88 High rider Front end

[djk]

hey guys, i looked around this forum ad saw a few helpfull threads but none that completely answered my question. So here it is. I have the 88 high rider, which comes with the stock 1.5 inch lift. The thing is, in the front, the springs are fitted with spacers on both sides. The thing with these spacers is that when they're added the camber(don't know if that's the correct term) gets thrown off, and in my profile picture you notice a slight tilt of the front two wheels. and this causes my beautiful goodyear ATs to wear on the outside. Is this how all high riders came, or did someone blow the front end up and fitted regular ranger springs with spacers to compensate? That is only the beginning. It seams as though my entire front end is going to crap. both left and right u-joints are blown, rotors extremely warped, wheel bearings shot, was told that all my ball joints should be repleaced, and of course the tilt issue. i also lifted the front end up and began to spin the axle coming from the transfer case going to the front differential, and it seems as though the differential likes to spin the outer axles at random points like the gears are worn, or is it because the truck is not on the ground??? Now seeing that the truck is old and there is a lot of rust up front, my final question is this.... would it be smarter to rebuild my entire front end with what i have, OR would it be the smarter idea to drop the entire front end and replace it with a junk yard rebuilt suspension that looks in a little better shape?? sorry if the answer to my question is completely obvious, i would just like some input. thank you

 

[canyoncritter]

Highriders came with a spring just for the highrider, no spacers. Pretty much what everyone now calls a levling spring. So yes its possible someone put a diffrent spring in, or just wanted to add more lift, and put the spacers in etc.

You truck came with the d28, and its the little axle in the ranger world. Myself, if you need, axle joints, ball joints,brake rotors etc, Id swap out the smaller d28 for the d35, that came under the 4.0L rangers and explorers. prety much a bolt in swap.search threw the forums, info has been gone over many times.

 

[djk]

Thanks for the suggestion canyon, i'm definitely going to look into that. Would that be a good match for a 5.0 combination? Because my 2.9 life expectancy has taken a turn for the worse. and i'm looking into doing a 5.0 swap

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yes ,it's a good match for the 5.0, and even better if you put on d-44 outers....search. Also would be a good time to think about tire size and gearing.
Good luck,

Richard