Not sure how to use this forum and im not a super technical person but just had a few questions.

1. Blew out both my front shocks on my 02 ranger XL 3.0 on 31's i believe it could be because I have stock shocks and I have my torsion bars completely maxed out.

2. Would it be possible to put in longer shocks for more travel?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you Justin

 

Welcome to the forum

You must have a VERY stiff ride with "cranked out" springs

Yes you can use longer travel shocks
With both front shocks removed, and weight of vehicle on the tires, measure distance from center to center of the shock bolt holes, that's "eye to eye" length at rest
There will be a Bump Stop on the frame, it stops the from A-frames from hitting the frame, that's a collapsed length, so measure from HALF WAY up bump stop to the part that hits it
Subtract that distance from the "eye to eye" you just measured, so that's the current UP travel

Jack up the front FRAME, either side, you want the suspension to hang down as far as it will go, when front tire is off the ground measure the distance from shock bolt to bolt,eye to eye, watch your brake line(s), make sure they don't get fully extended or they will break
That's the overall travel

Describe now the shocks "blew"


"Springs" are used to absorb bumps, to do this they must be Matched to the WEIGHT they support, or they can't work

If the front of the vehicle weights 2,000lbs and you have springs rated for 2,000lbs then when you hit a bump the 2,000lbs vehicle weight on the spring prevents it from pushing the vehicle up and the SPRING absorbs the bump
If you put in 3,000lbs spring then vehicle weight can't hold it down, so vehicle goes UP when you hit the bump, this is a STIFF ride
Cranking the torsion bars increases their WEIGHT rating, that's WHY the vehicle LIFTS UP in the front when you do that
Just FYI

Shocks have nothing to do with any of that, shocks sole purpose is to stop the springs from continuing to bounce after you hit a bump, and if the springs are "soft" shocks can help them from defecting(compressing) too fast and too much
But can't help with stiff springs because shocks rarely move at all

 

On a far less technical note. I have 99 XLT that I just leveled by cranking the torsion bars. I didn't completely crank them but probably 1 to 1.5". My shocks were blown before I did this and the ride was pretty bad and "floaty" on any bumps.

I got a set of new Rancho RS5000X with extra length for 1-2.5" lift. Worked perfect and the truck is still quite stiff but the ride is comparatively great. They actually probably added another 1/2" to the height. Very happy with these so far.

I got them here for a good price and had good results and very fast shipping. I think you will be pleased also.

https://www.shocksurplus.com/products/rancho-rs5000x-gas-shocks-set-1998-2011-ford-ranger-2wd-4wd-w-1-2-5-lift-w-torsion

​​​​​​@mods I am not associated with this company and if this is not allowed please let me know and I will remove the link.

 

Cranking the torsion bar does not increase the "weight" rating. That can only be done by installing a new higher rated torsion bar. That is similar to saying placing a 1.5" spacer under a coil spring increases the "weight' rating. All it does is lifts the vehicle with out changing the "weight" rating.

Cranking the torsion bar just rotates it, which pushes the lower control arm down to lift the vehicle. It should have very little if any increase in tension in the torsion bar. The thing that most people experience when cranking the torsion bar too much and get a rougher ride is it also extends the shocks too much and they will hit their limits when extending. The shocks are the bump stops as the Ranger goes up extending the shocks. The upper bump stops, on the frame, that control compression of the suspension have more clearance when cranking the torsion bar and they don't contribute to the rougher ride.

I have been running my Ranger with a 1.5" torsion bar crank for 252K miles and it does not have any stiffer ride than it did before I cranked it up. I don't know where the idea came from that cranking a torsion bar makes the torsion bar stiffer. If it didn't lift the vehicle, the spring rate would increase a little but when the vehicle goes up it keeps the spring rate from changing. It doesn't take any more force to hold a vehicle 2" higher than it takes to hold it 2" lower. Gravity doesn't change much with those little changes in height.

