Hello, I'm New To TRS and this is my Ranger

[Lefty]

Hmm. Didn't clear mine and it was off of a 99 explorer. It clears the coil springs fine, but not the part of the frame that holds the coil springs. It also did not line up with my end links. It was too short.

You probably have the wrong bar. The holes should be the same distance apart as the Ranger bar.

 

[pjtoledo]

in my experiences the 98+ coil bars are wider than torsion bars because of the frame bulge for the spring.
the shape of the end of the bars may be as much of the issue as the actual width. it's been awhile since I looked at mine.

2001 Sport track = 2000 4x4 Ranger in widths and shape.

 

[superj]

i got a bar from an 03 or 04 for my ranger and it was a lot thicker than my edge bar. i took it off because it was too thick and made the truck ride like a 1 ton

 

[99streetranger]

in my experiences the 98+ coil bars are wider than torsion bars because of the frame bulge for the spring.
the shape of the end of the bars may be as much of the issue as the actual width. it's been awhile since I looked at mine.

2001 Sport track = 2000 4x4 Ranger in widths and shape.

THIS HERE. This is exactly what I'm talking about. The swaybars do not clear the frame bulge.

 

[99streetranger]

i got a bar from an 03 or 04 for my ranger and it was a lot thicker than my edge bar. i took it off because it was too thick and made the truck ride like a 1 ton

Is your ranger a coil spring front end?

 

[Lefty]

Is your ranger a coil spring front end?

Mine is torsion bar.

 

[99streetranger]

Mine is torsion bar.

Yes, but is superJ's a coil spring?

 

[Blmpkn]

Yes, but is superJ's a coil spring?

No his is an edge as well, t bars.

 

[99streetranger]

No his is an edge as well, t bars.

Well that sucks. I really don't wanna pay Hellwig $250 for a bent piece of metal. So there's absolutely no other swaybars for the coil spring rangers?

 

[Lefty]

Perhaps you have the wrong bar. This is what the Tech Section says about sway bar options...

Sway Bar Options For Your Ford Ranger

Looking to add or upgrade the sway bar on your Ford Ranger?
Front Bars:
If your Ford Ranger didn’t come with a front sway bar, you have an option of adding a factory one, if you can find one in a salvage yard (or craigslist).

• 1983-1988 are interchangeable,
• 1989-1997 are interchangeable
• 1998-2011 are interchangeable

Bars can be swapped between Bronco II’s, Explorers, and Rangers of the same year range. The exception is the 95+ Explorers that switched to the SLA suspension. The SLA Explorers will only interchange with SLA Rangers.
There were (2) different mounting setups for the front sway bars:
Behind The Front Axle:
This setup mounted the sway bar to the inside of the radius arm, and was attached to a crossmember that went between the radius arm brackets.

There's more to read. Here's the URL

https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/sway-bar-options-for-your-ford-ranger/

 

[99streetranger]

Perhaps you have the wrong bar. This is what the Tech Section says about sway bar options...

Sway Bar Options For Your Ford Ranger

Looking to add or upgrade the sway bar on your Ford Ranger?
Front Bars:
If your Ford Ranger didn’t come with a front sway bar, you have an option of adding a factory one, if you can find one in a salvage yard (or craigslist).

• 1983-1988 are interchangeable,
• 1989-1997 are interchangeable
• 1998-2011 are interchangeable

Bars can be swapped between Bronco II’s, Explorers, and Rangers of the same year range. The exception is the 95+ Explorers that switched to the SLA suspension. The SLA Explorers will only interchange with SLA Rangers.
There were (2) different mounting setups for the front sway bars:
Behind The Front Axle:
This setup mounted the sway bar to the inside of the radius arm, and was attached to a crossmember that went between the radius arm brackets.

There's more to read. Here's the URL

https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/sway-bar-options-for-your-ford-ranger/

I got my swaybar from a 99 explorer. The explorer had SLA suspension. The only difference is that it used a torsion bar instead of a coil spring. The Tech Section is incorrect. There were no coil spring explorers made with the SLA suspension as far as I have searched (Searched for days on explorer forums)

 

[JoshT]

The Tech Section is incorrect. There were no coil spring explorers made with the SLA suspension as far as I have searched

Tech section is a good guide, but it isn't 100%. Most of it was compiled from information us members have posted over the years.

You are correct, the 1996-2001 explorers never came with coil springs. They were torsion bar only.

If you have the largest bar offered by the factory on 2wd coil spring Rangers, your only option is aftermarket if you want/need bigger. I could't tell you what the largest factory size was. I think people have started lists a few times over the years in the suspension section. I think those threads typically fall apart due to the same thing you experienced here, people don't post whether t-bar or coil and don't realize they aren't interchangable between the two.

 

[99streetranger]

Tech section is a good guide, but it isn't 100%. Most of it was compiled from information us members have posted over the years.

You are correct, the 1996-2001 explorers never came with coil springs. They were torsion bar only.

If you have the largest bar offered by the factory on 2wd coil spring Rangers, your only option is aftermarket if you want/need bigger. I could't tell you what the largest factory size was. I think people have started lists a few times over the years in the suspension section. I think those threads typically fall apart due to the same thing you experienced here, people don't post whether t-bar or coil and don't realize they aren't interchangable between the two.

I think I have the smaller front swaybar. I think the extended cabs have a larger bar, but I don't know if they are torsion bar or coil spring.

 

[JoshT]

I think I have the smaller front swaybar. I think the extended cabs have a larger bar, but I don't know if they are torsion bar or coil spring.

Could be either. Both cab styles were available with both suspensions. You'll have to look under it and see, but you were going to have to do that to check size anyway.

You mentioned hellwig earlier. Belltech also offers one for those. P/N 5444. It appears to be 1/8 inch larger than the hellwig and cheaper too.

 

[Lefty]

I got my swaybar from a 99 explorer. The explorer had SLA suspension. The only difference is that it used a torsion bar instead of a coil spring. The Tech Section is incorrect. There were no coil spring explorers made with the SLA suspension as far as I have searched (Searched for days on explorer forums)