What coilovers should i buy? and more info about the coilover conversion kits

[04ranger420]

Got a call back.

Fox part number Fox 980-02-006 is being replaced with part number Fox 981-20-106.

Same coilover. New part number.

And i think ima go for the adjustable valve. Probably never use em. But at 160 per side, better to have and not need...

Hey brother.

I just finished my coil conversion and am currently driving it from NH to UT. I hope I can explain this well. The 6.5 is too big for a stock ride height truck. Maybe if you have a RC or super lift they’ll fit, but I am not sure. With the extended eyelets required for 4x4, the compressed length is too long and the shock will fully compress before the bump zone. I ordered the 6.5s from shockwarehouse about a month ago and they came quickly. After finding they were too big, I overnighted the 5s from kartek. Would order from kartek again good people. The 2.0 x 5 works well with oem towers and stock ride height. I preloaded the coils to level out the truck. If you’re going to weld on new towers or have a lift that changes things a bit. The confusion on the part number if I understand correctly is fox is trying to see you the new gen elite series. 980-02-006 is the part number for the 2.0 x 6 and 980-02-040 for the 2.0 x 5. If anybody is looking for 2.0 x 6 I have a set for slightly cheaper than online for sale in SLC, UT.

 

[04ranger420]

Got a call back.

Fox part number Fox 980-02-006 is being replaced with part number Fox 981-20-106.

Same coilover. New part number.

And i think ima go for the adjustable valve. Probably never use em. But at 160 per side, better to have and not need...

I would recommend to put everything together without a shock and measure your compressed bump length, cross reference that with shock compressed length accounting for an extended eyelets if you require it.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Hey brother.

I just finished my coil conversion and am currently driving it from NH to UT. I hope I can explain this well. The 6.5 is too big for a stock ride height truck. Maybe if you have a RC or super lift they’ll fit, but I am not sure. With the extended eyelets required for 4x4, the compressed length is too long and the shock will fully compress before the bump zone. I ordered the 6.5s from shockwarehouse about a month ago and they came quickly. After finding they were too big, I overnighted the 5s from kartek. Would order from kartek again good people. The 2.0 x 5 works well with oem towers and stock ride height. I preloaded the coils to level out the truck. If you’re going to weld on new towers or have a lift that changes things a bit. The confusion on the part number if I understand correctly is fox is trying to see you the new gen elite series. 980-02-006 is the part number for the 2.0 x 6 and 980-02-040 for the 2.0 x 5. If anybody is looking for 2.0 x 6 I have a set for slightly cheaper than online for sale in SLC, UT.

I literally ordered them last night

Sh!t.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I would recommend to put everything together without a shock and measure your compressed bump length, cross reference that with shock compressed length accounting for an extended eyelets if you require it.

Aight, I emailed Kartek and they put a pause on the order until I work out what I need with them (THANK YOU CHRIS!!!)

I need to start a really annoying wheel/tire thread to work out what I'm doing with this thing. That will largely dictate which coilover I will run.

I'm currently sitting on 245/75R16 and I can't stand them. I'm also lifted entirely too high which does not help.

I'm probably going to wind up with an 18-20in rim so I can get the tires I want (wide, aggressive street tires like what's on my Challenger) and need to order the coilovers appropriately so everything is right on the first shot.

 

[MaicoDoug]

I may be a little late to the party but regarding availability of that Fox shock, Kartek is top notch & my first choice.. Also questions on what shock in this series, feel free to contact Fox directly at the "Motor Sports" contact number...but I could only find their corporate number, but they may still work with you if you can get an applications motorsport engineer on the phone to consult with, or, simply add your amount of lift to the starting compressed length & add the 6.5 inches to then have the extended length.

 

[04ranger420]

E

Aight, I emailed Kartek and they put a pause on the order until I work out what I need with them (THANK YOU CHRIS!!!)

I need to start a really annoying wheel/tire thread to work out what I'm doing with this thing. That will largely dictate which coilover I will run.

I'm currently sitting on 245/75R16 and I can't stand them. I'm also lifted entirely too high which does not help.

I'm probably going to wind up with an 18-20in rim so I can get the tires I want (wide, aggressive street tires like what's on my Challenger) and need to order the coilovers appropriately so everything is right on the first shot.

Everything depends on application. I am leveled with no lift stock shock towers. Here is my build list for a 2004 ford ranger 4x4 xlt ext cab 4.0: Fox 2.0 x 5 #980-02-040, eibach 700 lbs 10in 2.5ID springs #1000.700.250S, Fox 3.75 center to eye extended eyelets (bought from poly performance), Fox 2.0 1.5in misalignment spacers (I used a ricks rangers kit for the brackets which require a 1.5 in mounting width, the shocks come with 1.25 spacers). Things to keep in mind: Uniball UCAs like BTF do not give you extra clearance. They correct negative camber issues associated with lifts. The diameter of the uniball is bigger than the ball joint on an oem arm, so the uniball contacts the coil earlier in the droop range then an OE/OEM arm would. There is nothing I could find I could do about the upper arm hitting the coil at full droop other than limit straps. I have 1000 miles on my conversion non strapped, and find that on roads I do not hit the arms but plan on strapping it before a large off road day. As I said, everything highly depends on application. For my application, I found the 2.0 x 6.5 was too large for a 4x4 with stock towers because of the added length from the extended eyelets. If the application was a 2wd conversion or 4x4 with a lift, those 2.0 x 6.5s might work, I cannot guarantee that. As long as you have a proper bump stop before the shock fully compresses, realistically you can run what you want. Keep in mind my build is not “mid travel” it is essentially just a shock swap for better ride quality. Build will include cutting bumpstop brackets significantly, drilling holes in shock tower for 1/2in bolts, and welding gussets.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

