so i bought my 6" kit from here
Lift Kit 6" - 01-09 Ford Ranger 2WD

spring tech / doetsch parts.

first problem the ball joints that came with the UCA'S the boots were so hard they ripped when i pressed them into the arms. so ran around for 6 hours trying to find new ball-joints. finally i found a company that only deals with suspension stuff. they found the matching ball joints in a spicier brand with a grease Zerk (big plus). the ones with the kit were non serviceable.

so i get back to installing the lift, put the new coil in. they say a 3" lift coil but its the same height as my stock coil but just thicker. no biggie, doetsch instructions say lower the LCA with floor jack to change coils. ok done. reverse procedure for installing the new coils.

as per instruction i raise the LCA with the new coil and install the new spindle. hmm there seems to be an issue i cant get the UCA down enough as its hitting the side of the coil bucket or the LCA jacked up enough to get the upper ball joint into the new spindle. the instructions don't say i need a spring compressor and i had all the trucks weight on the jack. parts seemed to be maxed out in down travel and that was supposed to be ride height. wtf?

also they sent 2 brackets that i presume are new bump stops but as for installing them the step that pertains to them does not have pictures nor does the instructions match up to with what holes should be on the frame. another WTF?


at this point im really upset with this lift process. its a bolt on kit for Christ sake. took it all off put the stock parts back on so i can drive the truck cause its my DD. ive installed it 2 times now and hit problems. and this is the 2nd time ive tried to lift the truck, the first time i bought just fabcrap spindles and they were wrong ones. so maybe ill try once more but im almost ready to return this damn kit. i have too much money tied up in a pile of steel i cant even enjoy.

 

I'd say use a spring compressor. I had issues like that while lifting my buddies truck. What was wrong with the first set of spindles? Were they for trucks with bigger balljoints? If so I'll buy em from you if you still have them..lol

 

i bought some cheep spring compressor from harbor freight so maybe that will help.

ya the idiot at 4WP says ya we have fab tech spindles, i said will thay fit the 08 hes like yes yes thay will. so! after i tore the whole drivers side apart and was reassembling them i find out there for the 10.25" rotors not the 11.25" rotor which i have. didn't know of the different rotors till that happened. so i put the truck back together 4hrs later i returned them.with a vow to never trust 4wp again. my local store there a bunch of dumb asses.

 

bump

 

You bought Fabtech Spindles? If its too much of a problem just take it to SuspensionMax. They are near you. They installed that exact lift on mine for 200. Takes a few hours and you don't have to worry about it.