put it in 4x4 because it NEVER got stuck and went through SO much mud. (big **** talker by the way) but anyways he says the way his was set up was the best way to have a 4x4 ranger. i dont remember how ford did those trucks but i think he's full of **** saying if you SAS a ranger your stupid and the idiot says thats the worst way to go w/ a ranger and the 4x4s are perfect the way they came on his 88 and theyre even better on the newer truck. he means on the road, on the trails, in the mud, flexing and just everything wouldnt be as good with a solid axle.

 

hmmmmm well i dont have a solid axle...........but it is def one of the top things on my list when i buy my next ranger.......think of how much more bad *** it makes your truck........its a def when i buy my 06

 

SAS doesnt really help in the mud. Though, it doesnt hurt either. SAS allows for additional flex. SAS is also a negative thing if you're into going fast off road. Military HMMWV's have fully independant suspension. Of course, they also have computers which can allow the suspension to flex a lot more than a 100% mechanical suspension, but still, solid axles front and rear are good for creeping through the technical stuff. You dont creep through mud if you are just out to go boggin'.

If all you're doing is bogging the best thing you can do is get as much ground clearance as possible, get as big of a tire as possible with the most aggressive tread, have lockers front and rear, and the power to turn all four over on dirt.

On a light truck like the ranger, that will just skim over most mudd unless it is absolute soup.

 

If i am correct you can lift the truck a hell of a lot higher SAS than you can with any current drop bracket kit. so more ground clearance for Rock Crawlin'

 

Are you asking? it seems that you kind of answered your own question... Youre friend is an idiot if he doesnt see the advantage (STRENGTH) of a SFA.

 

Heres a great thread in some Jeep forum that talks about the advantages and disadvantages to both IFS and SFA set ups:

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums...d.php?t=128083

 

mines been both ways. trust me for offroad situations compared to the stock IFS this is a much better alternative.

 

Also remember, 9/10 times where is your truck?

 

So you plan on buying a ranger that has a solid axle in the front or converting it to a solid axle?

 

true, but i have been gearing up my truck to be a wheeler only. So in my case its worth doing.

 

IMO, a real trail rig will be SFA. Weather that is stock drivetrain or not...

I'm a bigtime mudder, only way to go far is to have big tires, lots of power, and ground clearance. I've posted these threads before, but unless your truck is on 40's, your not going anywhere around the places I mud.

 

The IFS on the newer trucks are plows. Has he ever looked under one? I mean once the mud gets deep your pushing mud like crazy. He also needs to see a ranger flex so he will see that they have no flex in the front. You can fix all of this with a SFA

 

Depends on Application - I already tried to prove IFS is better for the ground clearance issue, but am wrong lol.

IFS is good for going fast. Alot of desert racers, short course racers use IFS.

SAS is good for crawling, trail driving ect, but zach has showed me some awesome truggys flying across the sand with SAS and I seen a couple at the dunes last trip.

 

They can do it. It's just not the most stable. While I agree, most enthusiasts do trail riding and crawling and what not. SAS or IFS doesnt make THAT much of a difference in the mud. But in the pro world and desert world the individual reaction and articulation of each tire is extremely important to keep the truck going in a striaght line. Stock IFS cant really compare. Dixon Brothers IFS coilovers, can, though. If I had 3-4k to drop, that'd be the kit I'd put on my truck.

On a side note, I saw a crawler on Xtreme 4x4 that used a fully independent suspension with airbags and they controlled each bag individually as they went through the course. It surprised a lot of people. However, it cost a lot more than just doing SA front and rear and didnt show that it was really any better or worse for crawling. The advantage to that, of course, is having a BA buggy that can go damn near anywhere simply by changing how your suspension acts on the fly.

 

The thing about our trucks is what IFS kit will give you enough lift to run like 40 inch swampers? You have to go solid axle just to provide enough lift for the huge tires.

 

ha, tell your friend he's full of S**T!, tell him a ranger enthusiast said it.. I've been stuck in 4wd.. many times, i've been stuck more in 2wd.

Lemme guess, his definition of 'mud' is a puddle on the side of the street he hits at 40 miles an hour?

there's pro's and cons to each setup, to someone like me who is building a crawler, I'm in it for the strength, and the extra flex is a nice perk as well.

There is a difference, pit a straight axle ranger on 35s locked f/r against an IFS ranger on 35s, locked f/r, same tires and i would almost put money on the straight axle truck would go farther..

like someone said, its a plow! When i went snow bashing with my buddy in a straight axle yoda he didn't get stuck nearly as much as me.. why? he wasn't plowing the snow, for the most part it went over the axle.

wtf are you talking about a computer controlled Humvee suspension? they have portal hubs with coils..

THANK YOU!

Strength!!! that's 75% of the reason i did the swap!

the sawzall.. but then every part of the drivetrain would be destroyed

 

Can they not change height and spring rate? I know for a fact they can lower and raise tire pressure on the fly.

 

The ranger was never designed to run 40" swampers and doing so with that much lift with out widening the truck substantially is asking for a roll over. With out a v8 swap, driving a truck with 40" swampers would be torture.

My buddy's silverado with 39" super swampers and a total lift of a **** ton is bad enough.

 

Nope, never heard that one before. Not many (Marines might have that mroe for beach "work") have the tire inflation system either, that's a civilian option. The HMMWV is not a very good offroad machine, just VERY strong and reliable.

 

nope, good old coil sprung IFS/IRS.. gobs of clearance though.

they can change the tire pressure if equipped.


its good at some stuff, sucky at most like you said lol.

 

haha yea florida mud trucks are wild.max tire size and max power.plus that ranger mud tank light is insane.

 

Holy old post batman

 

2 weeks is an old post?

 

Yeah um NO! You = FAIL!

 

wow
that tread was really only 2 weeks ago?

i coulda swore it was much older