A few questions about lifting for cheap...

[DakarMarc]

Hey folks, I am looking for a few answers, confirmations and opinions please.


I have a 2wd 97 B3000, and from everything I have read and searched, it is the same as the Ranger except for a few body panels, lights etc.

I am purely using it as a daily commuter with the odd dump load/material hauling run.


This is what I would like to do:


A real basic and cheap lift, purely to get the nose dive out of the vehicle, and make it look a little less wimpy than it does. The truck has already been called "cute" by the neighbors and well that is just not acceptable. I would like to upgrade the 14" baby rims to 15"s, possibly 16"s with some basic BFG Land Terrain or All Terrain tires. I am possibly considering a mild body lift, maybe 1-2". I have to do a full front brake job; rotors, calipers, pads, and all four ball joints. Since this will all entail a wheel alignment, I would like to accomplish it all at the same time.

So my questions are these:

Does the 4wd version have the nose dive similar to my truck??

I saw the thread about taking the 2" axel spacer from a wrecked 4x4 and putting it on my truck. But from what I can gather, that is only for the rear end. There does not seem to say anything about taking the front suspension part off of the 4x4 as well, whatever that may be. Also will this mean I will need a longer shock?? Is the stock 4x4 shock different than a 2x4 shock??

I read about the torsion bar lift, and making that adjustment, but haven't yet figured out if I can do that to my truck, I was kind of under the impression it was a 4x4 only possibility, is this true and can I do it to mine?

I also am considering the coil lifts that you can get from ford, the f-150 ones that have been talked about. I am figuring that the coil lifts will just raise the front end taking out the nose dive, but if I were to put in the rear 2" spacers, would that not just put the nose dive back in?? Or is the torsion bar adjustment enough to reverse the nose dive to a level truck again??


I guess essentially I am trying to make my truck look like a stock 4x4, not looking at anything big or spending any money really. The front end brake job and tires etc is going to cost me enough as it is. All I really have in abundance is time. I will be hitting the wreckers soon, but would like a solid plan before going there.


And lastly, I have been seriously considering the 3.0 to 2.3 swap, I know that this is the opposite to what most people are doing, but as a commuter, it is in my best interest to be more concerned about fuel mileage than power. I figure that I should be able to find someone relatively close by that is interested in doing a swap. They want to upgrade, I want to downgrade. My truck has 125000 km or 78000 miles on the engine, and would be looking for something comparable. I had to do the Cam Syncro, but saved the engine. Any comments from those that have done the swap about how difficult it was, and how long to do it would be appreciated.


Thanks all for your responses.

 

[ILLEGALCONCEPTS]

For a mild lift, I would get the leveling coils. Just bite the bullet and for around $100-120 you'll be good. You could just install a spacer and that would lift the front. If you are going to lift the back too, you'll be spending money to get the 3-4" you'll need from the front. I would just do the front and get some bigger tires on it. I have 29x10.5x15 on my 95 at stock height. I rub slightly if I turn the wheel to full lock. I wish I had installed lift coils though to level the truck but hind sight is 20/20 LOL

If you are thinking 2.3 swap, look into doing the turbo. You won't be sorry. You can maintain great MPG and have the power when you want/need it.

James

 

[bobsleder251]

I'd say just get the longer coils, coil spacers will wear the coils out faster and you'll just end up having to get another alignment and new coils anyway. I'm about to do the same thing to my truck, my coils are on their way. I'm just lifting the front up 2", if worst comes to worst when your doing the coil lift and your shocks don't reach, you could just go to the auto store and get some shock stud extenders till you can get the longer shocks. i would get the 15" rims, there's a few more options and it'll look beefier with the same size tire.

 

[dru]

For a mild lift, I would get the leveling coils. Just bite the bullet and for around $100-120 you'll be good. You could just install a spacer and that would lift the front. If you are going to lift the back too, you'll be spending money to get the 3-4" you'll need from the front. I would just do the front and get some bigger tires on it. I have 29x10.5x15 on my 95 at stock height. I rub slightly if I turn the wheel to full lock. I wish I had installed lift coils though to level the truck but hind sight is 20/20 LOL

If you are thinking 2.3 swap, look into doing the turbo. You won't be sorry. You can maintain great MPG and have the power when you want/need it.

James

where did you get 29x10.50s? what brand? ive never seen them before.

 

[ILLEGALCONCEPTS]

http://store.summitracing.com/partd...793325+4294742316+4294854857+115&autoview=sku

Those are what's on my 95. I bought the rims/tires used for another project that failed. When I got this truck I figured WTH and put them on. I like them, they seem to be wearing well. They actually do fairly well in the snow with a little weight in the bed.

James

 

[DakarMarc]

Thanks for the replies so far, so for the simplest and cheapest method currently possible, I will do the coil spacers.

Will the F150 ones shown in the tech section be enough to get rid of the nose dive? Or should I get some longer ones? I assume that I may have to replace the bolt if I go longer, ie 2" spacers. It is hard to tell by looking at the tech thread how much lift the F150's give. Any ideas about that, or can you get a coil lift kit that would also include the longer bolt. Also I do not want to go to much so that getting an alignment now becomes a problem to do.

For pure simplicity, getting the Ford coil spacers is easy as there is a dealer here in my town, not sure how much they are so I will have to check. I will also check out Napa about some aftermarket coil spacer ideas.

I will be looking for some 15 inch rims, and hopefully already clad with some rubber. I will leave the rear end alone. Also thanks for the tip about the turbo, I will definitely search some more about that option with the 2.3 engine.

 

[DakarMarc]

You must be kidding, just called Ford and they want $105 cdn for the F150 coil spacers. The tech article said the guy got his from Ford in the US for $15. Anybody got a lead on these for little better price on that, or something aftermarket that will work??


Thanks

 

[Bryan22]

you can get the polyurathane ones for way cheaper. they will come with stud extenders if you buy the kit. I didn't like that idea so i went the way of a longer bolt. if you check my thread out here... http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40660 ... you'll see some problems i ran into with a longer bolt.

 

[bobsleder251]

for $105 you can get new 2" lift coils, its the same exact process of installing the spacers if you plan on placing the spacer on the top or bottom, and with the 2" lift, you know it'll be 2" and not go down too much, so a stud extender would work or just a long piece of threaded rod custom made, its like $10 in materials, that's how i make all my pins for the trailer hitch.

 

[Bryan22]

with the lift coil you don't need a longer bolt. The reason i chose to go with the spacer instead of the coil is to maintain ride quality, as i hear most of those lift coils are not sprung very soft Also you probably wouldn't want to use a peice of all-thread to replace the factory bolt as the threaded part of a bolt is the weakest part.

 

[bobsleder251]

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