Suspension Tech General discussion of suspension for the Ford Ranger.

2008's lower ride height, need to get to the bottom of this

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  #176  
Old 05-16-2009
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^^u got the stiffest springs.....what everyone wants
 
  #177  
Old 05-16-2009
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nice, so if i want to buy the older keys, i need the $36 or the $84 ones?
as for the rear, i'd need to buy the bell tech 6400 shackels correct?

i also measured my height right now since shane asked for it. the front is 33"s the rear is 35.25". this is with a half tank of gas and unknown air pressure.

btw, howell, that is a nice truck, any other pics and where did you finda billet grill for the 08's?
 

Last edited by morris; 05-16-2009 at 08:47 PM.
  #178  
Old 05-16-2009
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Originally Posted by morris
mine came with 255/70R16's. i just checked. i can't believe i missed this thread. i wanted to lift mine a little but i didn't wanna crank the bars or BL and it's too early for me in my ownership to just throw a suspension lift on it.

my spring rate on my door sticker is 11CC's
yup, 11CC is the good stuff! Get yourself some pre-2008 torsion keys 9doesnt matter which ones, as long as they are pre-2008) and you will get nearly 2" up front. Its an easy install, took me about an hour to get both sides done and i couldnt be happier with the results.

Heres the shackles for the rear (gives you about 1.75"):
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku
 
  #179  
Old 05-16-2009
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looking at the pics that dallas posted of his orange sport, i'd need slightly larger tires, maybe even a little wider to fill my wheelwells if i did this mod.

unless the tires in the pics are smaller then 255/70s.
 
  #180  
Old 05-16-2009
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Originally Posted by morris
looking at the pics that dallas posted of his orange sport, i'd need slightly larger tires, maybe even a little wider to fill my wheelwells if i did this mod.

unless the tires in the pics are smaller then 255/70s.
Yeah, I think if this is the only mods you do to the suspension, 31 or 32"s would be perfect. Your stock tires would look OK though until you upgraded tires
 
  #181  
Old 05-16-2009
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the tires might look fine more so since i don't have those fender flairs.

nice. i don't wanna go too much higher, but this is a really nice stance.

i just clicked on that stuff for your ranger site and found the billet grill. what about the trim, i'd like it to be metal not black.
 
  #182  
Old 05-16-2009
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for the rear you can get the 2 1/2" blocks that come in the older trucks. i did the shackels and a 2" block out of a 01 mazda. got my keys out of a mazda also.
 
  #183  
Old 05-16-2009
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do you have the part numbers for the older shackles?

could you just order all parts from a older ranger? i mean the blocks, keys and shackles?
 
  #184  
Old 05-16-2009
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You can either do taller stock 2.5" blocks to replace your 1.25-1.50" blocks. Can't remember exactly what size 08 blocks are. OR you can do Belltech 6400 shackles.

I vote the shackle route since it's alot easier to install and you've now gained to your travel.
 
  #185  
Old 05-17-2009
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went to the wreckers again and nothing.rangers where too old or 2wd or completely destroyed . I looked at explorers and F150s , checked the door stickers that where still on there and the doors where too lol........


anyways went to the ford dealership and let them on this little secret.....they parts guy was surprized and thought that ford was dumb for doing this..........so order the parts they have to come from the US so should be here tuesday and i already have the shackels so hopefully wednesday or thrusday i will be installing.....then i am off to the hunting camp for the weekend to take my truck off roading for realz ........

will let ya knowz height increases and such and well heres the before pick.........


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  #186  
Old 05-17-2009
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whats it say in this pic i cant make it out
 
  #187  
Old 05-17-2009
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thats a jack......pushing on the torsion key
 
  #188  
Old 05-17-2009
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In order to unload then tension on the torsion bar, the key must be lift up off the adjust bent bolt. Remove the bolt, remove the block that the bolt threads into, then loosen tension off the key, then the bar/key combo would drop out the torsion bar brackets, then slide out the bar from the lower control arms. All ya'lls trucks are pretty dang new, so having the key rusted to the bar shouldn't be a possibility...though it isn't impossible to happen.

To get the key off the adjustment bolt, i've seen a couple different methods......I use a 12" c-clamp with the wobbly piece on the threaded end removed. The $100 tool is very very similar to my $10 tool. lol. There's one that clamps to the brackets and uses a ratchet(safest route IMO). Then there is the route that Dallis chose, which was the first time i've seen it dont like that using a bottle jack.

Remember to either mark the bolt and threaded 'nut' piece so you dont undercrank the bars after install....or over crank the bars after install. Or count how many turns it took to get thebolt out. There's a few different ways of doing this.
 
  #189  
Old 05-18-2009
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This may have been mentioned earlier in this thread but I could not find any reference. Will expo keys work too? I went to a wrecking yard this weekend but there were no torsion bar Rangers to be found, found a lot of Explorers though. So I was wondering since Rangers and Expos share so many other bits and pieces are the keys the same? If so, are the year ranges the same so if I grabbed keys from say a 99 or a 2000 would they be the higher clocked ones?
 
  #190  
Old 05-18-2009
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Ive yet to compare ranger keys to explorer keys...
 
  #191  
Old 05-19-2009
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the explorers i saw didnt even have torsien bars..... but they where older models <98 i think
 
  #192  
Old 05-19-2009
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95+ Explorers have torsion bars...both 2wd and 4wd.
 
  #193  
Old 05-19-2009
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oh i got another question does anyone know if the shocks are the same...07 to 08 or did they change them also...just wondering
 
  #194  
Old 05-19-2009
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should be the same...i dont see why they'd change 'em. You can add 2" on the stock shocks and still be a-okay.
 
  #195  
Old 05-20-2009
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Originally Posted by howells
oh i got another question does anyone know if the shocks are the same...07 to 08 or did they change them also...just wondering
i think for the most part they would be the same ... probably all depends on the trim level i guess? i know the 07 lvl2 came with bilstien and the 08s are now rancho but other than that? youd think the sports etc would use the same ones..
 
  #196  
Old 05-20-2009
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So if you swap out to the older style keys, you still put the bolts back in at the same spot/adjustment they came out, and it will come out right?
 
  #197  
Old 05-20-2009
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what?


By 'blocks' do you mean that padded blue colored thing above the key? or what you actually thread the adjustment bolt into?


If you did it right, it'll be right. It's just swapping Keys. lol.
 
  #198  
Old 05-21-2009
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Originally Posted by Fx4wannabe01
what?


By 'blocks' do you mean that padded blue colored thing above the key? or what you actually thread the adjustment bolt into?


If you did it right, it'll be right. It's just swapping Keys. lol.
I don't know if you were talking to me or not, but what im asking is, if I swap the keys, when I go to put the adjustment bolts back in, do they get threaded back in at the exact same amount they came out (cranked the same amount) and it will come out right? You know, marking the bolts before taking them out, and then putting them back in just as before where they were marked.
 
  #199  
Old 05-21-2009
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^^ya or crank them more and get more lift...
 
  #200  
Old 05-22-2009
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Rescue you are the official SLAMMED 4x4 of ranger-forums... wow

I wanna do the prekey mod now.. but i think its going to be barely cheaper than to just do a BL
 


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