Lowering kits

[chord]

Hey all I have an 88 Ranger and I want to lower the front 2 inches and 4 inches in the rear. Where's a good place to get a kit reasonably priced? Thanks in advance!

 

[chord]

Lowering question

I want to lower my truck 2 inches up front and 4 inches in the rear. What do you guys recommend for a kit?

 

[JoshT]

Now that it's in the right place, you'll probably get better traffic and more feedback.

My 2¢...

There's not really a kit for a 2/4 drop on these first gens, you'll have to piece together your own "kit." I'll tackle front first.

The only way to get 2" drop from factory ride height is with springs, but given age and added weight of the engine you may only see ~1" of actual drop. The make (or at least they did) a 3" drop spring, but I can't recommend it. From what I've heard the 3" spring is nearly non-aligneable with stock beams, it's best saved for use in conjunction with drop beams. There's also the option of cutting coils, but there are a lot of people on the forum with more knowledge about that. If you can afford it I'd get a set of drop beams, that would get you 3" of drop that can be aligned.

The rear is a lot more straight forward if you are still running a stock RBV axle. ***EDIT: The paragraph I wrote was even confusing to me.*** The jist of it was that an axle flip would be your best bet for 4" rear drop. Either you can weld on new spring perches or buy flip brackets, but you'll also need shorter shocks. Shock issue has been discussed in the forum a few times, but I can't recall what the preference is at the moment.


General guideline for lowering front:

2" drop springs = 2" (minus what ever spring sag you have)
3" drop springs = 3" ("---" , probably require shorter shocks and camber slugs)
3" drop beams = 3" drop (use stock shocks)
drop beams + drop springs = 5"-6" (same as springs above)


General guideline for lowering rear:

Rear Hangar flip = ~2"
Axle flip + extended shackles (using 2" position) = ~2"
Axle flip + extended shackles (using 1" position) = ~3"
Axle Flip = ~4" (unless you've swapped axles)
Axle flip + Hangar flip = ~6" (this is about as far as you can go without notching frame)
Axle flip + Hangar flip + extended shackle = ~7-8" (depending on shackle position)

You can go lower in both front and rear, but it takes cutting and welding to do it.

 

[Insanejughead]

Now that it's in the right place, you'll probably get better traffic and more feedback.

Nope. Gotta prove you wrong there.


Two inches in the front will require 75lbs (two 50lb bags) of sand split equally inside the front fenders. Four inches in the back will be easier; you'll only need five sandbags (50lbs) to get the rear to sag that much.



Good luck with fuel economy!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!


(Aside from the fun and games, he pretty much nailed it.)

 

[3hokies]

Cut the front coils, and do a rear axle flip...add new shocks and your done

 

[JoshT]

WTF! I replied to this yesterday, where did my reply go? **Don't I look stupid, my earlier reply is back now.**

They make 2" drop springs, but you'll probably only see about an inch of actual drop due to engine weight and spring sag. The also make 3" drop springs, but from what I've heard they are damn near non-alignable wit the stock beams. You can cut your coils but need to be careful about it, too much and you make the spring useless. Cutting 1" of height off a coil does not equal 1" of drop, and you can always cut more off but you can't add it back on. Most proponents of coil cutting will recommend cutting a quarter of a turn at a time, then test and repeat as necessary. It is a longer process, but you can get the height you want with less risk of ruining the spring.

For the rear, if you are still running a stock axle a flip kit is the easiest way to get 4" drop. If you are running a larger 31 spline 8.8" or a 9" an axle flip will probably give closer to 5" drop.

You will need other things in addition to springs and flip kit. Stock shocks are usually good up to about a 3" drop. 2" Drop springs or cut coils will still be okay with stock shocks. With 3" drop springs you might want to consider drop shocks the drop may cause stock length to wear out fast. With any drop spring you will also, need to add adjustable camber eccentrics, so that the alignment can be brought back into spec. It's much better to add them yourself than pay the shop, 3.5º eccentrics can be bought from NAPA. IIRC they go into the upper ball joint lug on the spindle. For the rear you definitely need drop shocks with that 4" drop. The stock length will be constantly bottoming out, which kills the shock, and they will ride like crap.

Its more drop than you are looking for, but I recommend going with drop beams up front for a 3" drop. IMO it's a better option than drop springs in every way, except for price. Drop beams do not require drop shocks or camber eccentrics unless used in conjunction with drop springs.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

WTF! I replied to this yesterday, where did my reply go?.

I saw that response too
edit; chord has a similar question in another forum.
edit #2; I merged the threads together.

Richard

 

[JoshT]

I saw that response too
edit; chord has a similar question in another forum.

I did post in the other thread suggesting that he ask in this section, but I could have sworn that I posted a reply in this one as well. Maybe I accidentally closed the browser before hitting the submit button.

EDIT: Okay, there's some crazy chit going on here, hopefully it's just me and not the forum software. After I didn't see my post in this thread (lowered section) earlier, I checked the other thread (V8 section) to see if I replied in the wrong spot. Pretty sure that at some point I had both threads opened at the same time so it could have happened, but I didn't see it in there either. Now after the threads were merged it appears, and looks like someone else saw it as well.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Your not hallucinating, I merged the threads together. check edit #2 in my previous post.

Richard

 

[westchase19]

Belltech sells 2 inch drop coils and the rear just go to farm supply store and buy a leaf spring perch like youre building a trailer and weld it onto onto your rear end to flip it.