Drag Racing with I-beams?

[Maritime Drag Racing]

Anyone have any ideas on how to loosen up the front I-beams so they move more easily and maybe get a little more travel? Right now we've got Lakewood 90/10s and while they have helped some I wonder if I can make the front suspension work a little better. Moroso doesn't make "trick springs" specifically for a Ranger so I was wondering what else may fit"

 

[Blmpkn]

Coilsprings.com can wind you up whatever sort of custom spring you want them to, all they need is a stock part # for reference, and what you're looking for.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Heim-joint rod ends instead of bushings on beam and radius arm ends.

 

[19Walt93]

Don't forget the radius arm bushings, too, they restrict travel as well. Is a Mustang II based IFS from one of the street rod guys in your budget?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I should have been more specific when I said arm ends. I fixed it...thanks.

 

[Curious Hound]

Longer radius arms would also help. But replacing bushi gs with heim joints, as mentioned above, should really free up some motion.

 

[racsan]

If you just made it a single beam axle wouldnt it weigh less? Im not aware of the rules but Im sure Ive seen some drag cars with a straight beam axle before. Not sure if they used leaf springs or coils, Im thinking leaves for some reason.

 

[JoshT]

1983-1997 Ford Ranger Front Coilover Mounts

1983-1997 Ford Ranger Front Coil-Over mounts for 2wd Ford Rangers. Both upper and lower brackets bolt into place. CNC Fiber Laser cut and CNC Formed from 1/4" steel. Choose the coil-over you want for your desired ride height but also fully adjustable by using one of the 5 mounting holes. From a...

ricksrangerz.com

Coil over conversion with coil overs speced to get you what you need? Would probably need to be done with the afore mentioned joints. <Edit: I should probagbly mention that is for stock/lowered Rangers, just in case you aren't familiar with the website.>

Honestly I think I'd be scared of the steering if I got too much suspension travel when lifting the wheels off the ground. I'd be scared of steering geometery being off when they touched the ground and it putting me into a wall. The Pre-runners can get away with it, but they modify the sterring to account for the added travel. Also the surface they land on is a lot more forgiving than asphalt and there is a lot less hard stuff to hit if something went wrong (IE: cactus instead of a barrier wall).

 

[scotts90ranger]

The steering while going in a straight line with droop should be fine, the stock linkage isn't that bad, he's not going for 18" of travel, just want's more than the 6" he has now, with longer radius arms it should be even better than it is now...

Pretty much you would want a progressive coil up front so you can get some droop with the soft rate spring that is compressed at ride height so it can unload, but you also need shocks that are long enough to allow the travel you want, stock are fairly short and I'm not sure if that's not what you are running into...

 

[Blmpkn]

Idk how much a progressive coil would really help in a drag application. It would probably make suspension tuning a pita.

 

[JOLENE_THE_RANGER]

longer radius arms and adding heims to them is the key. the bushings in the beams are fine i had 17" of wheel travel with extended beams on stock bushings.
you can center mount the radius arms under the trans to avoid the caster angle change throughout the travel since beams with frame mounted radius arms see alot of change there.
since youre redoing radius arms anyways id add alot more caster to the set up to help you stay straight down the line.
also tunable coil overs would be a good option to mount to the beams

 

[stmitch]

By the time you make custom arms and do custom coilovers, you could just get the AJE foxbody k member kit. It would take weight off the front end, give you rack and pinion steering, and make pretty much the entire Foxbody/SN95/New Edge suspension, brake and engine mount aftermarkets available to you.

 

[19Walt93]

By the time you make custom arms and do custom coilovers, you could just get the AJE foxbody k member kit. It would take weight off the front end, give you rack and pinion steering, and make pretty much the entire Foxbody/SN95/New Edge suspension, brake and engine mount aftermarkets available to you.

We have a winner- and as a bonus the fox suspension won't have severe bump steer.

 

[JOLENE_THE_RANGER]

beams dont have bump steer if you build the steering right...

 

[dvdswan]

What about a straight axle like gassers have.