E

Everything depends on application. I am leveled with no lift stock shock towers. Here is my build list for a 2004 ford ranger 4x4 xlt ext cab 4.0: Fox 2.0 x 5 #980-02-040, eibach 700 lbs 10in 2.5ID springs #1000.700.250S, Fox 3.75 center to eye extended eyelets (bought from poly performance), Fox 2.0 1.5in misalignment spacers (I used a ricks rangers kit for the brackets which require a 1.5 in mounting width, the shocks come with 1.25 spacers). Things to keep in mind: Uniball UCAs like BTF do not give you extra clearance. They correct negative camber issues associated with lifts. The diameter of the uniball is bigger than the ball joint on an oem arm, so the uniball contacts the coil earlier in the droop range then an OE/OEM arm would. There is nothing I could find I could do about the upper arm hitting the coil at full droop other than limit straps. I have 1000 miles on my conversion non strapped, and find that on roads I do not hit the arms but plan on strapping it before a large off road day. As I said, everything highly depends on application. For my application, I found the 2.0 x 6.5 was too large for a 4x4 with stock towers because of the added length from the extended eyelets. If the application was a 2wd conversion or 4x4 with a lift, those 2.0 x 6.5s might work, I cannot guarantee that. As long as you have a proper bump stop before the shock fully compresses, realistically you can run what you want. Keep in mind my build is not “mid travel” it is essentially just a shock swap for better ride quality. Build will include cutting bumpstop brackets significantly, drilling holes in shock tower for 1/2in bolts, and welding gussets.

Any way you can post some pics of your setup and how the truck sits?

 

[04ranger420]

Any way you can post some pics of your setup and how the truck sits?

 

[04ranger420]

Any way you can post some pics of your setup and how the truck sits?

Ignore the rust lol. You can experiment with spring rate. I like the 10inch 700lbs/in rate however I did preload them down to level out the truck and it rides stiff ish. I know the forums post says 750-800lbs for extended cab, but I’m thinking about giving a 12in 650lbs/in a shot. Everybody buys eibach but there’s cheaper spring brands out there.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

@MaicoDoug are you lifted, or on all stock spindles, arms, etc?

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Attempting to understand why the outcome is so similar with different setups.

 

[04ranger420]

Attempting to understand why the outcome is so similar with different setups.

When I started my built, I was using Doug’s info to figure out the set up myself. A lot that has to do with it is spring rate I believe. Doug is using an 800lbs/in spring which is very stiff for rangers. He could’ve built his bump zone down to eliminate full compression, but I believe the stiff spring rate was doing a lot of the work to prevent that. I found that with the 6.5 in my truck, I had to build the bump zone down quite a bit to eliminate the risk of full compression, resulting in little to no up travel. With the 2.0 x 5 and a bump zone built down 1/4 of an inch, my suspension fully compresses before the shock. The stock ranger front end is extremely limiting. The 6.5 technically would fit with the compressed length on foxes website, however with the eyelets it does not. With stock arms and spindles and the bump zone built down a quarter of an inch, I measure 13.5inches fully compressed. I’m using autozone energy bump stops. The 2.0 x 5 with 3.75 center to eye extended eyelets is about 12.95 inches compressed. Everything changes if you alter the tower, lower mounting point, or add extended lower/upper arms

 

[MaicoDoug]

are you lifted, or on all stock spindles, arms, etc?

Everything here is stock with the exception of the small amount of brake hose frame mounting repositioning, the shock tower gussets & the upper shock (bolt-on) mounting point. The upper dropout employs a 2 hole attachment, I used one of the existing holes in the shock tower (I believe the upper one in the 2 hole dropout), then through drilled the 2nd "lower" bolt hole. The 800# spring was "broken in" with a few turns more than I would like, then after about 1kmi, backed off the preload (to Apx 1/2") & now the ride quality (including tiny 1" bumps, plus the BIG speed bumps are well managed) is super smooth. Still enjoying a 1.75-2 inch lift. I do get full travel on the road where there is a big dip across about 30 feet, 3 foot drop. My F150 does the same exact full suspension travel. So that with Bilstein shocks, acts exactly the same at the same exact speed as a reference, but rebounds terribly...the Fox shocks have that part managed much better in the Ranger however. The difference is night & day. Makes it all worthwhile going the cheapo route & still having some of the best shocks out there. Bob should of hired me. I had a proposal that was 20 years too soon...But I'll always remember him as he was a super man of the machine shop -no doubt.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I can’t help but wonder if the Ricks Rangerz kit is slightly different than the older coilover conversion kit and/or the mounting ends are in slightly different positions to account for the difference in shock lengths needed for this

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I can’t help but wonder if the Ricks Rangerz kit is slightly different than the older coilover conversion kit and/or the mounting ends are in slightly different positions to account for the difference in shock lengths needed for this

Yeah... I have absolutely no existential dread about this whatsoever.