Best Off-Road Ranger

[scotts90ranger]

Being a '92 you can fit 31" tires stock, wouldn't hurt to put some washers under the front coil seats (get some 1 1/4" washers and put them in, not a horrible job, can fit up to like 1" of washers under there) for some more room then just go have fun. If on a budget that's what I would do, you'll want to get an alignment or at least the balljoint sleeves and look into doing one on your own as any lift will need correcting...

As far as needing bead locks or anything silly, no, as long as you aren't airing down past what's necessary just carry a portable compressor (the harbor freight ~$60 on sale high pressure one is good, next step down is ok too just slower), for reference in sand I run 10psi in front and 8psi in rear and a little lower in deep powder snow but you have to be a bit more careful...

In case it wasn't obvious earlier my '90 has a Dana 35 up front, completely stock other than full circlips around the U joints, little clearance ground into the shafts for more clearance before binding, opened window in the passenger side beam for the axle shaft and of course 5.13:1 gears... now I have increased the length of the radius arms to take advantage of my lift and such... in the rear it's a Explorer 8.8" with traction bar and Yukon Grizzly locker but otherwise stock... I got the lift kit used on craigslist for $500 and had to make my own leaf spring packs and use 3" blocks which made the traction bar necessary...

A stockish rig on 31" tires is nearly as fun as a moderately built rig on 35" tires... and annoyingly nearly as capable unless you're getting into hairy situations in rocks or mud holes...

 

[bobbywalter]

Rough country doesn't fit your truck, the bracket will ruin your front diff.

damn it......your taking away his excuse to get stupid doodies......get out of here with that sound advice

 

[bobbywalter]

Buy once... cry once.

Save your money until you can buy what you want.

Have you looked at Duff?

i say that to those with disposable income....as it is the best thing when its not an issue.

with kids or people without disposable income....


we are talking thousands...and a kid that may not even like wheeling. everything on the old school rangers in terms of modification....is straight loss.

pretty tough.

thats where the 150 arms and coils and bracket relocation come in.....but these days those parts are not laying in piles at every junkyard anymore for peanuts...

it is still the best way to get your feet wet....just a few bux to get good usable lift you can beat like a red headed stepchild...

 

[Jim Oaks]

1995-1997 Ford Ranger 4x4: They had a better automatic transmission than previous years and still had the Dana 35 TTB which is capable of better wheel travel than the 1998 and newer trucks.

2002 Ford Ranger FX4 & 2003-2007 Ford Ranger FX4 Level II with the the 31-spline 8.8-inch rear with the Torsen limited slip differential.

If you want a stock out of the package 2019+ I'd say any FX4. A Tremor if you want an offroad package and have no desire to do any further modifications.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Yea, I understand no stock suspension is perfect. My question was more along the lines of what ranger year would be the best to build up? Not necessarily which is the best stock. Don't know if that changes answers. I have a 92 4x4 with Dana 35, 7.5 LS, FM146, and 2.9. I was wondering if this was a good truck to build for off road or just make it a good looking daily that is reliable and would last me for a while.

Throw a set of 31's in whatever off road flavor you want and the truck itself will likely be more capable off road then what youll be willing to put it through espicially if its a DD.

Keep your 2.9 cool itll treat you fine. Espicially since you have the stronger (compared to earlier) heads.

 

[Jim Oaks]

One of my favorite rigs that I wheeled with was at Sparkz place in Kentucky a long time ago.

It was a first gen Ranger 4x4 shortbed with trimmed wheelwells, 31-inch tires, and welded differentails. Very basic and it went everywhere.

Keep an eye on Facebook marketplace and our facebook group. Sometimes you'll luck out and find a used lift.

Don't wast your time on 1-1/2 to 2-inch lift coils. I did that, wasn't happy, and bought a 4-inch.

 

[bobbywalter]

One of my favorite rigs that I wheeled with was at Sparkz place in Kentucky a long time ago.

It was a first gen Ranger 4x4 shortbed with trimmed wheelwells, 31-inch tires, and welded differentails. Very basic and it went everywhere.

Keep an eye on Facebook marketplace and our facebook group. Sometimes you'll luck out and find a used lift.

