Hey, just did pre-keys and explorer sport trac springs and belltech shackles on my 2008 Ranger Sport 4x4 on monday.
With some twist, the front shocks are actually at the bottom of thier travel. As in, zero fractions of an inch of down travel.

The rear shocks have some down travel left, but not much. (kept factory 1.5" block in)

All 4 shocks were dead and leaking anyways, so i'm looking for new shocks.
Has anyone come up with a proper longer front shock for the 98+ Rangers? Haven't found anything decisive on this forum, just alot of people asking the same sorta question.

Basically I am looking for shocks for the front and rear that have longer down travel

 

If you put in a longer shock up front your cvs will bind. If you want lift with factory ride quality you need a superlift or rcd. No way around it

 

Well, custom ordered some bilstien 5100s from summit, in the lengths we measured out. Going to pick them up tomorrow and install them saturday. Will let you guys know part numbers(lengths) and how they perform.

 

Ok folks, shocks are in, and here is the pics and information Im sure some people are waiting to see

First off, these are the bilstein 5100 part numbers for the shocks used.
Front 24-151627
Rear 33-187501

The first thing you will find is that the bar pin bolts of the stock front shock will not work with the new bar bins on the new shocks. You will need some appropriat bolts.
The rear shocks have a metal sleeve on the frame side mount that are attached to the frame. You will need to remove the metal sleeves in the bushings on one end of the new shocks. Or if you mangled them like I did, Simply put in new bushings.

 

Are those front shocks going to clear the CV axle? There isn't all that much room even with the stock ones if I remember right.

 

Well, so far there is about a millimeter of clearance. There is tons of clearance on the factory shocks. I havent really gone lock to lock with it at full compression or extension yet to test. We did crank the wheels each way with it idling and all 4 tires off the ground, but I'm sure thats not the same as in the real world. Worst case scenario, we move the shock back a bit to clear.
I'm more concerned about getting limitin straps, as those CVs and ball joints have nothign to stop them from over extending now, as that seemed to be the stock shocks job.

 

I agree with Adam--I don't think those will clear your CV Axle.
I used some 1/2" spacers frome McMaster-Carr, along with longer bolts, on my RS9000s. I also spaced the top mount with some stacked Grade 8 washers--seemed to help.

 

god damn those front shocks are so long for stock suspension

 

Coulda bought my ranchos.

Post pics, this setup sounds similar to what I was running. How much of a crank did you do if you eliminated all down travel?

 

x2

 

Yep, you will probably be right back to where you started. The CV's will still bind if you try to use any of that travel.

Just like 'BLK02' mentioned:

 

Ok, it is a 2008. I cranked the bars 1" (1" higher after settling) Then I replaced the keys with keys from an 02 Sport trac. While trying to change the keys, we had to undo the front shocks because we couldnt get the a-arms low enough to get the keys off (to get the little plate deally out that the adjuster screw goes through)
From ground to center of fender well, we have 36 1/4" (265/75/16 tires) Before we did pre-keys it was 35 3/8.
I only want 1.5-2" of down travel, because before my front shocks were literaly not moving down at all. I understand that the cv's and ball joints only have soo much they can go down.
Perhaps the 08s got even shorter OEM front shocks than 07 and older?

At most I am 2" of total crank over the setting of the torsion adjustment when i got the vehicle. The cv's were almost perfectly level when I got the truck.
From what I read, 1.5-2" max of cranking was a good idea, and the aftermarket keys that did 2.5-3" were a bad idea because of cv angles and ****. From what I heard, the pro-comp keys came with shock spacers for better ride quality. (and im assuming so the shock could actualy reach)

 

98-11 all have same length shock. Shock length doesnt change when adding or removing preload.

 

So.............. every person out there who has an 07 or older Ranger, who cranked the bars 2" in hieght has to be needing a longer shock. I cranked mine 2" and the shock was maxed out. What has everyone else been doing?

I"d get the superlift, if it wasnt for the fact I am paying 2100$ for a drop x-member, front shaft, and stacked blocks. The idea of paying money for stacked blocks really gets me pissed off.

 

the bars on my 2004 are maxxed out. I bought shocks that were for a 2" lift and then my upper control arm began to hit the frame. Once it hit the frame, it snapped my abs sensor wire right in 2 and it kept happening, luckily my CV's never ended up binding and my shocks weren't nearly as long as the ones you installed.

all you need to do is run stock shocks and double the washers. i no longer have 2" longer shocks and my truck rides fine on and off the road. just be careful if you want to keep them on there

 

Ok perhaps I should clarify
At no point am i intending to use the full travel of the shocks I have.

I had a tough time finding a shock with the right connections and a CLOSE compressed and extended length. These are long, YEAH.

The goal was I wanted some down travel. Do i want 4 inches of down travel? No. I do not.
Will I be putting limit straps in? Yes.
With the stock shocks not moving down AT ALL, I don't see how adding 5/8s worth of spacing on the stock length shock is going to give reasonable amount of travel

99offroadrngr, how much longer than stock were the shocks you had that were for "2" of lift?
These shocks are like 3 inches longer than the stock ones

 

You should read a book on susp. Geometry

 

So according to your own measurements, the truck had less than an inch of available up travel before you started. Then you cranked it all out. Either your math is wrong or your truck had the wrong shocks on it to start with.

I cranked my t bars up 1" and it rides great with no topping out problems, and it was already higher than yours from the factory.

 

It is possible the trucks had the wrong shocks up front. It had 110,000 km on it when I bought it and I am the third owner.


"
the bars on my 2004 are maxxed out. I bought shocks that were for a 2" lift and then my upper control arm began to hit the frame. Once it hit the frame, it snapped my abs sensor wire right in 2 and it kept happening, luckily my CV's never ended up binding and my shocks weren't nearly as long as the ones you installed.
"

So far my upper arms come nowhere near hitting the frame. Also, abs sensor wire has tons of slack. So far so good.
Also had it aligned, needed a camber kit on one side, other was ok.

Anyone know if you can buy the superlift WITHOUT the stack-a-block, u-bolts, or shocks?

 

Not without the shocks - but you could just get the two other component boxes so you wouldn't get the U-Bolts or rear blocks.

However, that component box containing the rear lift only runs like $95 - so you might not save anything buying only the other two compared to just purchasing the overall master install kit (aka - all 3 boxes) and just not installing the Superlift rear in order to go to something like full replacement springs.

Here are the individual parts that come within each of the three boxes of the overall Master Install Kit for the '00+ model year Ranger - Part #K358 (Contents: Product Information (K358) · Superlift · www.superlift.com):

• Box #9631 Contents: Product Information (9631) · Superlift · www.superlift.com (All 4 Shocks, Main Front lift - Minus the Knuckles)
• Box #9637 Contents: Product Information (9637) · Superlift · www.superlift.com (Only the Knuckles)
• Box #2338 Contents: Product Information (2338) · Superlift · www.superlift.com (Complete Rear setup - Blocks & U-Bolts)

 

On my 08 FX4 I rode around for months with t-bars cranked with aftermarket keys. Thought the crap ride was because of how much I cranked up. So I ended up checking the shocks and realized I had no down travel with the current shocks. Well I had down travel but not enough to allow the suspension to handle a speed bump for crap.

Installed longer shocks and limit straps to cure the pain!! Made a world of difference

 

Ya go to the market section of the forum I've got a superlift with coilovers and conversion brackets for sale lol .