gettin lifted

[theycallme1016]

ok so i have an 01 ranger xlt extended cab 3.0 auto that im going to be rebuilding the engine and lifting. my question is with what i am about to list will i be alright and have no problems and need no extra parts. basically i want everything to just bolt in.

im going to get the fabtech 3" spindle lift kit which comes with the spindles obviously, rear 2" add a leaf, alignment cam & bolt kit, and new shocks. also i am going to do either a 2" or 3" body lift (not to sure about which one yet feedback and some good companies would be nice) and throw on some 15x10 wheels with 4" backspace and 1" wide eibach bolt on wheel spacers with some bfg all terrains 32x11.50 to give it a nice wide stance. does this sound good?

 

[Snal]

if your lift is gonna be for looks then this sounds good but if you're wheeling you should probably leave behind the body lift and go more suspension. I'd avoid the wheel spacers if I were you. I only have one experience with them and it was bad and if you do research on them they wear out your bearings a lot faster. It'd be safer to avoid them and cheaper, you wont have to buy them or fix the problems they may cause. thats my .02 and also for the rear if it's cheaper you can get belltech 6400 shackles to get 2" of lift that way and it won't stiffen up your ride the way add a leaf will

 

[theycallme1016]

its mostly just for looks its gonna be mainly show and so i can get around when it snows cause my other car is a supra and can barely make it around in the rain. im doin the add a leafs cause they come with the kit and the spacers cause the wheels i want have a 4" backspace and i cant go over a 3 3/4" with the kit

 

[straycat]

Here's my 99 back in 2001 when I added the same spindle lift you are thinking about. I have the add-a-leafs at the rear and 33x12.5 KO tires. I have lots of clearance. The next year I added the PA bl. The bl makes a popping noise once in awhile, but several of my trucks and Jeeps I lifted made the same noise while other ones I lifted did not make any noise, so go figure. I have had no issues with the spindle kit and I trail ride twice a month with the Ranger.

Here is the Ranger with the 3 inch PA bl. This picture is from late last summer. The truck still looks like new. I take good care of it!!!

 

[Bennybooster]

It should not be making a popping noise, check all of your bolts, one is probably loose

 

[getrdone52]

Here's my 99 back in 2001 when I added the same spindle lift you are thinking about. I have the add-a-leafs at the rear and 33x12.5 KO tires. I have lots of clearance. The next year I added the PA bl. The bl makes a popping noise once in awhile, but several of my trucks and Jeeps I lifted made the same noise while other ones I lifted did not make any noise, so go figure. I have had no issues with the spindle kit and I trail ride twice a month with the Ranger.

Here is the Ranger with the 3 inch PA bl. This picture is from late last summer. The truck still looks like new. I take good care of it!!!

Man that's a nice truck! Looks brand new like you said. Sorry for not being related to this topic I was going to post a comment on one of your pics on your profile but you don't have any!

 

[theycallme1016]

that truck looks awsome...thanks for the input its nice to actually see what mine will probably look like when mine is done....one thing what is your backspacing on your wheels if you know it? the kit im getting says you cant go over 3 3/4" and my wheels are gonna have 4" just wondering if thats just a precaution for the company or if you really cant go over that

 

[straycat]

It should not be making a popping noise, check all of your bolts, one is probably loose

Oh, I checked all that out years ago. Nothing is loose. We checked all the springs componants and the suspension and found nothing wrong. It just could be the spacer. I have one place that makes this little 'pop' noise every once in awhile only when turning a hard left onto a bouncy area. It is right by the gas tank filler. I had another Ranger that did the same thing in the same place. You don't hear it all the time. I could just find another spacer and put that in and see if that stops it, but I am not going to worry about it. I sprayed some silicone on it once and it went away for about three weeks and then came back. 2 of my buddies have a Ranger and a Tacoma with the PA bl and thay say they get a bit of a 'pop' noise once in awhile from the rear area. Both of theirs is on the right side at the rear of the bed. You can hear it inside the cab, but when you try to have somebody stand nearby and make it happen they say they cannot hear any noise. I listened for their trucks to make it and I could not hear it when watching them drive by and hit the same dip in the road we tried to hear on my Ranger. Really weird.

 

[straycat]

that truck looks awsome...thanks for the input its nice to actually see what mine will probably look like when mine is done....one thing what is your backspacing on your wheels if you know it? the kit im getting says you cant go over 3 3/4" and my wheels are gonna have 4" just wondering if thats just a precaution for the company or if you really cant go over that

Thanks for the compliments, guys. It has been a great truck!! I have 3 3/4 backspacing on my AR wheels. 4 inch backspacing might be too much. You can check on that before you get them just to be safe. With the spindle lift you loose some turning radius and that is why I think they don't want you to run any more than 3 3/4 backspacing..but I my be wrong. Just like I said....do check before you do put them on to be safe. Even if you don't go trail riding with your Ranger you are gong to like the way it looks!!!