Don't wast your time on 1-1/2 to 2-inch lift coils. I did that, wasn't happy, and bought a 4-inch.

there is definitely a issue with running spacers or 2 over coils with factory radius arms and mounts.


that is like a t bar crank.

sure you get height....but its maxed down travel and caster and camber have to get split with a high degree bushing and even toe change gets off to the point ride and handling are crap. with 2 inch spacers or 2-3 inch coils you have to compensate for caster and camber with just the bushing and can not get the setup to be worth doing.


the f150 arms are only a few inches longer....which in fact helps but in this case it is not just the better travel....that few inches you slide the radius arm brackets back and down lower (assuming you reuse the ranger stuff and dont use f150 brackets)

this is important as it drops the caster back to normalish range and makes for better range of travel both up and down even shimming the arms forward with washers which may be required depending on how to key the mounts....

this allows for longer shock and full use of 3 degree bushings to deal with mostly camber and get to at least 3 inches of functionable lift. you can basically just run the 150 coils depending on your weight....and trim to suit.

the pro is not having to use a drop pitman arm....and upgrade to the later explorer steering linkage which is pretty burly .... your axles are what we used to call over center which gives you more ground clearance....which is one downfall of the ttb 35...it has more plow area then the 28 or d44...

but dialing in at speed handling can be tricky for the uninitiated...

it is the very reason i ran that way as long as i did.

but...this is not as easy as it used to be because stuff is more scarce. but it sure as hell is cost effective.




that said....the duff long arms were awesome...and made a big difference in max travel when built to that goal. problem there was i gave up more ground clearance in terms of break over angle and i twisted them up still...and had to repair them quite a few times.

but they allowed 40 in tires with max travel.

give and take.

 

[Curious Hound]

Yea, I understand no stock suspension is perfect. My question was more along the lines of what ranger year would be the best to build up? Not necessarily which is the best stock. Don't know if that changes answers. I have a 92 4x4 with Dana 35, 7.5 LS, FM146, and 2.9. I was wondering if this was a good truck to build for off road or just make it a good looking daily that is reliable and would last me for a while.

That's an awesome starting point

 

[00t444e]

Best platform is the 93-97 4.0, 5 speed, with the manual shift 4x4. The 02 FX4 and the later FX4 level 2s with the 5 speed and manual shift 4x4 are a close second, but the TTB suspension and stonger front axle of the 93-97 gives it the edge, the older 90-92 body style with the 4.0 isn't bad either, as long as it's a 5 speed with manual shift 4x4.

 

[00t444e]

So what would be better. 30's on the Skyjacker 1.5-2 inch Hydro Shocks ($1,007.39) or 32's on the Rough Country 4 inch ($799.95). I don't have much to spend on suspension so what is best? Still deciding between KO2 and A/T3W. Will probably use some stock looking 15x8 wheels.

If you want to take your truck off road you need MT tires not ATs, I have had both of those tires you mentioned and they are terrible off of the pavement.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

AT3W is a great rural DD tire. I ran them on my F-150 for years. I have the AT3WA on my current F-150 because I couldn't get the AT3W anywhere at the time, they are a little tamer but still a good tire.

I have General Grabber AT's on my Ranger and my wife's Bronco, totally different trucks but I think they are a little better than the AT3W's at least in snow. When I got my current F-150 they were also on backorder.

I don't really look for trouble with my F-150's but I have been very happy with my Grabbers offroad on the Ranger and Bronco. Rocks/mud whatever, they take them in stride while also being great in snow and polite on the highway. With a 5 tire rotate the Bronco is at about half tread at 60k miles.

Anyway as far as best truck. If your truck is in good shape and you know what you have... IMO that gives it a serious leg up on anything not 19+. The difference in performance between it and a 95-97 is not great enough to overcome the unknown of what you are walking into getting rid of a good truck for a unknown used truck. Stuff like heater cores and A-C condensers got much more difficult to service in '95.

As far as lift, with a pretty much stock suspension and a bodylift on 31's I had a riot on the Vagabond trip this year.

TRS Vagabonds - The Ranger Station

 

[97RangerXLT]

1995-1997 Ford Ranger 4x4: They had a better automatic transmission than previous years and still had the Dana 35 TTB which is capable of better wheel travel than the 1998 and newer trucks.

Another advantage of this year range... you get dual piston front caliper brakes. if you go older on the Dana 35 platform, you can do almost a complete bolt on swap to the older Dana 35 setups, you will need to change the knuckle and rotors along with the calipers/ brakes.

