Front suspension options

[devinhal]

I have a 1999 ranger and am trying to lift the front. I have already cranked the t bars and it wasn't enough. I do a fair amount of technical wheeling but this is my daily driver. I was wondering if there were any good kits to remove the t bars and replace them with coil-overs. Any of your thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[bcost882]

RCD had a 6in lift but was discontinued. that replaced them with coilovers. If you are patient you should be able to find one otherwise the only option is SAS or the super lift for your year of truck

 

[devinhal]

Thanks for the info. I heard that there might me a kit strictly for the front that puts in coils. I already have the rear lifted but the front is way behind. I also am a college student so i don't have the money for the sas unfortunately.

 

[JohnnyO]

Coil-overs by themselves won't give you much lift because the geometry and attachment points are still the same. You will gain some extra ground clearance from removing the torsion bars.

 

[devinhal]

What about the Dixon Brothers kit... is it worth the $ or is it way over priced

 

[JohnnyO]

What about the Dixon Brothers kit... is it worth the $ or is it way over priced

Yes but if you're a poor college student and don't have the money for an SAS, then you don't have the money for the Dixon Bros. kit either. Actually it will probably cost more. You DO get a pretty much reengineered and totally new and much stronger front suspension but it costs a crapload of money. It is possible to mix coil-overs with the Superlift diff drop brackets and knuckles in order to remove the t-bars and still get a lift without buggering the halfshafts. Dude on the Sport Trac boards has done this.

 

[devinhal]

Ok thanks for the info. I have just started working on my truck and I am still raw to the aftermarket wheelin scene. This is what I have done so far. I have lifted the back and rebuilt the bumper since this picture, I will post some newer pictures asap.

 

[JohnnyO]

A lift isn't totally necessary to go wheelin'. Good tires and a limited-slip rear will do you far more good than a lift. I had a stock '02 Off-Road with just a torsion lift and it would climb trees.

 

[devinhal]

ok..I do have one question though.. I have both tortion bars cranked to the max and my driver's side is 3'' lower. Does that mean that the tortion bar is warn out or is something else goin on?

 

[The_Dealer]

coilovers will give u lift, it depends on how long they are and how u have them set up, and spring rating. ive seen coilover kits(the good ones, fox, SAW, king, etc.) that come with the mounting tabs from www.offroadwharehouse.com people use them with the superlift and RCD brackets. u could piece together a kit if u can find someone going SAS

 

[The_Dealer]

ok..I do have one question though.. I have both tortion bars cranked to the max and my driver's side is 3'' lower. Does that mean that the tortion bar is warn out or is something else goin on?

no, u can uncrank the side thats higher, welcome to the ranger lean. also max crank rides like ass, stock shocks are too short, and UBJ and LBJ's will be dead in no time. if u are going to run it like that buy some BTF upper uniball a-arms (search dezertrangers.com or google btf fab) really high quality stuff, and it will help from killing your front end. also reccomend heim steering because of the extreme angles

 

[legoms013]

coilovers will give u lift, it depends on how long they are and how u have them set up, and spring rating. ive seen coilover kits(the good ones, fox, SAW, king, etc.) that come with the mounting tabs from www.offroadwharehouse.com people use them with the superlift and RCD brackets. u could piece together a kit if u can find someone going SAS

They will only give you lift if you order longer ones than what will fit in their stock and ALSO buy drop brackets that allow the suspension to be positioned down lower (used in conjunction with longer coil-overs, this it how you will achieve lift). Longer coil-overs won't necessarily provide lift, max lift they could provide within stock suspension components would be the same amount of lift accomplished by cranking your torsion bars, assuming that you ordered the correct length coil-over. Lifting ain't cheap on a-arm/torsion setup rangers. Coil-overs and brackets plus misc. parts is gonna cost a mint.

If I were you I'd crank the t-bars, do a 2 or 3 inch body lift, beltech shackles, good Bilstein 5125 shocks and 33x10.5 tires as well as Powertrax lockers front and rear. Then re-gear. With that setup the truck will go most places you will ever need to go (minus maybe the Rubicon or Fordyce caliber trails unless you did a doubler and hacked a bunch of sheet metal).

Also Ranger lean is never a full 3 inches, the original poster must have a shot t-bar or something else.

 

[devinhal]

ok thanks for the info guys, it helped out a bunch. I won't be able to do anything for a few months on acount of college and the lack of $$. But when I get the money I think I will do a major overhaul and redo the front and replace the t-bars with coil-overs.

 

[JohnnyO]

ok..I do have one question though.. I have both tortion bars cranked to the max and my driver's side is 3'' lower. Does that mean that the tortion bar is warn out or is something else goin on?

Torsion bars shouldn't be cranked more than 1.5", 2.0" max, over stock because you lose all the downtravel.
It's possible you have some cracked leaves in the rear springs, that would cause the left side to be lower. Although many Rangers lean to the left because that's where the gas tank is and it just wears out the springs and t-bars after a while unless you have a 300 lb. bud named Bubba who is always in the passenger seat to keep it even.
Regardless, you have to crank the bars so that the truck is level. If one bolt is maxed out and the other is not and the truck is level side to side, that is normal. If you crank them both all the way and the truck is not level side to side, that is normal.
Bottom line, late-models are cheap to lift a little and expensive to lift a lot.
Maxing the t-bars out is a bad idea. Just go 1.5" over stock, put on a body lift, get a rear locker, and call it good.

 

[strvger]

^^ x2. best bang for the buck when it comes to lifting your truck... imho.