About to do my front end

RangerOnBoggers · Jan 24, 2015

Hello all my truck has needed front end work badly since I bought it which was a couple months ago.I'm getting ready to do the work and I want to know what I can do beside stock fromt end components.I'm definitly doing upper/lower ball joints,inner outer tie rods,and maybe control arms.
As of right now I have a 5" lift with coils in front,blocks in back,steering stabilizer,on 33"boggers.I'd love to go bigger on the tires next winter,when these ones kick the bucket,and could maybe consider lifting the front a little higher if I can by way of blocks.But with that being said,with what I have and definitly wanting possibly atleast 35"s (even though 33"s look nice),
What are these performance "radius arm" kits,I see them for like $400+ when I typed in 1992 Ford Ranger performance control arm.
What are the best/toughest ball joints and tie rods for my lifted setup.
Thanks all for the help much needed.

4x4junkie · Jan 24, 2015

Extended radius arms provide you much more suspension travel, less binding of the suspension & axle bushings (leading to longer bushing life), and reduced caster change thru the suspension's travel. They are definitely worth having on a rig that gets driven offroad much.
Skyjacker's are probably the best arms, followed very closely by James Duff (if you have any preference of bushings over rod ends or vice-versa, then let that be the basis on which brand to choose).

Ball joints = Raybestos "PROFESSIONAL GRADE" hands down. I've been through with the other ones in the yellow boxes already, they infact create more problems without solving anything as their marketing & branding might have you believe (same goes for tie rods & ends, use the Raybestos stuff).
I believe Napa Premium (or maybe it's "Gold") ball joints are reboxed Raybestos joints (check for the bright gold-zinc-anodized body on it, this is a tell-tale characteristic of Raybestos Pro-Grade joints). www.rockauto.com I know sells the actual Raybestos ones.

For wheel bearings, use Timken pt#SET-37 (you need 4 of them for your Dana35 front axle, 2 per side). Includes the bearing (cone) and race (cup).

Hope that helps. Welcome to the forum :beer:

exbass94 · Jan 26, 2015

4x4junkie said:
I believe Napa Premium (or maybe it's "Gold") ball joints are reboxed Raybestos joints (check for the bright gold-zinc-anodized body on it, this is a tell-tale characteristic of Raybestos Pro-Grade joints).

Napa's top of the line ball joints is their "Napa Chassis Parts" (NCP) line. They're made by Dana/Spicer, not Raybestos. They're very good quality. I used all NCP parts when I rebuilt my Bronco's front end last year, and I wouldn't use anything else on a TTB front end.

4x4junkie · Jan 28, 2015

Dana Spicer does not make suspension parts anymore. Dana sold their aftermarket suspension division to Affinia Group back in 2004 who now manufactures the same joints to be sold under their Raybestos label. They also do sell product to be sold under private labels such as Napa and others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinia_Group
http://www.raybestoschassis.com/

About to do my front end

RangerOnBoggers

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4x4junkie

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exbass94

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