Body lift and hitch problems

[03Shadowbob]

Hey everyone. I had my body lift put on today by a mechanic I know who mostly does Jeeps and fullsizes. My Ranger was the first one he has done but the instructions were pretty straight forward. It is the PA 3" lift and went on my 2002 Edge 4x4.
There were or are a few areas that presented problems that I was hoping you could help me out on.
The first problem is that with the bumper relo kit on the rear, it now doesn't allow the rear hitch to be put on without either having it welded on the frame or heating up the mounting brackets on the hitch and flattening them out a little bit to makeup for the 1/4 inch or so that the bumper relo kit added to the width of the rear frame. Has any one had this problem also? Or did my mechanic just do something wrong?
Here is a pic of that to get an idea.

On the front bumper valance, it is not lining up with the wheel wells either. Not sure why but it doesn't and again I am wondering if he put the bracket in wrong or it's just that way because it's an edge with the fender flares?

I also need to get a new tube that runs from the air intake tube to the tranny housing or somewhere around there because with the lift it added 3" more distance.
Thanks for any help guys.

 

[Chris.S.]

I literally just wondering if a body lift would screw up receiver placement. I'll be watching this thread too see what answers you get.....

Maybe the hitch should be installed first and the bumper brackets on top of it?

For the front, it sounds like maybe the holes on the bracket need to be enlarged to allow some adjustment?


I'm hoping somebody with relevant experience will jump in here...

 

[03Shadowbob]

Iasked the mechanic if he tried that with the hitch and he said he had. I am going to look at it further tonight when I cut out the holes in the valance so I can get my front tow hooks back on

 

[Chris.S.]

That's another thing, the front towpoints. You should snap a pic of the front bumper when you're so I can see how you cut out for them...

 

[03Shadowbob]

I'll do that.
I hope someone has a pic of their rear bumper brackets that came with the PA kit and the hitch brackets so I can tell immediately if mine is wrong.

 

[Chris.S.]

Cool, truck's lookin great btw..

 

[03Shadowbob]

Thanks. I am going to chop the exhaust a bit tomorrow also just to see. If I don't like it then I will just get a new one.

 

[03Shadowbob]

Chris,
I trimmed up my valance to make room for my tow hooks. I will make them nice and neat and you can tell I have totrim about 1/8" off the left side so that it retains it's natural shape. My neighbor also knows an expert welder who is going to handle my hitch and skid plates.

 

[Chris.S.]

That worked out pretty nicely.... I'm glad you put this thread up, you're answering all my questions that I've been curious about! Now I'm felling alot better about tackling this on my own when the time comes...

But still no-one has rung in with an answer to your receiver vs. bumper brackets problem which is pretty important cause there's no tow-point on the rear for ya right now.... (just trying get your thread back on track after I hijacked it...)

 

[Yellowsplash]

You need to remove the rear bumper and install the hitch first. I modified my hitch by drilling the holes exactly 3 inches higher to compensate for the increased height so it remained tucked under the bumper. You will need to use washers to space out the brackets on the bumper side 1/4 inch on each side.

 

[Chris.S.]

Ever get this worked out?

 

[Chris.S.]

??

 

[dangeranger88]

this thread is the CLOSEST i've found to resolving the same problem i'm having... I know this is old but i hope the original poster is still lurking?

 

[jaytp]

Hey! YellowSplash

Post a pic on here of your rear hitch and how you fixed it! Mine is in the stock location and looks like crap!

 

[Frank The Tank]

I'm in the same boat.

Frank