 

[theycallme1016]

my only problem is the wheels i want only come with 4 inch backspacing. if anyone knows where to get some black 5 spoke 15x10 wheels with 3 3/4 backspacing let me know...also do i need anything for the steering or anything for anywhere for that matter when i do either suspension or body lift? first time ever liftin somethin i was always low and fast in my supra

 

[theycallme1016]

anyone have any suggestions for me?

I was also thinking about just saving a lil more money and doing the fabtech 5.5" suspension lift with either 32"x11.5" or 33"x12.5 tires and leave out the body lift for now. is it worth the extra $1200 over the fabtech 3" suspension with 2" or 3" bl with same tire options or should i just save the money and do what i was gonna considering its mostly a daily driver but i do plan to do a lil light off roading with it. I just dont want to run into any problems cause this is gonna be the only transportation i have for at least the next year.

also how much is this going to kill my gas mileage and what gearing would i need to bring it back to normal or possibly a lil better than normal.

one more thing i cant decide what tires to do. Its either the bfg all-terrain ko or the mud-terrain km2. is 2wd and mainly a daily driver with light off roading but i do have to be able to drive in the snow as best as possible... witch ones will do the best...tirerack.com is where i have found them the cheapest so far if anyone knos anywhere else cheaper that would be great ko- $176 each $704 set and km2- $206 each $824 set

 

[straycat]

anyone have any suggestions for me?

I was also thinking about just saving a lil more money and doing the fabtech 5.5" suspension lift with either 32"x11.5" or 33"x12.5 tires and leave out the body lift for now. is it worth the extra $1200 over the fabtech 3" suspension with 2" or 3" bl with same tire options or should i just save the money and do what i was gonna considering its mostly a daily driver but i do plan to do a lil light off roading with it. I just dont want to run into any problems cause this is gonna be the only transportation i have for at least the next year.

also how much is this going to kill my gas mileage and what gearing would i need to bring it back to normal or possibly a lil better than normal.

one more thing i cant decide what tires to do. Its either the bfg all-terrain ko or the mud-terrain km2. is 2wd and mainly a daily driver with light off roading but i do have to be able to drive in the snow as best as possible... witch ones will do the best...tirerack.com is where i have found them the cheapest so far if anyone knos anywhere else cheaper that would be great ko- $176 each $704 set and km2- $206 each $824 set

Go ahead and get the 3 inch spindle lift and add 2 inch taller coil springs. Springtech has them on Ebay. I bought there coils and added them about 3 months after the bl was put on. Mine are really nice and handle the bumps really well. At first they were just a bit stiff, but after about 2 weeks there were smooth. On the highways the truck is very smooth and enjoyable to drive. In some places (really rough train tracks for instance) the ride is a bit bumpy but just for a moment. This will save you money as well by adding the 2 inch taller coils, and you don't have to buy Springtech...shop around. Coils are not all that much money.

 

[D.R.686]

I've got a 01 ranger edge and have been looking at camburgs performance 6.0 kit any advice on something around $2000?

 

[Snal]

if you wanna go with the fabtech lift kit you'll be able to get the same lift for cheaper if you buy the kit elsewhere. I don't know where to buy it from but if you do research I'm sure you could find a site or a store that has it all cheaper than fabtech themselves cuz about a year ago I was emailing them about prices and they told me to buy their product somewhere else cuz it'd be cheaper haha I was sorta shocked with the honesty but it was nice to know.

also their kit is a spindle, coil spring, blocks and add a leaf. doetsch-shocks.com has a casted 3" spindle thats cheaper than the fabtech one and you can find fabtech's coil springs online as well for cheap. then just pick a set of blocks and add a leaf and you can put the kit together yourself for a little less money. then just buy some bilsteins or any shock you want and you'll me set. as for gearing most people use 4.10's or 4.56's for tires of that size.

for tires I'd recommend getting the all terrains since you're mainly going to be on asphalt they'd do better than the km2's. I've yet to drive in snow with my all terrains but they've worked for me on and offroad.

 

[06RangerXLT]

i wouldnt go that wide on your rims. im running 32x11.5 on 8.5 wide rims with no troubles. i dont think you need a 10 inch wide rim. as for the lift, i think im going to order the doetsch spindles as well. i havent heard of any problems with them, and they arent a racing spindle, which i dont need. ford might not even notice they have been changed.