1st gen 31"

[BlackBII]

It really depends on the tire.....

They differ between manufacturers, and the rim width and backspacing determines it too.

They WILL fit, given the correct circumstances of course

 

[BlackBII]

Here is my old 85 BII with 31's. It has a 3" body lift.

But they fit fine before the body lift, just some rubbing when flippin a bitch and with suspension travel. It was fine as a DD tho.

Its not the best pic, as one of tires is on the curb, changing the way the tire fits in the wheel well, sorry, only pic I got.

 

[Loanranger]

First off, I would go with these (these are what I have) (2 inch lift)

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SJA-132X&N=700+115&autoview=sku

They will not only level your truck, but also gain you the clearance for 31s. If your springs are not sagging in the back (truck still has a good rake to it stock) then you shouldn't need to lift the back at all.

Here are some pictures I just took of my Ranger, I didn't have any with the truck sitting flat, so I went out and took some of it.

The only place mine rubbed were the plastic inner fender liners, if you look closely, you will see the old screw hole in the fender to the left, and the new one 1 inch back with the screw in it.

For the inside, next to the frame, I used a panduit strap (giant zip tie) through an existing hole in the liner, and around the body mount on the frame

The rear at ride height

The rear fully tucked

NOTE: With 3.75 backspaced rims, the rears will tuck like this one side or the other, because when articulated, the top of the tire will tuck inwards when it moves up. When hauling my quad (roughly 400 lbs), and the suspension compressed equally, the rear tires rubbed the bedsides. I solved this by cutting the outer wheelhouse, and spreading the bedsides outwards by 1.5 inches on each side, adding sheetmetal to the void and welding it up.

Hopefully this helps you out a little, I would personally steer clear of the bodylift for two reasons. 1: it will not increase your actual ground clearance one bit, and 2: you will still have a raked truck.

 

[Loanranger]

And to add to this, it is possible that the only reason the tires rubbed the liner is the large outer lugs on the swampers, you may get away without pulling it back if you're running all terrains.

 

[philzilla]

thank you loan ranger for clearing this up

 

[rockin86ranger]

Thank you very much that helped whole lot. So are you saying if i have tires with smaller lugs it'll help in the hauling departmrnt. because i will be doing some hauling but not much. or could i just get some of thoose helper airbags for the rear and be ok.

and do i need to change my gearing at all and if so to what?
remember this is a dd that i'll use for fun now and then and also what lcokers would fit mine

its a stock
1986
reg. cab
2.0l 5 speed
2wd

thank you

 

[ckblum]

Gearing is gonna cost a lot to change, since it is a 2wd I think it would just be cheaper to go to a wrecker and find a rear axle with lower gears than to buy and have gears installed. I looked in the tech library and found some codes for axle ratios. Look and find the code for the gearing you need then search for an axle like that and just swap it right in. Ive only had a truck for 6 months and before that I knew nothing so anyone please feel free to correct me.

Also I have an 87 extended cab with a 1" body lift and 31" hankooks (30"), it looks fine in the rear for clearance and Im not a crawler but the front needs some lift and the springs are bagged so I bought some leveling coils. I was also thinking of just buying some fiberglass fenders with the larger openings because it looks a lot nicer than chopped fenders and the price isnt too bad (about $350) consider bushwackers cost around ($250) and they look a lot better.

 

[koda6966]

I was also thinking of just buying some fiberglass fenders with the larger openings because it looks a lot nicer than chopped fenders and the price isnt too bad (about $350) consider bushwackers cost around ($250) and they look a lot better.

Well.. then you also have to paint it. So the price is actually a bit more depending on how you decide to paint it.

 

[rockin86ranger]

I think im going to go with a 3" body lift for now because it looks decent with 31s and additional clearance for hauling then as i get some money i can upgrade it with a 6" suspension lift better axles and 35s or 36s. I love that look here's an example of what i'm working up for

http://www.jamesduff.com/scripts/bronco.asp?category=ranger&page=1

It's the 88 owned my Matt Marsh.

Thanks for all the help, Bill

 

[mjonesjr]

Even with a 3" body lift and 6" suspension you wont be able to clear 35's if you want to be able to flex. If you look at this truck, he wouldn't be able to flex without tearing into the fenders.

Here is my BII (same fender opening as the Gen I Rangers) with 6" of lift and 31's on the front. It has room to flex, but still rubs the rear of the wheel well opening when flexing and turning.

 

[rockin86ranger]

it's going to be for mud so i don't much flex but thanks for the info and pic upload

 

[reaper79]

Ok, you can fit 31's under a stock 1st gen, iv had two that had 31's and never rubed even when flexing out.

Heres pics.

This one is my 85 4x4 with a 2.3L...All stock with 31/10.5/15's on 15x7's (No Rub )

And the red/white one is a 86 4x4 with a 2.9L....All stock With 31/10.5/15's on stock 15x7 jeep rims. ( No Rub ) Is saging a little in rear due to having a set of tires in the bed.

But i never had to do any cuting.

 

[koda6966]

And yet I get called an Idiot that needs to "know his roll" for saying they will fit.. thanks.

 

[reaper79]

Not a problem, and yes it does depend on what rim offset you use. But they will fit. One thing i saw is that the person that started this thread has a 2wd ranger. They do sit a little lower then the 4wd. i see that "mjones" has a 6" of lift and 31's on the front and rubs when turning & flexing. i have seen when you lift and go flex and turn it seems to push the axle back a little into the fender, plus it looks like he is running 15x8's. But my stock rangers NEVER rubed. I also ran 31's on my stock 93 4x4 ranger with NO rub. So you can say they will rub with out a 2in lift all you want but I have prof that it wont rub on a stock 1st gen 4x4.

 

[reaper79]

If you run a 15x10 they are gonna rub, I have had good luck with 15x7's. they dont sitck out very far like 15x8's & 15x10's do.

koda6966 i have seen some of the 3rd gens that sit higher then others. I dont really know what the difference is, My buddy has a 2000 and it sits pretty low for being 4wd. he has 29's under it and he cant go much bigger, but i have seen another 2000 4wd that was running 33's and it was stock.

but mjones should chill. All we are doing here is just posting up our exp/thoughs....

rockin86ranger, the 2wd rangers sit a little lower then the 4wd rangers. if you want a cheap suspension lift for your 2wd, get 2" spacers for the front and go to the wreaking yard and find a 4wd 1st gen and pull the stock blocks and ubolts and put them under yours. (the 1st gen 4x4s came with factory 2" blocks) or you can just go buy new 2" blocks