89 ranger lifting on the cheap?

[Schnot]

I've got an 89 ext cab 4wd with 3" body lift right now. A friend of mine has some long radius arms that he says are superlift. He got them for his ranger but wrecked it and they have been sitting in the garage for years unused.
My question is, can I use these for my truck if I get some brackets and springs? I found a used rough country lift for cheap so could I use those brackets and just move them back to fit? What about the crossmember? I'd like to get enough lift to clear 32's so what coils would I need?

Also for the rear end, with the 63" springs how much lift can I get from that? There seems to be a lot of debate as to how much you actually get. I also seen the shackle flip with the re-arched 64" springs. Does that mod actually give lift or just allow for more travel?




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[hdmm]

You probably need the brackets for the radius arms that superlift makes, unless you can fabricate. The stock crossmember can't just be moved back without modifying it.

You need 4" coils to fit 32's

For the rear, can't help you there, I usually run stock Ranger leaves, with a short add-a-leaf kit in the pack, with a small lift block. Always works for me and beefs up the spring pack a little.

 

[Schnot]

I'm not master fabricator but I know how to use a torch and a welder. I've got to find some pictures of the modded crossmember so I have an idea of what I need to do.

I'm gonna grab some leaves from the yard tomorrow and see for myself I guess.


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[86MUDRCJ]

Like stated above you would have to make drop brackets and mod the crossmember to get them to fit. I'm not 100% sure but with the 63" and a 2" drop shackle from autozone gets you about 2" of lift in the rear. With a 4" rough country lift I cleared 33" tires no problem. Here's a pic:

 

[Schnot]

Ok cool thanks for the pic. If the weathers nice tomorrow im going to make a junk yard run.


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[86MUDRCJ]

No problem man. Don't forget to post pics!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I cleared 33" tires with a 3" suspension lift on my 89 Bronco II, although it was a close fit. A 5" suspension lift and I had a little more breathing room. At 7" of total lift (added a 2" body lift), the 33's started looking small.

Look around, there's lots of good info on this site about lifting older Rangers and Bronco IIs on the cheap. Check some build threads, the suspension forum and the tech archives.

I started with a 2" lift on my choptop Bronco II, converted it from 2wd to 4x4, and had 31" tires on it. I then promptly tore it apart and put a set of James Duff axle pivot drops and 3" lift coils on it as well as getting some extended radius arms fabbed up. For the rear I got a set of Explorer leaf springs, added an extra leaf or two to the pack, and replaced the pads on the ends of the leafs, which got me sitting level at 3" of lift. Then I added F-150 spring perches to the front and 2" chevy drop shackles to the back which gained me about another 2" of lift. For brake hoses the rear hose from an 88 Bronco II proved to be an adequate length and for the front I used information from the tech archives to put together a front pair of rubber lines.

The total cost of the build, including the body lift and what I paid for the truck (it had a blown up 2.9L motor that I had to replace) and everything else ran me a total of around $1,750. It can be done on the cheap, you just have to put in some time searching out parts and finding answers. Of course, now that I did all that, after breaking the tiny D-28 axle shafts a couple times, I'm upgrading everything.... I'll have roughly $3,200 or so tied up in it after this.... but it'll have 35" tires, a rebuilt D-35 axle, roll cage and a bunch of other stuff....

 

[YooperSteeze]

If you do 63's, beltec drop shackles and take out the factory block, you get about 2" of lift. If you left the block in, you'd get 4" to 5" of lift, but then more axle wrap. If you're not to attached to your sheet metal, I'd do 63's, beltecs and block delete in the rear, and just coil spacers up front, and cut fenders to fit. Thats actually exactly the build I'm doing now, its in the build thread section, near the top, my name is in the title.

 

[86MUDRCJ]

If you do 63's, beltec drop shackles and take out the factory block, you get about 2" of lift. If you left the block in, you'd get 4" to 5" of lift, but then more axle wrap. If you're not to attached to your sheet metal, I'd do 63's, beltecs and block delete in the rear, and just coil spacers up front, and cut fenders to fit. Thats actually exactly the build I'm doing now, its in the build thread section, near the top, my name is in the title.

I couldn't remember the brand of the shackles. All I knew was they were at autozone and they're pretty cheap.and yes I would recommend taking the block out of the rear.i haven't bought new leafs for mine so with the lift I have I'm running stacked blocks