I just cranked my bars today, finally. I myself, am somewhat disappointed... I did 4 full turns and another half turn just for fun... Im almost maxed out. I might have 1-2 more turns left on the drivers side. It sucks though, after driving around for like 5 mins and remeasuring I only gained like 3/8". I was at 34 1/16" now Im at 34 5/8" wheres that 1.5" to 2.5" everyone was talking about? Even if I max them out I don't think that ill hit 35".

Before...


After...




I do like the firmer ride that I felt. now it no longer feels like the front end is diving when I brake. So I am happy about that.

Since the last photos I took, I've added '06+ Taillights, 20% Tint, and bed liner to the to wheel wells.

Still no wheels or tires

 

Oh yeah and I quit smoking... been off them for 3 days now!

 

Truck looks awesome! Love the color! And congrats on the no smoking! It's gonna be tough but you an do it! I'll be smoke free 2 year November 1 so if ya need to vent, I'm all ears!

 

super clean John, lookin sweeet!! the before pictures in the "showroom" is that your garage or what?! crazy clean in there... good spot to take some picturesque pictures!!

dont know for sure, but perhaps your bars are beginning to sag.. maybe thats why you didnt yield as much??

either way.. love the ride.. some new wheels and tires would set it right off!

any pics of the bedlined wheel wells?

 

Thanks Brenda, I appreciate it!

Ive been cutting back for the last month or so... and have been down to only 1-2 smokes a day for the past 2 weeks. I had to ween my self off there was no why I could just quit cold turkey, Ive tried many time before.

I was just looking at your new photos they look great, better then mine! you got some different angles and some scenery

Thanks Billy! the showroom shots where actually pics of it at the dealer. I wish my garage looked like that haha.

I really like to wax and clean my baby .

yeah i guess i could have gotten some pics of the wheel wells, lol ... give me a few mins...

 

I love that color, so nice

 

Thanks John. Mine are better, just a different scene. Makes a huge difference! Good luck with not smoking...cutting back is a good way to start. I used nicorette this time to quit. I tried many times before but never lasted this long. Just take the money you'd spend on smokes, put it aside, and treat your Ranger to something sweet!

 

Don't mind the cancer on my frame, I'm working on that...

 

I wasn't crazy about it when I bought it because I wanted black. Now, I love it it looks cool all waxed up.

True! I tried that nicorette and the patch before... wow what a buzz if you smoke while using them LOL.

yeah my fiance is putting the money in the bank for me.... I want to get wheels and tires for the ranger. I just don't know if I can wait another half a year. Amazing how much money I use to spend on them..

 

You've got a good looking truck. You outta paint the whole frame. not many people will see it, but you'll know and it'll look so much better.

 

Yeah I'm going to strip and paint the frame. It bothers me every time I'm under there . As you can see from in the first picture of my wheel well. that dark shiny spot on my frame to the left of my wheel is a test section. I was testing this "Auto finish stripper" stuff to see if it will remove the waxy film on the frame, it does. then I gave it a quick spray of rustolium to keep it from flash rusting.

I just need to spend the money on supplies like: rust converter, chassis paint, sand paper, more stripper, and maybe a wire wheel for my grinder. easily a $100 to do it right. I think im going to buy one of those chassis restoration kits from eastwood.

damn road salt... id rather they didnt plow the roads in the winter

 

since ya bought the truck used....could be that someone had allready done a t-twist?

anyways, really nice clean truck.......and good luck with the quitting

l8r, John

 

Sounds like your T-bars are sagging out. look at your door sticker and see what bars it came with. Some are softer than others, and if you have the soft ones, it won't lift near as much.

 

yah it really didn't look like it. but I thought that 4 1/2 turns would have done more than 3/8" ... might just have to crank them that last few turns.

Under SPR it says 11KK those are #1 bars right? Do you think that they could be sagging already (25,000mi 4yr old) ?

I was thinking about swapping sides since I have alot of cranks left on the passenger side. The same idea as rotating tires.

 

This may seem like a stupid question, but did you get the wheels off the ground before doing the twist? My 99 has the crappiest bars with 185k and I gained a little over an inch when I turned mine up. I didn't crank them all the way either...

 

Yes. With a FX4 you get the best bars. No way in heck do I see you sagging at only 25k miles.

 

Yeah I jacked it up all the way.. maybe it was because I forgot to measure it before i jacked it up and i had to let it back down to get my initial measurement. maybe the truck didn't settle back down before I measured it.