Creating Drop Brackets

[aflo39]

Im hopin some one could help me out wit creating my own drop brackets. I have mastercam at my work to draw up the prints and then cut wit a cnc mill or a plasma i just need some help and advice from some body who know a little bit more on this subjct before i start FS UP. i have a 94 4x4 ext ranger

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

What do you need? I'm no expert but I'll help if I can.
Richard

 

[4x4junkie]

Maybe this might help:

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Summer2003/DesignYourOwnLiftBrackets.htm

Joel goes by the name CopyKat on the forum here, if you need to contact him.

 

[aflo39]

well richard i really just would like to talk wit someone who has done this before cause i dont think its hard i just need a little help to get going. if u have any idea help me out. like how thick material and if its even worth my time or just buy a lift? thanks

 

[spdcrazy]

generally speaking, its more cost effective to buy a lift. but if have the skill, time and patience, it could be a fun project and save you money. just depends on how much your time is worth.

if you do some shopping around, you can piece together a good lift for cheaper than the junk "rough/tough country" lifts go for on ebay.

 

[aflo39]

iv been slowing getting things ready and the onlyy thing iv had problems wit are the axle pivot brackets

 

[4x4junkie]

Typically if someone is custom-building a suspension for their truck, I normally still suggest they buy a set of good sturdy axle brackets from a reputable manufacturer (such as Skyjacker) as it seems this is the easier way to do it due to their asymmetric nature and that of the axle mounting arrangement. The entire rest of the suspension (radius arms, coils/coil mounts/shock mounts/coilovers, steering, etc.) can then be built around those brackets with relative ease.

To answer your Q about bracket material thickness, typically 3/16" CR plate is used in the aftermarket, and occasionally even 1/4". Some companies cast their bracket for the passengerside beam (much like how the factory piece is, just longer & thicker).

 

[aflo39]

thanks 4x4junkie. this web site is full of helpful info and helpful people. if i ever get this built ill post pics. thank to the ranger staion and everyone here

 

[4x4junkie]

Glad to help. Yes, please do post pics when you get this going, I'd love to see it

Good luck on it.

 

[aflo39]

this might be dumb but iv been gettin into wit a lot of people who think they know everthing but lifting truck. so im going to ask yall cause i trust yall. am i going to have to create drop brackts for the radius arms or just move them back about a foot or more? i saw some cool pic of homemade ones and i really figard that was all i need

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've not done this yet but I think dropping the rad arm bracket down is to keep the caster within spec when extending factory arms. I would try keeping the brackets as high as possible when building my own by building in the necessary caster into the arms. There seems to be some fudge factor built in from the factory and you can use adjustable camber/caster bushings to fix small misalignment's. I'm still brooding on building a jig so I have repeatable arm builds.

12" seems to be the measurement to end the arm just in front of the trans cross member and 15" when incorporating the arm bracket INTO the trans crossmember.

Again, i have no hands on experience yet, just been researching here and other forums for my short course off road race truck.

4x4junkie would be the authority on this stuff so listen to what he has to say as well as researching others' thoughts.

Hope I helped,
Richard

 

[4x4junkie]

Yeah you got it

By building some caster into the arm itself, you can avoid having to drop the frame bracket down a bunch.

Keeping the arm at the axle horizontal, angle the tube you're using to extend them upward.

 

[aflo39]

do u think anybody could help me get ahold of copykat or help wit a litte advice of the axle pivot brackets! plz im a little stuck

 

[bobbywalter]

rrorc.com.......hasnt been banned from there yet i assume from the post date you found em though

 

[whissiswheelin]

Drop bracket fabrication

I used the same idea as the other guy to make mine exept i didnt use software just a cardboard templet took me about an hour and a half to cut and form after they were drawn up should fit my ranger pretty good. Pics are in my profile.