The Saga of Truck Norris

[Li'l Work Truck]

If the other side is the same just take the front leaf spring bolt out first then you can rotate the shackle forward to get the bolt out... It looks like someone before you changed the shackle brackets, they were riveted from the factory.

There are a  bunch of marks under the back end. This is weird. It's like the whole truck has already been worked on...

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Holy crap that rear suspension was baaaaaaaaad.

Ironically, the truck now rides as it should, which is much harder than I expected. It rode like an old Cadillac when I bought it. Now, it rides like an HD Ranger.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, the stiff springs change things... I think my '97 has the light duty springs in it which I don't mind too much since it rides decent unloaded then like a caddy when I do something dumb...

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Yeah, the stiff springs change things... I think my '97 has the light duty springs in it which I don't mind too much since it rides decent unloaded then like a caddy when I do something dumb...

I kinda like it. I'm going to use it to tow stuff eventually, so having a solid suspension makes sense for me. When I first bought it, I loaded it with about 12 bags of miscellaneous gardening materials and the back end groaned and sagged. Tonight I got in the truck bed to put some laundry in the box, and I didn't make a dent in its height. I'm about 220#.

Um... Something dumb? Dare I ask?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Personally, I prefer a stiffer ride to a degree. My rigs work for a living. I need load capacity and stability. I never liked when Yuppies started insisting that trucks ride like a Caddy. Easiest way to do that is soften the suspension but then you can’t load it down or you kill the suspension in short order. My first Ranger had “HD” suspension package from the factory. Those leaf springs were flat across the eyes within about 3 years. I cobbled together custom packs and swapped in a limited slip 8.8” rear and didn’t worry anymore.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Personally, I prefer a stiffer ride to a degree. My rigs work for a living. I need load capacity and stability. I never liked when Yuppies started insisting that trucks ride like a Caddy. Easiest way to do that is soften the suspension but then you can’t load it down or you kill the suspension in short order. My first Ranger had “HD” suspension package from the factory. Those leaf springs were flat across the eyes within about 3 years. I cobbled together custom packs and swapped in a limited slip 8.8” rear and didn’t worry anymore.

I'm thinking about the 8.8", but keeping the 3.73. That highway mileage is like the Swiss flag - a big plus. Only thing is, I'm gonna be picky and try and find one out of a Ranger so it's easy. I agree with you on the soft suspensions. The only time I like them in trucks is if they're adjustable air ride. Now that's nice.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I'm thinking about the 8.8", but keeping the 3.73. That highway mileage is like the Swiss flag - a big plus. Only thing is, I'm gonna be picky and try and find one out of a Ranger so it's easy. I agree with you on the soft suspensions. The only time I like them in trucks is if they're adjustable air ride. Now that's nice.

That’s what I did. My first Ranger had a 7.5” with 3.73 open. I went to 8.8” with 3.73 limited slip. I ran 30” tires.

My 92 has 3.73 gears with 30” tires. My green Ranger I swapped to 3.73 gears. Not exactly sure what tire size it’s going to settle on but I’m looking at 28-29”.

Choptop has 4.10 and I’m debating 4.56, it needs it with the bigger tires. I’m also debating 4.10 in my 88 which currently has 3.73 because I’d like to run 31” tires on it and it will likely be happier with the deeper gears. Even with the 5.0 in the green Ranger it’s not real happy with 3.73 gears and 31” tires, but that’s what I had so that’s what’s on it.

My F-150 has 3.55 gears and 31” tires and it works well like that. I’m inclined to go 4.10 and 37-44” tires on the rebuild though because that’s the direction I want to take the truck. It’s done well in its current configuration but the way I use it, I’d like to take a step up. I know a lot more now than when I originally put it together and I’d like to use that knowledge. Plus 31” tires aren’t exactly cheap anymore so there’s no real incentive to want to stick with those and I want 1-ton axles on the rebuild.

So long way around of saying to match gears and tire size. There’s a chart in the tech archives that works for RBVs. Full size stuff seems to react differently a bit because ever RBV I’ve owned was a dog with 3.55 or 3.08 around here but my F-150 is perfectly happy. Of course it does have the 300, lol. One of the most IDGAF motors ever made.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I kinda like it. I'm going to use it to tow stuff eventually, so having a solid suspension makes sense for me. When I first bought it, I loaded it with about 12 bags of miscellaneous gardening materials and the back end groaned and sagged. Tonight I got in the truck bed to put some laundry in the box, and I didn't make a dent in its height. I'm about 220#.

Um... Something dumb? Dare I ask?

I try to keep my Ranger guessing my life... it will never know whether it will have 5 pounds of random yard debris in the back or 1200lb of 11' long roofing metal, some days I don't even know what I'm going to do that day

Edit: no pics of that roofing metal incident, we don't need evidence even though it all worked out fine...

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

That’s what I did. My first Ranger had a 7.5” with 3.73 open. I went to 8.8” with 3.73 limited slip. I ran 30” tires.

My 92 has 3.73 gears with 30” tires. My green Ranger I swapped to 3.73 gears. Not exactly sure what tire size it’s going to settle on but I’m looking at 28-29”.

Choptop has 4.10 and I’m debating 4.56, it needs it with the bigger tires. I’m also debating 4.10 in my 88 which currently has 3.73 because I’d like to run 31” tires on it and it will likely be happier with the deeper gears. Even with the 5.0 in the green Ranger it’s not real happy with 3.73 gears and 31” tires, but that’s what I had so that’s what’s on it.

My F-150 has 3.55 gears and 31” tires and it works well like that. I’m inclined to go 4.10 and 37-44” tires on the rebuild though because that’s the direction I want to take the truck. It’s done well in its current configuration but the way I use it, I’d like to take a step up. I know a lot more now than when I originally put it together and I’d like to use that knowledge. Plus 31” tires aren’t exactly cheap anymore so there’s no real incentive to want to stick with those and I want 1-ton axles on the rebuild.

So long way around of saying to match gears and tire size. There’s a chart in the tech archives that works for RBVs. Full size stuff seems to react differently a bit because ever RBV I’ve owned was a dog with 3.55 or 3.08 around here but my F-150 is perfectly happy. Of course it does have the 300, lol. One of the most IDGAF motors ever made.

I've heard of the legendary 300. I will look into the gearing vs. tire size.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I try to keep my Ranger guessing my life... it will never know whether it will have 5 pounds of random yard debris in the back or 1200lb of 11' long roofing metal, some days I don't even know what I'm going to do that day

Edit: no pics of that roofing metal incident, we don't need evidence even though it all worked out fine...

I have pictures of a bunch of things including over a ton of limestone in the bed of my 2wd Ranger. My springs didn’t like it and the truck wasn’t real happy but I only had to go like 2 miles. Sometimes you make do. I was going to go with half ton loads until they said their bucket scale was broken so I could get a whole bucket or guess at a half bucket, I opted for consistency.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I've heard of the legendary 300. I will look into the gearing vs. tire size.

They are legendary for a very good reason, lol. They weren’t really fuel efficient, they get small V-8 numbers typically. They are a long and heavy block. V-8s tend to be faster, actually a lot of things are faster than a relatively stock 300. The torque though, they produce diesel torque numbers off of gas. The old joke was that a 300 could drag a Sequoia up a mountain… both the vehicle and the tree… at the same time. I have literally pulled trees out by the roots with my F-150. A 50-ish foot tall tree was the tallest I’ve pulled, bout 6” diameter, used a 30’ strap about 15’ or so up in the tree, to the hitch, first and 4-lo.