Shake, rattle and roll. Spring wrap symptoms?

[MrRangerSir]

I'm chasing down some ride quality problems in my hi mileage 93 Ranger. I'm experiencing a shake at highway speeds. My suspension is entirely stock and I'm running 235R75 tires. I also have clunks coming from underneath during acceleration and braking. What I have done so far is to balance the tires. This made no change. All mounts, bushings and u joints seem to be OK. New shocks would be an excellent idea, but I'm planning a lift as part of my repairs, so I'm looking for some opinions.

I noticed I have very noticeable spring wrap. The leafs take on a definite S shape and the pinion lifts a few inches even with moderate acceleration. I also noticed the transfer case seems to move slightly when the axle twists. I'm thinking this may be causing the u joints to bind, making the clunking noises. Could it be possible that the weak leafs may also be contributing to the shake mentioned earlier?

What I am planning to do is swap out the leafs for Explorer leafs. I understand this should give me about 2" of lift as well as a stiffer spring pack. Since the truck already has a nose down stance, I'm going to balance this with 4" of lift on the front. New shocks will go in along with this. It's just a guess right now, but I think all this should help. Anybody experience similar symptoms?

 

[RangerBoy94]

Sounds like you just have a really bad and worn out suspension system. As far as doing a lift I would recommend the James Duff 3 inch lift kit(they also have a 5-6 inch kit). Its one of the best suspension kits you can get (skyjacker is also good). Below is a link to duffs website.
http://www.jamesduff.com/

 

[06RangerXLT]

sounds like the clunk is a bad motor or trans mount, when the power is let off and the motor rocks the opposite direction. as for spring wrap, remove any lift blocks, and replace the leaf with the explorer. you may need shackles to keep it level with the lift.

let us know how this stuff goes.