This is my second official post, here is my intro thread https://www.ranger-forums.com/member-introductions-12/n00b-2006-xl-ranger-128628/

My truck is a 2006 coil sprung 2WD super cab with a 3.0. Today, on the freeway, some mouth breather cut me off, and I had to lay on the brakes HARD at 75MPH. Immediately afterwards I had a very harsh vibration under braking. The whole truck would shake and the steering wheel would saw. Its not noticable without brake input, so I suspect the brake rotors have been turned and are thin. I have had a very faint brake shimmy up until this point. Tomorrow I plan on racking my truck and yanking the wheels and checking everything. I will measure them and run out tomorrow, but I'm wondering if the hard stop put stress on a ball joint that was weak. I looked underneath in my garage, but the only thing I could visually see, is a torn tierod boot, but thats been there since I bought it and was scheduled for replacement soon anyway. I have occasionally, when backing out of a parking space with the wheel at full lock heard a loud pop.

I'm a BMW tech by trade, I will admit, I know nothing of these trucks yet, but they seem very well built. My question is, at 100K miles, am I realistically looking at replacing all four ball joints, tie rods as well? What is the life expectancy of the front end parts?

What about the entire upper and lower arms complete?

Are Ford OE parts (suspension and brakes) good or are aftermarket better?

If I have to redo the front end, should I just pony up and buy my lift now? What lift is recommended for a coil spring 2WD? The furthest extent to dirt it will ever see are mining and fire roads for camping/shooting. Thanks in advance!

Mike

 

Just check the ball joints for any extra play. at 100k, if they're original you may need replacements. Tie rods just check for unnecessary play also.
if you have an 2wd truck, you might want to look into a simple body lift. but to answer your question i think most guys do Spindle lifts.

 

Your a BMW tech and your asking about basic questions about suspension steering and breaks? Just rack it shake the wheel and check it out. If theirs no play then don't do anything.

 

@Mothman999 Well, if it shimmies like crazy, then something is obviously wrong. If it shimmies under braking, its likely I have a rotor warpage/hub issues. As I stated in my original post, I will check everything out when I rack my truck. My questions were based in realm of me not knowing the idiosyncrasies of these trucks, i.e, common points of failure, what age/mileage span should I expect of parts, what manufacturer of parts is better then the other, etc since I do not deal with them on a daily basis for the last decade.

Thanks all the of you for the warm welcome! I ordered a set of Aluminum coil spacers, 2". Those should suffice, I will install them when I do the front end work.

Anyone have experience with MOOG parts on Rangers? I used them on my Chevys, with good results. They seem to have a good reputation. I found I can order everything MOOG from Rock Auto online for a decent price for complete upper arms, and lower ball joints, tie rods outers.

 

I have moog for control arms and tie rod ends and all ball joints. They come with grease fittings so thats nice. cant say a bad thing about them.

 

So, my rotors measure .988" I tried sanding down the rust on the hat to look for a stamped spec and could find none that was legible. I could see something stamped in but couldn't read it, really small. They appear to have never been off the truck as the bearing caps have no marks and under the cap is clean. My online search of a minimum thickness spec has returned nothing so far. Anyone know what it is?

I have one split tie rod boot, but the source of the shimmy is my right upper ball joint, lots of play. So looks like I'm ordering a set of tie rods, and either a lift or a set of upper arms. I looked at the Fabtech 2.5" and it says you must change wheels. It says that in all their lifts it seems. Anyone know if there is truth in that? I like my stock steelies, and would likely run 31" BFG All Terrain's eventually, but would like to keep my street tires a little longer, which I believe are 255/75/15.

 

Brake Disc
Minimum thickness ........................................ 24.5 mm (0.96 inch)
Minimum thickness to machine ............................ 25.10 mm (0.99 inch)

 

Thanks Vista!

I'm waiting on parts. I ordered Moog complete uppers with problem solver ball joints, lower problem solver ball joints, and Moog tie rod outers and camber bolts. I got my 1" coil spacer that will give me a 2" leveling, and ordered a set of ProComp ES9000 shocks for it. A lift was just too much money since I would have had to swap wheels with the Fabtech 2.5" kit, and if I'm buying wheels, I'm buying tires.

My next plans in the next few months are
Lights up front
traction aid. I have a 7.5 open with 3.73's. Being my truck will only see light, 2wd friendly trail, mostly all desert road and sand, is it ok to put a Detroit TrueTrac in my 7.5? I could never imagine being in a position that I would be stuck enough in rocks, and have to power to break it. I plan on getting 31"s when I do tires, 3.73's should be ok, or should I look into doing 4.10's? Thanks again guys, this site is truly a great place and lots of information.
Mike

 

Well, I finally got around to installing all my parts. Front end is all rebuilt, new shocks, level spacer and alignment. Rides like a new truck, albeit a bit stiffer due to the level spacer and the ES9000's, but its nice on the freeway, and nice and tight. Next up is some better rubber ina few months, maybe headers, and a traction aid. Thanks again guys.