Should i get a lift kit for my 02 ranger fx4 off road ?

[Gary DuBois]

I have been a stock truck type of guy in my life for the most part.

But i think my truck would look nice with a 6 inch lift kit ?

It would be fun to have a 6 inch lift kit ?

I would keep my 31 inch by 10.50 r15 tires

 

[ericbphoto]

If you think it would look good and you have the money to do it, go ahead. It’s your truck. It needs to make you happy.

 

[superj]

holy cow, a 6 inch lift? you will have lots of room for suspension travel, thats for sure.

i did a 6 inch lift on my jeep cherokee and ran 31s. that is probably the proper tire size for that much lift as you won't tear any fenders up, or anything. people like to do little lifts and huge tires and then you have tires rubbing everywhere and things getting torn up, which is not what you want when out on the trails.

 

[superj]

its this one, ha ha ha. what a surprise that water puddle was, ha ha ha.

 

[ericbphoto]

its this one, ha ha ha. what a surprise that water puddle was, ha ha ha.

They don’t look deep on top.

 

[superj]

Thats for sure

 

[JoshT]

Don't do it or go all the way. By all the way I mean lift, 33-35" tires and a regear to suit.

IMO about the only thing 31s on a 6" lift Ranger is good for, is a laugh. Even if you go wide 31s, they look comically small with the lift, and it gains you nothing.

The lift part of normal 6" lift on these gains no ground clearance. You may get some additional uptravel, but from what I can see that is not an issue for you now. What the 6" lift does is give you clearance for running larger tires, in the 33-35" range, it's the larger tires that give you additional ground clearance. If you install the larger tires, you will want to regear to make up for the lost performance.

Your truck already looks good at stock stance. From what I can tell of your past posts it is plenty capable of any conditions you may encounter. If you need a little more clearance in the front, you can gain it by cranking a little on the torsion bar adjusters. You can gain an inch or two just from that to level it out if desired. At one point my truck was running 32s with no more than a level through the adjusters, and never had an issue with tire clearance.

As @ericbphoto said, do what makes you happy. If that's a lifted truck, then lift it. If you do, I highly recommend going all the way with it.

 

[ericbphoto]

IMO about the only thing 31s on a 6" lift Ranger is good for, is a laugh. Even if you go wide 31s, they look comically small with the lift, and it gains you nothing.

My opinion agrees.

 

[sgtsandman]

That much of a lift with 31" tires will not look right. Too much lift and too little tire. If you are looking to do it for off road driving, it might be worth it but you can get pretty far with the truck and tires you have.

In my opinion, if you are going to take the leap, go for the whole deal. Bigger tires and regear the axles to compensate for the bigger tires. Torsion bar lift kits are expensive and can have some reliability issues and negatives that come with them. The lift itself won't give you more axle clearance. Bigger tires do that. The same goes for the cross bar that holds the torsion bars in place. It has to be dropped to compensate for the lower control arms being lower. So, clearance for that cross bar will not change until you put bigger tires on the truck.

 

[bobbywalter]

just depends on what you do. the only reason to lift is what you need to do requires ground clearance and bigger tires.

my truck is built to stay as low as possible to have the largest tire option for intended use. and i have a wide range of use.

generally i run on 33 or 35 inch tires for work duty.....off road ranges from 35-44 in.

i dont care that it looks stupid with smaller tires when i drive thousands of miles to go somewhere and get 5 mpg better....and its easier on the whole
drivetrain.


most of my driving is on pavement... big tires are big dollars....ride like crap and wear out fast... running a larger tire then needed just costs too much.

 

[Lefty]

It's your truck. Have fun. A friend of mine has got 33" tires on 17" offset wheels and a 5" lift. It looks good.

There is a certain sacifice in handling and safety on the highway, but it's fun off road.

Mine came with a 3" lift. I didn't like the way it handled so I lowered it 1", got a bigger sway bar, and made a few other suspension upgrades.