1983 Ford Ranger 4x4 Best lift for the front?

[ChaseACarpenter]

guys i need some help im new on this site, i have a 4x4 1983 ford ranger project truck, need some advice got some 31x10.50sx15 and wheel adapters and its barley turning rubs bad, does it have torsion keys? Need some lift help in the front end its sagging also want the front a little bit higher than the back, thanks

 

[crawlin91]

no it does not have torsion keys. all rangers 83-97 have TTB Independent suspension (coil sprung with radius arms). Look in the tech library links at the top of the page, look under suspension and read some of the threads and articles on lifts etc.

 

[ChaseACarpenter]

thanks, but there not to easy to find, anyone out there with torsion keys, leveling kit, new longer springs? And also is there any way to but AIR RIDE SHOCKS for this ranger? the kind i can put air from an air tank in and it lifts it up, and when i want it back down just let the air out? ANYBODY HELP PLEASE

 

[armadillon]

It shouldn't be hard to find. Scroll down and click on any of the links in the Suspension section referring to TTB:

To start....

Getting the Most out of your TTB
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Spring2003/TTBTuning.htm

Read read read. We aren't tryin to be ugly, but this stuff has been pretty well covered.

 

[ChaseACarpenter]

okay ive read this, so coil spring spacer how much would it really lift the front? And also, what about torsion keys? How would you install them?

 

[armadillon]

Well, if you're using a spacer, you would assume that the front end would lift the same width as the spacer.

 

[ChaseACarpenter]

well funny you should say that, cause i haave a 1.5 leveling kit on my ford f150, i "assumed" it would give it 1.5 but it really only lifted it barley a quarter of an inch? explain that to me.

 

[armadillon]

I have no clue about your F150. I could easily answer that with a range of answers up to and including "false advertising" or "gnomes". What's your backspacing at on those rims? Although your initial question and the title of this thread is "1983 Ford Ranger 4x4 Best lift for the front?" Questions about what lift is required for a tire size has been covered A LOT. Are you looking to just clear the tires on the cheap? Get a body lift. Are you looking to do it properly? Get a kit or do any of the stuff listed in "Lifting on a Budget" in the library. All of the articles can help you. You can also do a search on "How Much Lift with (Enter tire size)?" and that'll net you a lot of threads done in the previous years about it. Plenty of people tend to cut fenders too.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/factoryspacer.htm
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Summer2003/LiftingOnABudget.htm

 

[crawlin91]

And also, what about torsion keys? How would you install them?

You DO NOT have a torsion bar suspension, so you can not use torsion keys for lift.

Your 1983 Ranger is equipped with the TTB (Twin Traction Beam) front suspension used in the Ford Ranger from 1983-1997.
Read this link explaining the difference.....
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/front_suspension.html

Your basic options are:
-coil spacers
-leveling kit (1-2 inches of lift?)
-F150 coils
-lift kit (which requires drop brackets for the axle beams)
-body lift
-cut fenders

Plenty of info here on all of them. Put any combination of those words into the search engine and read up.

 

[ChaseACarpenter]

I have cut the front part of the fender, it's not rubbing so bad now, I still want to lift the front though, I want the 2" coil spacer, best place to buy? Are they all made of metal? And also how hard is it to install? And what's it mean you can put washers in with the coil spacer? What size washers? And finally any links to pics of someone with a 4x4 ranger with just a 2 lift on front? Thanks

 

[RangerBoy94]

You obviously haven't used the search feature dude. Read up and search everything you need to know has already been discussed and is right at your disposal.

 

[88_Eddie]

your questions would take a solid hours worth of typing for me to explain it all.

if you have a quesiton, go up to the search bar in the top right hand of your web browser and type it in.

for instance, "what is the best lift for my ranger?".....so in the search box, i'd cut that down a bit and type "best lift for ranger". this is gonna bring up a crap load of threads for all different types of rangers.

being that your truck is an 83, i'm guessing that you've got a dana 28 TTB axle up there. the TTB was replaced with IFS in 97-98. as crawlin posted, you have a few choices there.

for the TTB you can lift it about 2" with the factory pivot brackets, any higher and you need new, longer lift brackets.

go get yourself a 2" body lift for around $100 or a 4" rough country suspension lift for $400 and install. you'll easily clear 31's with a 2" body lift and could probably squeeze 33's with a 4" lift.

 

[ChaseACarpenter]

Alright so for the coil spacer installation what should I search to find exactly from taking the wheels off start at?