bending and extending beams

[red_ranger93]

i was wondering what you guys did if you have bent a set of beams i know bending them will shorten the wheel base so i could cut and extend them trying to keep the coils. also what is the max they can be bent i just dont want to extend them i'd like to gain some lift or if you got a better idea let me know
thanks

 

[big_o7]

most of the beams on rangers are actually cast, so you cant "cut, bend or weld"

 

[red_ranger93]

i know i got an older set that it can be done to just lookin for the process i looked on DR with no luck

 

[DanjaRanger]

yea i was also wondering about it

 

[norcals91]

If you searched on dezert rangers you didn't search hard enough...theres is a wealth of knowlege on this topic there.

This is the one that helped me the most. Particularly post 49.

http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/fab-shop/59205.htm

That said, it's not too bad if you keep your angles all in check, especially the way that guy did it. I did it the same but instead of cutting the inner cut completely, I cut it enough to pie cut it and put plate into it.

I can speak from experience that you don't want to cut the inner pie cut to far up the beam if your going to notch it like I did, it narrows the beam too much and the coils hit the bucket pretty bad. You have to make that cut close to the radius arm mount.

Pre heating and post heating your welds are crucial unless you have a big boy welder, but still not a bad idea. My second set of beams I built came out much better when pre-heated.

The heat from the welding I've heard (and it makes sense) can make your ball joints brittle (for lack of a better term). It's best to replace or remove the ball joints when doing the fabbing. I replaced mine.

If you have a 88 or later ranger you need to get and 87 and earlier beam and spindle setup to weld on.

You'll need longer radius arms to get any wheel travel out of this setup (if you care).

Good luck