Leveling Air Shocks in the Front?

Has anyone put load leveling air shocks (like Monroe Max Airs) on the front of a Ranger? Specifically a torsion bar 4WD. I have heard of it, but I can't seem to find anyone that has and have not been able to find Monroe shocks that are a 100% match for the front. A few that are close, but not exact.

The reason I'm looking into this is because I have read good things about people using them in the rear of vehicles for heavy loads in trunks/beds and (if they fit) I can't see any reason why they wouldn't be good in the front. I have a front hitch receiver that I primarily leave empty and so the truck sits level, but also occasionally use to mount an electric winch. The winch and its mount push about 100 pounds, and with it being right at the nose of the truck it causes the front to sit noticeably lower. I also plan on using a small plow to clear my and my mother's driveway in the winter, with the plow probably weighing in at about 250. The plow I've only mounted once (it's still a WIP) but similarly it dropped the front of the truck a lot. I don't feel up to adjusting the torsions every time I mount something to the front of my truck (especially considering the plow will only be put on when significant snow is expected).

(I had hyperlinks set up for all these, but of course they seem to now be all broken...)

Max Air Shocks are the only ones I've really researched, and I've found three that are close to fitting, but not an exact match. The first is perfect, except it would need to be mounted upside-down. It's the MA708. I'm guessing that's a no-go, as I think besides the air part these are dual tube shocks.

The second is also pretty close, but the bottom eye mounts are 2 1/2 inches apart instead of 2 7/8. It is the MA763 I was thinking it might be possible to slot one of the holes on the A-arm to make it fit, but I don't recall how much room there is to play with down there and I'd rather not modify the frame like that.

The last is also looking like the best. The MA822. The problem is this one is way taller, but fully compressed only an inch longer than the current regular shock mounted on my truck now. I can't see it being a problem but the stud is metric instead of standard.


A problem that also occurred to me is these shocks look a lot wider than regular ones. There doesn't look to be much space between the shock and the CV joints. I'm not sure if even if I can get one to mount that it would clear the other suspension components. So has anyone else attempted this? If not got any better ideas? The price of air shocks at about $70 is perfectly within my budget.

Thanks.

I did that on my 2WD Ranger to adjust the ride height when I wanted to....I had plenty of room---but things got snug with the fat air shocks.

AND DON'T GO CHEAP......YOU MUST GET HIGH PRESSURE AIR ADJUSTABLE SHOCKS....

the 100 PSI max just won't cut it......even on my 2WD!

I'd get shocks rated around 200 PSI max air pressure!

Trust me.....I am a doorgunner.

The shocks I'm looking at are rated for 150PSI, so I think that should be good enough. I don't want to get anything too top of the line until I know for sure it'll work.

I looked a little more at the A-arm set up. I forgot the way the shocks are set up now is so the body of the shock doesn't begin until way after it clears the half-shaft. Until it does, it's just a bar of steel. Even then it's only got about an inch of space. There's no way I could drop in an air shock.

So it's looking like I'll have to fabricate something in order to get this to work. I was thinking of just making an entirely new and separate shock mount on the back side of the lower arm and frame directly above it. There seems to be plenty of space for it, so I'm thinking it should just be a matter of welding a few pieces of steel and bolting the shock on. If it doesn't work out I should be able to just unbolt the air shock and drive as normal. Any one see something I may have missed?

Why not just tweak the T-bars if you want to level it?

OR.......you could just tweak the torsion bar

So far, it looks like I made something that works. Only have about 60 miles on them so far, but nothing imploded. I really couldn't see climbing under the truck every time the weight in the front changed from an accessory. With no load I've adjusted the torsions (although it looks like they need another adjustment) for the front to be level or close to with the rear. I also don't think the torsions alone will support the weight of the plow rig I plan on using.



I ended up using the MA705 shocks, with 3/8 studs on top and bottom. The top mount required no modification. The bottom piece is off an old shock, drilled and tapped for 3/8 with a heat treated stud tack-welded in place as seen here. Then the original idea was to just use a threaded rod coupling to join the shock and the fabbed mount. This worked, but a very rough test ride bent the bottom stud of the shock in a zig-zag, presumably (and hopefully) because it was too long and bottomed out and something had to give. A slight redesign was to cut down the shock stud and thread it, so you have what is shown here:

(I know its slightly bent, partially due to my limited skills and somewhat limited tools, and partially due to the damage done from its first outing.

This is the original design, which as you can see is much longer than it should have been. I looked fine prior to mounting, but even when putting the air shocks on it still looked okay. Apparently not. The way it is now there is much less of a weak spot than before. However at where the stud portion meets the body of the shock I feel it is still a little weak, likely damaged from the failed first version. I am debating tacking the threaded rod coupler to the shock, but I am concerned I may not be able to complete the weld with out the heat damaging the shock.


By the way, the first trial-by-fire run ended when I got stuck in about a foot of thick mud. I guess it sort of continued after that because after I got pulled out I did hit a few small jumps. Believe it or not, nothing snapped an the truck was still as high as it was before the trip. I looked under at the shocks when I parked and saw what had happened. I was half tempted to leave them bent because the seemed to be okay, but one spot looked ready to snap and the shock body was also rubbing on the CV boot.


Ignore the prick in the back, haha. If only I had my winch with me. Or tires with some tread. In my defense, the mud had looked way shallower and almost dried out. My brother who was with me that goes four wheeling much more often had the opinion I should be okay to make it through. So as it turns out we were both wrong on this one...

looks like the welded section of the air ride shock is not straight

I accomplished my vision and the only person to have anything to say about it critisizes it over six months later? Haha just kidding.

You're right it is not straight. They were drilled and tapped, I only tacked the studs in place to ensure they would not back out. The holes in the lower stud portion were drilled using an old drill press with no vise. What looked straight setting up quickly became apparent that it was not after I started drilling, but by then it was too late. I only had the one set of mounts, so there was no do-over. If I had to do over again I would just take it to a machinist with proper tools and superior skills and have them make it. This was more of a proof of concept; when building it I was not yet certain it would work. But to this day, they are still on there holding strong. The shocks themselves are beginning to rust, but a thorough spraying of fluid film seems to have halted that.

The extension looks sketchy to me.

Trust me, I'm an engineer.

"Back off man, I'm a scientist." Haha.

No I definitely don't disagree with you guys and it is not the best execution of the idea. I am limited in machine skills and equipment, and this is the best I was able to do this attempt. With that said, they are still holding up fine after all this time with the plow on, occasional baja-like drive through the woods, and worst of all the destroyed public roads around here. When it breaks, I'll make it better. Isn't that pretty much engineering?