Wulf Spindle Lift Issue

[Gonesh]

98 Ranger xlt 2wd w coil suspension. Replaced upper and lower control arms w/ oem style moog parts last year. Currently replacing coil springs and shocks (stock replacements) and swapping spindle w/ wulf 4" lift spindle. That's where the issue arises...

First - I had to trim flange around ball joint from lower control arm to fit spindle on lower arm. This was expected from reading forums and came out fine. The issue is when I connect to the upper control arm. I had to lift the lower with a jack and pry the upper down with increased difficulty added by the new spring. Everything connects ok, and I don't feel like I had to use "extreme" force to make it happen, but with the upper and lower connected i cannot turn the spindle (by hand) at all. The truck is on a lift, so the suspension is at full downward travel, nothing is connected to the spindle except uca and lca. The uca does seem to be angled down further than it should be, but not so much that I expect it to be wrong once it's on it's feet.

I'd had a long day, so I literally walked away from it at this point. I am positive I got the wulf 4" spindle kit - I'm positive I ORDERED the coil spring kit, but I cannot readily see any difference between that and the torsion kit on the website, so I cannot say what I received was correct. My uca's are not adjustable, but I've read nothing saying that would be required, and I don't see many adjustable options on Rockauto.

I'm a competent mechanic, but I have no experience with lifts, and I've been reading - you guys know your . I'd love to hear your thoughts/experiences.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Are you sure you clearanced the lower control arm enough? Wouldn't take much interference to bind up the spindle.

It's also normal to have to raise the lower control arm to compress the spring. I use the lower the vehicle down on a jack stand placed under the lower arm until the vehicle came slightly off the hoist arm.

At that point the upper are should have easily connected to the spindle.

With most all suspension work... final tightening of components is done with the weight of the vehicle on the suspension. The bushings in the control arms have a working range and need to be torqued when loaded.

 

[Gonesh]

I may need to look a little closer at clearance. It tucks into the spindle a bit so it's tough to see, but seems the most likely spot to bind.
I realized I forgot to loosen the upper as I was posting (why did I have to pry it down... duh), but i would expect spindle to be "close enough" to be fine. I'll still be loosening it first thing tomorrow though.

I appreciate the feedback

 

[Gonesh]

Well. This is why we walk away when we get frustrated. Turns out there was contact at the the bottom of the control arm. The spindle has a "cove" that the control arm protrudes into, coming out of that cove (toward the control arm) is a step down to the ball joint hole. The control arm was barely touching the step. It did not contact when suspension was loaded, so in reality nothing was wrong. I still went ahead and ground the step down some - it seemed a better choice than grinding the control arm. I'm not really planning on doing anything too crazy in my truck, but I don't want anything interfering with the steering if i do get stupid.
So spindles are installed, rear end needs some bolts tightened, and I have to finish mounting the fenders, front bumper, and everything connected to the headlight bezel. Then i get to decide what wheels/tires to go with, and what to do with the rest of the paint/body.

Looks like I could go to a max of 33" tires with my 4" lift without modifying fenders and whatnot - but I have to assume I'd need wheel spacers to run a tire that large, right? I'm likely to stay with stock 15" rims - i pulled the chrome cover and sent them in for powdercoating, so we'll see how they come out. That cover looks nice, but it RUINS the wheel underneath here in the rustbelt.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Stock wheels will be 7 inches wide with a 4 1/2 inch back space.

33x10.50x15's should mount on those wheels fine. 33x12.50x15's are to wide for a 7 inch wide wheel... better suited on a 10 or 12 inch wide wheel. But I'm sure people have put 12.50's on 7 inch wide wheels.

Wider wheels or thick wheel spacers will most likely rub the outside of the fender when turning with the 12.50's.

I would bet 33x10.50x15's on 15x8 with 3.75 back space would bolt right up.