1990 ford ranger 300 swap in progress

[bobbywalter]

My one buddy has a lifted YJ. He did all the usual Jeep lift stuff. Thing was borderline scary to go down the road in. We swapped in Dodge Ramcharger front leaf packs all the way around. He lost a couple inches of lift because of the different arch and in the rear we did a 1/4 elliptical but the thing was surprisingly stable all of a sudden on the road. Arguably he increased his suspension flex by a lot as well. I have a set of 4 of those springs waiting for a project, lol

that is something i have never heard before. but if stability was the issue, those springs are brutally stout in regards to keeping location.

and when running flat springs like that mopar ran them non-parallel.. with the push/pull steering death wobble was nearly a non issue.

i have fore and afted the parallel fighting death wobble on various applications over the years....but 7-8 inches of total travel is all you can get out of the 48 flatties.

and even with 6 inch shackles they rode hard on my ranger. though back then i was running the windsor....so like 350 lighter up front....i am 3600 on the front axle now...the current v8 diesel may have actually worked ok with the dodge springs....they definitely had a much better approach angle with 33 in tires..

but 48 is short, that is why everybody runs the 52's.

i do like the 52s myself. best setup so far fo an all around rig.

 

[bobbywalter]

Super productive afternoon! Was able to bring some support back into the chassis with some extra bracing. The front shackle mounts need finsh welded and done support just for insurance but overall couldn’t be happier. Depending on how tomorrow goes I’m hoping to get the bumper back on and take a break from welding engine mounts are welded in now. Fronts back to being pretty well good!

busy busy. looks like a good start.

 

[Thatbrokeranger]

View attachment 148091

Did you stretch the wheelbase a bit? With YJ springs my rear mounts are probably 2" further back, my fronts are pretty much in the same spot though, which may explain the shackle angle difference too.

I did move the axle forward a bit but I didn’t go off center traditionally I went off my flares so I’d guess it’s potentially 11.5-2” push forward and I’m not done it’s getting lower and is likely to change. I’m sticking to the yj springs. Isn’t any other pack I’d realistically run honestly.

 

[Thatbrokeranger]

you can run out of drive shaft slip fast. and folding up the springs ...especially yj is much easier. death wobble has a different set of values once shackle length gets 5 or more long..

depending on what tires i am running...bigger than 42's i will often use my trac-bar.


this setup he has landed upon is pretty much what i would start with. tune from here. looks real rough for up travel but i suspect it will be stable. death wobble is a wait and see.

Exactly! And the upside is the oil pan can be modified back where the diff is if necessary but I don’t realistically see this setup having loads of uptravel but who knows. I didn’t even want the 5” shackles I ordered 4” they refunded me but said keep them as 4 was out of stock. Figured I’d try it out and see how it goes. Rear mounts I can easily alter none of it’s done it’s just welded enough to confidently hold its own weight and adjust things as I go. High steers now removed… settings expensive so that’s gonna be waiting for a while… maybe next summer depending on if anything sells.

 

[Thatbrokeranger]

busy busy. looks like a good start.

Getting somewhere but not happy with after looking it over all week. If I was gonna jump to 35s it’s a good setup but gonna see just what I can do.

 

[Thatbrokeranger]

View attachment 148091

Did you stretch the wheelbase a bit? With YJ springs my rear mounts are probably 2" further back, my fronts are pretty much in the same spot though, which may explain the shackle angle difference too.

Here’s as much of a side by side shot as I can manage lol