Suspension Tech General discussion of suspension for the Ford Ranger.

I bought my lift kit....

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Old 05-20-2008
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I bought my lift kit....

Well, I found an amazing deal for a Superlift kit on craigs list. $1000 for everything except the shocks! Its brand new too.

Couple questions:

What shocks should i get? (Im sure this has been answered, too lazy to search)

What is a good price to have a shop install this? I may even attempt ot do it myself, but i have limited knowledge of this kind of stuff...

How many of you have actually had a driveshaft failure with this kit? Is it really necessary to buy the superlift shaft?

And... should I buy the superlift skid plate? I want a skid plate, but I dont know if there is a better options out there. I cant make one myself like a lot of people seem to do, so what are my options to buy?

How bout that steering kit? Is that worth the cash?
 

Last edited by 08XLT4x4; 05-20-2008 at 05:39 PM.
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Old 05-20-2008
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Originally Posted by 08XLT4x4
What shocks should i get?
You could call SL and get the ones that come with the kit or get better ones....depends on how much you want to spend.

What is a good price to have a shop install this?
I had one quote me 850..thats the reason I did it myself with a couple of buds.


I may even attempt ot do it myself, but i have limited knowledge of this kind of stuff...
I would,its not a bad install,time consuming mine took 10hrs with alot of breaks...just helps to have good tools and air.

How many of you have actually had a driveshaft failure with this kit? Is it really necessary to buy the superlift shaft?
It my last 5 days or 5 months,you dont have to get it right away but you will need to look into getting the SL shaft or getting your CVed to work.

And... should I buy the superlift skid plate? I want a skid plate, but I dont know if there is a better options out there. I cant make one myself like a lot of people seem to do, so what are my options to buy?
The SL skid really only covers the front diff,bout it. I would make one. Mine cost 40bucks in materials to build....



how bout that steering kit? Is that worth the cash?
I dont know anything about a steering kit.
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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Thanks for the info... $850 for install sounds a little steep. Im seriously considering doing it myself... The instructions make it look pretty straight forward, I just dont want to get halfway through and not be able to finish.

I love your skid plate! Wanna make me one? lol
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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is a 3" BL in addition to the 4" Superlift necessary to clear the 33's? I dont want ANY rubbing whatsoever. I hear alot of people claiming they can clear a certain tire size with minor rubing. I may remove the front valance, but would prefer not to.

I'm planning on running 33x10.5 BFG ATs.
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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You need to have some mechanical ability to do anything suspension wise but its a pretty strait forward install,like I said get some buds to help and have a good tools and air tools and its not bad. As far as the skid I doubt I have enough aluminum to build a second. I got my material from the scrap yard and still have a good bit left. A piece just like i got new would have cost over 200 buck but i got it for 36 bucks i think.
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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Originally Posted by 08XLT4x4
is a 3" BL in addition to the 4" Superlift necessary to clear the 33's? I dont want ANY rubbing whatsoever. I hear alot of people claiming they can clear a certain tire size with minor rubing. I may remove the front valance, but would prefer not to.

I'm planning on running 33x10.5 BFG ATs.
You can clear 33s fine with just the SL...you might rub if you ran 35s but not 33s
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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dude just install it yourself i had a quote of $750 so i didnt get it i dont think its that hard just time consuming
and for tires dont get 33x10.5 get 33x12.5 youll be much happier with them plus you can fit the 33x10.5 stock
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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Pic whoring time....

heres the truck with the full 4in lift and 33s...




I lowered the truck cause IMO it made my 33s look to small plus the ride was harsh so I took my AALs out and de-cranked the t-bars....how it sits today...


 
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Old 05-20-2008
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Go ahead and save and get 35x12/50's with a b/l on top of the s/l.

Brenton
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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I have to agree^^ If you dont mind the loss in power I would go w/ 35s..its all up to you though...I def. also like the look of it w/ 33s
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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Do it yourself. You've got people to answer questions. That's the best thing about message boards like this. And you can borrow specialty tools from the auto parts store for free. Then when it's done, you know how it all went together and can fix it yourself and save even more money.
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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good point ^^^ i like to do all my work myself so if it breaks i can fix it plus it will make you proud to say you did it yourself
 
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Old 05-20-2008
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GOT TO AGREE!! I have no rub what-so-ever with the superlift and body w/ 35's.

The install is really straight forward....not that bad. We did mine in like 6hrs, on a 2post lift and air tools.

I've been looking for replacement shocks for my kit....i bought it used for dirt cheap! your price cut in half if what I paid. my shocks are shot.....so currently running the crappy shocks, but am always in search for shocks.

I'm going to play around with the idea of running an eye to eye shock, press out the lower bracket, apply in the new shock lower, and run a jeep shock conversion in the top to replace the stud. There's not many shocks options out there for lifted 98+ 4x4s. The rears are easy to find....just find something that's the correct extended and compressed sizes. I'll be running bilstein 5100s in the rear, and hopefully make 5100's or 5125's work for the front.

Trevor(Trepaul86) has 10k on his RCD'd ranger w/o any problems with the stock shaft as of yet.
 
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Old 05-21-2008
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Thanks guys! Im pretty sure i wanna stick with the 33" tires. My current gear ration is 4.10 which I think should do OK with 33" tires. 35"s really should have 4.56 ratio, correct? i dont want to loose too much power!

k.blakeley, youre truck is exactly the stance im looking for! Thanks for the pics!

and, Fx4Wanabe, let me know what kinda shocks you end up getting... Im still trying to figure out what I should get.
 

Last edited by 08XLT4x4; 05-22-2008 at 01:25 PM.
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Old 05-23-2008
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Bought my tires today! A buddy who works for Americas Tire got me the hook up on some BFG A/Ts with 1k miles on 'em. I wont even mention the price, but Ive only spent $1500 so far on the lift kit and tires! Not sure what kinda wheels im gonna get yet, but thats no big deal.

I decided to do the lift myself, turns out one of my dads friends owns an auto shop and is willing to help me and let me use his facility! Ill post up pics of the install process if anyones interested. (I know, its been done before, but everyone likes pics, right?)
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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Hurry up and install it...i want pics!!
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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haha...YEA!



Right now, I'm just rockin' stock superlifts in thefront, and bilstein 5100's in the rear. The fronts will stay til i find the appropriate ones(5100's.) and make them work with our application.
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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i rubbed 35s with RCD and 3" body, but it was just some minor trimming front behind the bed side flare thingy...

just do it your self, i wish i had done mine
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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And just another heads up.. 3" BL, 33x12.5's on a 15x8 w. 3 3/4 backspacing has NO rubbing, not even when fully flexed out and turning does it rub
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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Kev sure is getting his truck out there! It's one of the biggest ****** on the site I think... haha... Worse than me! But I don't mind looking at it :-D
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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No one is worse than you Oregon boys
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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Zach and Kevin are up there with Me.. And sometimes Shane lol

I like to ***** everything out haha..
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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Originally Posted by TrePaul86
I like to ***** everything out haha..
The truth is out!
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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Trent knows all about that lol

That just came out wrong... Oh well lol
 
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Old 05-23-2008
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How else do you pay for all those truck mods? lol
 


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