Best lift for the $$

[Mechanickid]

I just bought an 88 ranger and was wanting some opinions on the best lift for the buck. I was thinking a body lift but that leaves the bumpers way down on a 1st gen. So then I was thinking suspension. Whats your take on best buck$ lift kits?

 

[wrecking-crew]

im wondering the same thing.

 

[Mechanickid]

I was thinking a 3 inch body...

 

[wrecking-crew]

now you have me looking up lifts for my ranger....

 

[swynx]

id go with suspension get it done right the first time, with body lift ive noticed wen ur bouncing through a field, it seems as tho ur back gets jacked up haha, id go with a 4 inch suspension lift, not sure wat brand tho

 

[Mechanickid]

lol I was just browsing the lifts myself

 

[96RedRanger]

Rough Country lifts are good for the money. I got my 4" suspention lift for $420 on ebay. I also got the f150 coild seats from a local junkyard for free so this should give me about 5-6 " of lift on my ranger. Im also planing on geting rear shackels (either making my own extended ones or geting dodge dakatoas because i read somewhere they add 1" of lift) And then a 3" body. A 4" suspention lift and 3" body will be about $600 on ebay and give you alot of lift for your buck. Also try and read different posts about cheeper lifts and incorperate it into your own to gain extra lift for little cost. Hope this helps

 

[wrecking-crew]

procomp any good?

 

[Shran]

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Suspension_Kits.html

The tech library has all the info you need.

 

[ZMan]

Rough Country lifts are good for the money. I got my 4" suspention lift for $420 on ebay. I also got the f150 coild seats from a local junkyard for free so this should give me about 5-6 " of lift on my ranger. Im also planing on geting rear shackels (either making my own extended ones or geting dodge dakatoas because i read somewhere they add 1" of lift) And then a 3" body. A 4" suspention lift and 3" body will be about $600 on ebay and give you alot of lift for your buck. Also try and read different posts about cheeper lifts and incorperate it into your own to gain extra lift for little cost. Hope this helps

problem with Rough Country, BDS, and Tough Country lifts is that hard wheeling will cause the passenger beam drop bracket to punch a hole in the differential.

So I guess those lifts are good if you don't plan on doing any offroading.

 

[LittleBigFoot]

I did my sas and rear axle swap, lift, tires, suspension, drive shafts, steering, for under 2 grand.

Step it up a little each time. Maybe coil spacers or the washer trick and a shackle for the rear for starters.

60 bucks total if you buy them. Under 20 if you make them.


A lot of people bitch about body lifts but they're a great additional lift. I wheeled with 33s and a 3" bl for a while and had no problems. Allowed for bigger tires to take me places I never thought I could go. BLs also give great room for sliders, doublers, secondary gas tanks, and running your exhaust higher up.

 

[stegomon]

james duff all the way...then super lift

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Watch for used lifts for sale, that's where I got my start with my choptop build. I went with a used set of James Duff 3" coils and the axle beam pivot drop brackets. Then I added the F-150 spring perches to get roughly 5" lift up front. Had some custom extended arms fabbed up for the front as well. On the back I took a worn set of leafs from an Explorer, rebuilt the pack with a couple extra leafs, then added a set of chevy drop shackles. Took my list of compressed and extended shock requirements to the local auto parts store and put them to work finding me a set of shocks. $93 later I had four shocks that required only minor modification to work. It's not a perfect setup, but it was a cheap way to get things done.

Then I replaced the bodymounts and added a 2" body lift, made things much easier to work on.

 

[96RedRanger]

How does the drop bracket put a hole in the dif???

 

[marlow3000]

because the bracket is literally about 2 inches from the diff so when it flexes all of two inches it smacks the diff and punctures it. ask me how i know...