AJ

 

[97RangerXLT]

If you want to take your truck off road you need MT tires not ATs, I have had both of those tires you mentioned and they are terrible off of the pavement.

i currently have 31" BFG K02 All terrain tires on my Ranger. and so far, the truck has pretty much gone where i pointed the steering wheel. now in a complete mud bog, the mud terrains will be much better, but a run to Southington Off road and 3 runs to the Badlands in Attica Indiana, my limitations have been suspension (esp. rocks) and the fact that I needed to drive the truck home so I did't get into too many areas that would break things. but it will climb a 3 foot rock incline where there is just enough indentation of the rock to allow the front bumper to go over it enough to where the tires got a grip... then it was straight up it without issue. tracked well in the muddy tire ruts, and I had mud on the front pumpkin where it scraped the ground. kept on going.

AJ

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Another advantage of this year range... you get dual piston front caliper brakes. if you go older on the Dana 35 platform, you can do almost a complete bolt on swap to the older Dana 35 setups, you will need to change the knuckle and rotors along with the calipers/ brakes.

AJ

The turn stops are different too so even after a knuckle swap they are not quite "right"

Bolt on calipers are nice... I am not sure how far out of my way I would go to swap them on.

But the whole axle is an easy swap (bolted right into my '85) Axle was $75 and rather than put new balljoints and u-joints in my D28 I did the same to the D35 while my truck was still mobile. Then just swapped it in with new everything and had it aligned... for basically $75 more than rebuilding my D28 with much less down time. And if you go that route all the juicy bits you will need for spares is interchangable (diff, spindles, axle shafts and hubs)

Again though, not sure if it is really worth the hassle. Both systems work well.

i currently have 31" BFG K02 All terrain tires on my Ranger. and so far, the truck has pretty much gone where i pointed the steering wheel. now in a complete mud bog, the mud terrains will be much better, but a run to Southington Off road and 3 runs to the Badlands in Attica Indiana, my limitations have been suspension (esp. rocks) and the fact that I needed to drive the truck home so I did't get into too many areas that would break things. but it will climb a 3 foot rock incline where there is just enough indentation of the rock to allow the front bumper to go over it enough to where the tires got a grip... then it was straight up it without issue. tracked well in the muddy tire ruts, and I had mud on the front pumpkin where it scraped the ground. kept on going.

AJ

I followed you thru the flooded marshland known as Southington. I was on MT's at the time, following you sold me on an aggressive AT. 0 regrets. I wanted BFG's but they were a decent chunk of change more expensive than the Grabbers.

 

[MT_PLS]

there is definitely a issue with running spacers or 2 over coils with factory radius arms and mounts.


that is like a t bar crank.

sure you get height....but its maxed down travel and caster and camber have to get split with a high degree bushing and even toe change gets off to the point ride and handling are crap. with 2 inch spacers or 2-3 inch coils you have to compensate for caster and camber with just the bushing and can not get the setup to be worth doing.


the f150 arms are only a few inches longer....which in fact helps but in this case it is not just the better travel....that few inches you slide the radius arm brackets back and down lower (assuming you reuse the ranger stuff and dont use f150 brackets)

this is important as it drops the caster back to normalish range and makes for better range of travel both up and down even shimming the arms forward with washers which may be required depending on how to key the mounts....

this allows for longer shock and full use of 3 degree bushings to deal with mostly camber and get to at least 3 inches of functionable lift. you can basically just run the 150 coils depending on your weight....and trim to suit.

the pro is not having to use a drop pitman arm....and upgrade to the later explorer steering linkage which is pretty burly .... your axles are what we used to call over center which gives you more ground clearance....which is one downfall of the ttb 35...it has more plow area then the 28 or d44...

but dialing in at speed handling can be tricky for the uninitiated...

it is the very reason i ran that way as long as i did.

but...this is not as easy as it used to be because stuff is more scarce. but it sure as hell is cost effective.




that said....the duff long arms were awesome...and made a big difference in max travel when built to that goal. problem there was i gave up more ground clearance in terms of break over angle and i twisted them up still...and had to repair them quite a few times.

but they allowed 40 in tires with max travel.

give and take.

What would you say is the ultimate way to run 31" tires on a 89-92 RBV? I installed 1.5" RC coils and am on the verge of bumpsteer constantly, even after a high quality alignment. I would prefer a better alternative that did not cause bumpsteer.
Teach me, oh wise one!