1gone

[Hopefiend]

Removed by creator

 

[franklin2]

Looks like the extended radius arms come with a custom bracket that is already dropped, and of course moved rearward also on a new spot on the frame. Here"s a article on it. https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/skyjacker_radius_arms.shtml

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah, extended arms make up for the radius arm drop bracket. Forget where I read it years ago, but extended arms help a lot with suspension geometry and can help with ride quality in stock suspension too. I have 3” lift springs in the front with some James Duff axle pivot drops and the old F-150 spring perch mod plus my own extended radius arms to the front, Explorer leafs with an extra leaf or two and the spring shackle in the rear in my choptop (second gen) and a 2” body lift clearing 35’s. Rear is fine with I think it was a brake hose for an 88 Bronco II, even with all the weight off the rear the line still isn’t tight. I have some new extended lines for the front to replace the two piece lines from the tech archives. Drop pitman was absolutely needed.

 

[gaz]

@Hopefiend ,
I can't recommend the spacer with coils. Using the pivot drops and extended arms is a solid setup and easily aligned. With 4" leaves and a shackle, it should balance well to the front without the spacers but 35" is big.

I do not know if 4" suspension with 4" body will clear 35's in either rig.
I faught trimming my fenders for years, after I did it I wished I had done it years prior. It is an extremely simple solution with a large variety of great options to make it look nice afterwards.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Sounds like a good set up... did u have to cut the fenders at all ?

First gen would probably require trimming of the front fenders. Second gen it’s cleared just fine with rims that have factory spacing, I bought some 15x8 rims and used factory backspace/offset/etc. I did loosen the front bumper and pull it as high and far out as the factory mounts allowed to give some extra room there. The only real issue has been the tires rub on the extended arms at full lock.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Can you tell me more about the f150 spring perch mod?
Im assuming thats on front? My gen1 b2 has rusted out what i call coil buckets... im open to learning options... none if the part yards here will let me in with a saw, grinder, or torch and im NOT hammer and chiseling all those rivits...

Alright, so real quick I’ll cover this because I don’t have much time right now. The tech archives on here have a full write up on it, but I have no idea if the parts are still available, haven’t looked in years. PA doesn’t allow coil spacers on the front for inspection, so this was a good way to get around that. The older F-150s (80-96, otherwise known as OBS or Old Body Style) had a cast “perch” that sat on top of the TIB/TTB front axle that was much thicker than the perch on top of RBV axles, so it amounts to a lift/coil spacer for RBV use. Our coils fit it just fine and it moves the retaining nut to about the top of the bolt threads from the axle.

The rotted out coil buckets are a different part. Last I looked for them, about the only place I could find them was ATS spring. Or you have to go a different route. It’s on my list to explore other options, I have some ideas, but right now I need to get my green Ranger back together and get the dump truck fixed before I can really give much attention to what’s rattling around in my head as a possible way to deal with this. Don’t want to really go into any detail until I can determine how feasible my idea is and if it turns out to work, I’m half inclined to try producing some kits. Probably at least a year out or more on that though since I’ll want to do some testing and all.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So i on one build used the fan pulley off of 5.0 f150 over the top of the front coils and tack welded them to the tops of the coils...
Anyway you m trying to find that article in library...
Curious does the perch unbolt or otherwise just come off the f150 without cutting?
Im also considering a solid axle swap from a jeep...
Doesnt look overly difficult to install a 4 link system to hold it... curious about steering linkage though...

Never weld to coils, even a tack, spring steel doesn’t like that. Just creating a future time bomb.

https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/factory-coil-spring-spacers-to-level-your-ranger/

It unbolts, kind of. Same as it will kind of unbolt from your truck. Or at least here in the rusty steel buckle of the rust belt it’s usually a fight. Haven’t tried my Milwaukee impact on one yet though. Usually end up using a 1-1/8” wrench and a 4# dead blow applied vigorously.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I'm liking the stage2 skyjacker 6" kit w extended radius arms... I wanna go with new lift rear springs too... then 3" body and 35x12.50 on 15x10 rims...
It LOOKS like they will work out nicely !
But eventually I will need th chang my gearing... hopefully find a set I like to swap in... i have never set up a diff and idk i can do it right...
Pretty expensive to have done too i hear...
Really want 4:56 and lockers...
You know it's funny that ppl see an 4x4 rolling down the road... its jacked up and loud and beat to hell... but still you start building these things one would never imagine that there is as much money in that thing as some of these newer cars on the road... can easily buy a 1000$ truck then sink 6-8 grand in it on lift, lockers, gears, tires n wheels, swaps here and swaps there plus time invested... but it's also why we would do something serious to someone messing with our rigs....

Yeah, it is definitely easy to sink a ton of money. My choptop initially got a cheap build. I bought the truck for cheap, forget now exactly, but it was a 2wd with a blown up motor and I paid like $150-250 for it. Bought a parts donor for a couple hundred and got some help from TRS. Also picked up a lightly used set of James Duff 3” lift coils and axle pivot drops. Initially got it running on 31’s with 3” of lift. Had less than a grand all told. Then it got it’s first set of extended arms and the lift increased to 5” and I was given an old set of bias ply 33’s, think I was sitting around a grand then. Added a 2” body lift and then I got to 35’s and started a roll cage and was on it’s like 3rd or 4th motor and I stopped keeping track of money spent because it blew past 2k in a hurry.

I considered going to 10” wide rims but if I remember right I stuck with 8” wide to keep the bead pulled in tighter. My choptop I have to run 10-15 psi to keep the tread flat on the pavement, otherwise I burn the center out and have poor handling plus a stupid hard ride. Like you can feel any inconsistency or a pebble or cigarette butt on the road. Tried running 31s at one point after all of the lift and it felt too tippy, the 35’s feel much more stable.

 

[Northidahotrailblazer]

I'm liking the stage2 skyjacker 6" kit w extended radius arms... I wanna go with new lift rear springs too... then 3" body and 35x12.50 on 15x10 rims...
It LOOKS like they will work out nicely !
But eventually I will need th chang my gearing... hopefully find a set I like to swap in... i have never set up a diff and idk i can do it right...
Pretty expensive to have done too i hear...
Really want 4:56 and lockers...
You know it's funny that ppl see an 4x4 rolling down the road... its jacked up and loud and beat to hell... but still you start building these things one would never imagine that there is as much money in that thing as some of these newer cars on the road... can easily buy a 1000$ truck then sink 6-8 grand in it on lift, lockers, gears, tires n wheels, swaps here and swaps there plus time invested... but it's also why we would do something serious to someone messing with our rigs....

I've got over 5K in mine from this winter. That's not even what it cost me back in the day to build it. I'm trying to decide how I want to build my D44 for it, and nothing is cheap. My long arms if I built them today, would be double the cost of what it was 10 years ago... it just depends on how big you want. I can put a 3in with 31s under a RBV for cheap. But when you want to go bigger its going to cost you. If you want something that works and doesn't give you headaches there's just no way around it.


Before

Now I DD it to work, 60 or so miles a day. Its taken a lot to do that. It all cost money.