Questions about lowering a 2003 Ranger Edge

[superj]

thats a cool truck

 

[JoshT]

I don't recall what I've posted where. I'm with @lil_Blue_Ford in trying to lower a 4wd Ranger, but I haven't actually started trying to lower yet. I've been trying to get one of the companies that's made lowering control arms for torsion bars in the past to make some more. They've said it's in the works, but won't give me any more information or a projected timeline. Actually they've ghosted me. Those companies would be "Michigan Metal Works" and "Illusive Fabrication & Design" if anyone else wants to try.

could you possibly flip them?

I don't know if that would work, I'm thinking that the arms might need to be longer too to correct for camber.

I'm getting ready to order parts to put new ball joints in my truck and lower what I can. My uppers are non replaceable joints I think, so I've got to replace the whole arm. Knowing that I'm going to be lowering and running the joints at and "extreme" angle I was going to buy arms with replaceable joints. That way when I wear them out prematurely I can replace the joint without messing with alignment. I might as well do some investigating and see if flipping the joint in the arm is possible and would improve things

 

[Lefty]

We're in an era where so many seem want a lifted trucks. The Ford Edge was almost agead of it's time...and yet there are so many of us who want to lower them.

 

[superj]

yeah, if you google, there are tons of posts on other ford truck and ford ranger forums from many years of people asking the same questions.

i still will do that coil over conversion on the front end from ricks rangerz. i just want to do the fx4 shifter first so i have been speaking with all the places i can that show having an fx4 level2 being parted out. of the 5 i spoke to yesterday, 4 told me that part had sold just previously and one is going to let me know today if he has it or not.

 

[Lefty]

yeah, if you google, there are tons of posts on other ford truck and ford ranger forums from many years of people asking the same questions.

i still will do that coil over conversion on the front end from ricks rangerz. i just want to do the fx4 shifter first so i have been speaking with all the places i can that show having an fx4 level2 being parted out. of the 5 i spoke to yesterday, 4 told me that part had sold just previously and one is going to let me know today if he has it or not.

Those of you who like the lifted look should consider buying the Edge. The hard work has been done already. All you really need to do is buy bigger wheels and tires. 32" should clear the wheel wells just fine. 33" might require a little bit of grinding if you crank the keys up all the way.

 

[stmitch]

What about the two piece Explorer upper control arms? Can those be used/modified to better position the ball joint? I feel like I've read a post about that at some point but can't recall any details.

Also, no idea if this is legit or not, but it in just came up in a related search:

1998-2011 Ford Edge, Explorer, Ranger, Sport Trac Lowered Tubular Control Arms (Pair) (Lower Arms)

1998-2011 Ford Edge, Explorer, Ranger, Sport Trac Lowered Tubular Control Arms (Pair) (Lower Arms). Our tubular lower control arms are designed to provide a lowered suspension stance, without sacrificing your ride quality. Many of our custom built lower

www.x2industries.com

1998-2011 FORD RANGER Lowered Tubular Control Arms (Pair) (Upper Arms)

1998-2011 FORD RANGER Lowered Tubular Control Arms (Pair) (Upper Arms). These custom upper control arms are designed to correct the camber, and add additional clearance to your lowered suspension. Our custom built tubular

www.x2industries.com

 

[JoshT]

What about the two piece Explorer upper control arms? Can those be used/modified to better position the ball joint? I feel like I've read a post about that at some point but can't recall any details.

Also, no idea if this is legit or not, but it in just came up in a related search:

1998-2011 Ford Edge, Explorer, Ranger, Sport Trac Lowered Tubular Control Arms (Pair) (Lower Arms)

1998-2011 Ford Edge, Explorer, Ranger, Sport Trac Lowered Tubular Control Arms (Pair) (Lower Arms). Our tubular lower control arms are designed to provide a lowered suspension stance, without sacrificing your ride quality. Many of our custom built lower

www.x2industries.com

1998-2011 FORD RANGER Lowered Tubular Control Arms (Pair) (Upper Arms)

1998-2011 FORD RANGER Lowered Tubular Control Arms (Pair) (Upper Arms). These custom upper control arms are designed to correct the camber, and add additional clearance to your lowered suspension. Our custom built tubular

www.x2industries.com

Two piece was only ever made for the passenger side, 4x4 Rangers in the first several years of torsion bars had that design as well. Using two of those arms has been done in the past, it requires flipping and modifications just to use on the driver side.

Biggest problem there is finding them, they don't reproduce the frame half. Also strength after modification is somewhat questionable. Most people that have done it in the past just stacked washers and installed a longer bolt to space out the arm. The arm could be spaced out to correct for camber, but I don't know if anything could be done to help with joint angle.

I'm not certain, but I think that X2 is tied in with airbagit. I haven't been hearing great things about airbagit in a quite while.

As for the parts themselves this is on one of the listings:

That is for the lowers. Maybe they would bolt in, but it doesn't look like they are good for torsion bars. Perhaps for someone bagging their truck? Seems like they are made for coil spring trucks, but I don't know if the attach points are the same. Seems like I've heard that they are not.