88 ranger front sway bar question

[little bruiser]

hey guys,

i need some help. i inherited a 88 ranger v-8 swap project from a family member. it has issues with the suspension, no sway bars front or rear which makes for a uneasy drive. i plan to replace the 7.5 rear axle with an 8.8 from an explorer. the 8.8 has a sway bar that i will figuer out how transfer to the ranger, however, i would also like to install a front sway bar. my question is this: what wrecking yard front sway bars are compatible with my 1988 2wd regular cab ranger ? and... is the explorer rear sway bar worth going to the trouble to transfer or is there a better choice out there?

 

[Snoranger]

Ford made 2 different style sway bars for the Ranger based vehicle (RBV) TTB/TIB front end. A front mount and a rear mount. The front mount did just that... It mounted in front of the suspension. The earlier style, the rear mount, mounted inside the radius arms and crossmember.

IIRC '88 used the front mount. Is so, any front mount RBV TTB/TIB will work.


The Explorer rear will work just fine.

 

[little bruiser]

good deal, thanks for the information.

 

[4.0B2]

yep, find a front mount sway bar (just verifying he is correct on that).

I actually need to find an explorer 8.8 sway bar myself to add to my b2.

 

[adsm08]

I'm not sure how much of your problem is lack of sway bars and how much is the V8.

I'm running no sway bars currently and have not noticed a huge difference in handling. I do want to put them back on because legally I am supposed to have them, but I don't see a huge difference from stock.

 

[Mark_88]

My truck has a front sway bar and it really makes a difference when I'm doing over 200 kph and taking hairpin turns...but you need really expensive rubber to take that kind of pressure.

But, seriously, mine does have them and I haven't noticed any difference from my first ranger that didn't have them...other than the fact that the truck doesn't jump sideways when I hit pot holes...which can be really annoying on narrow roads...

 

[kamshaft]

when i was still going to use the stock 88 chassis in mind it had the radious arm sway bar and i added a front mount also i still have the radious arms and swarbar with intact bushings if you want to run dual sway bars like i had