To the JayRanger01, yes it is possible to install longer shocks for more travel. I know Bilstein makes shock specifically for that purpose and I am sure other shock manufacturers do too. Just don't get shocks that are too long because that could cause interference problems in compression.

 

You need to think that through a bit more.................."Cranking the torsion bar just rotates it, which pushes the lower control arm down to lift the vehicle"
Torsion bar is the spring for the suspension, so rotating it doesn't push the lower control arm down, it pushes the WEIGHT of the truck up because its now a "stronger" spring , you are preloading it for more weight, so it will have a harder time absorbing bumps, because the weight on it can't hold it in place

"That is similar to saying placing a 1.5" spacer under a coil spring increases the "weight' rating", no, that is not the same, you are increasing the length of the spring space not its weight rating, coil retains it weight rating

 

Come on Ron, have you thought about what you are saying? The lower control arm is part of what controls the ride height on a stock Ranger torsion bar suspension. The torsion bar controls the position of the lower control arm and cranking the torsion bar rotates the lower control arm down which in turn lifts the vehicle. I don't know how a vehicle with stock suspension can be raised (excluding a body lift, larger tires, etc.) without the lower control arm rotating downward.

The torsion bar is already preloaded with the weight of the vehicle. Rotating the torsion bar (cranking) to raise the vehicle does not increase the preload on the torsion bar. You would have to add more weight to get more preload. Lifting the vehicle does not add more weight. If you cranked the torsion bar to raise it and added more weight to increase the preload, it would lower the vehicle again.

Your premise that you are changing the preload of the torsion bar by cranking it is faulty. The preload cannot change without adding more rotational force on the torsion bar. If you tied down the front of the vehicle when the torsion bars was cranked, you would increase the preload because the force applied to the tie down would be counter balanced into the torsion bar. As soon as you released the tie down, the front would raise and that preload would go back to what it was before the torsion bar was cranked.

It seems you don't understand Physics as well as you think you do. You should study how equal and opposite forces work. Talk with an experienced engineer that you trust on the matter and you may be enlightened. You are very knowledgeable on diagnosing and repair of Rangers and probably many vehicles but this is one thing you need to study a little more.

If you find I am wrong and can provide sound reasoning as to why, I will have no problem admitting my misunderstanding. I have learned many things from mistakes in 44 years in the Aerospace industry and don't let my ego get in the way to continue learning.

 

The torsion bar is the only spring on the front suspension
It acts as a spring by rotational force, torsion

For a torsion spring to lift a set weight higher you have to increase its rotation/torsion, its weight rating

If you were to measure lower controls arms distance from the ground, before and after rotating torsion bar, with the weight of vehicle on the ground, I think you would find it hasn't changed, but vehicles height above the ground has changed
So lower control arm hasn't moved, the torsion applied to the chassis has raised the weight of the frame/body
Lower control arm has one pivot point/axis, so you aren't lowering it

If you were to remove both front shocks, and say you weighed 250lbs and pushed down on the front of truck
And then cranked torsion bars and repeated same test I think you would find you would have a much harder time pushing truck down against the higher spring load

If you crank the torsion bars and put on larger tires you may have the same ride because of more sidewall and/or lower air pressure, but all things being equal it would be a stiffer ride

 

Really, you need to talk to an experienced engineer. You have not presented sound reasoning for your argument. No point in continuing the discussion until you provide valid facts.

 

OK, I give up, we agree to disagree on this

Just one question, how can the torsion bar work as a spring if it has the same load regardless of position?
And what lifts the frame and body of the truck if the lower control arm is in the same position when you put weight back on it, its at the same angle it was before, that doesn't change

 

I agree we can disagree. I am sure others are getting bored with it.

 

I know this is an old thread. Measuring the eye to eye distance under dead weight and lifted is fine but how will that help with selecting a shock? These companies , Monroe, Gabriel, Kay, or whatever are just going to suggest a shock based on year, model, etc. they will have general guidelines....