get rid of rake!

[Beergod]

On my 02 ranger 4x4 xlt how much can i lift the front by cranking the tofsion bars to get rid of the built in rake? I am at the garage dropping off my truck with new tires to e put on also. Also how stiff wkll it make my ride when they are done?? Thanx guys!!! You f'n Rock!!

 

[wild horse]

You can probly get about 2 maybe 3 if your lucky , But it will be a stiff ride and will put alot of undo stress on your balljoints wich will make them wear out alot faster and possably break. It's better to buy a cheap leveling kit off ebay.

 

[JoshT]

For starters this isn't really an urgent thread, it should have been posted in the correct suspension forum. If you had searched this topic has been discussed many times.

Wild Horse unfortunately the 02 4x4 isn't like the older trucks that I think you are thinking about. There isn't a cheap ebay kit that works.

Beergod you should be able to level it no problem with torsion twist as long as the back is still stock. It will ride a little harsher as wild horse mentioned, and if you go too far with a twist it could cause bearings and bushings to wear faster. Just leveling shouldn't be a problem.

Also recommend doing the lift yourself, its really not hard to do if you have a floorjack, jackstand and correct size socket. Once you get the weight off the wheel and supported by the frame that bolt is not bad to turn. Do maybe two full turns, drive around a bit to let it settle, repeat if needed.

 

[wild horse]

Lol you are right Josh T ! I forgot that the torson bars act as the spring in the front end but still I have done the same thing alot of times and ended up with broken balljoints among other problems , So to me it's just not worth the trouble when they make new drop keys for what he wants to do and there cheap. ( I've seen for less then a $100 ) But anyways yea I am use to the old style trucks so my bad !

 

[JoshT]

Yes they make LIFT keys, but they don't really help with what you are talking about. If anything they make them more prone to killing ball joints. Lift keys work by indexing the torsion bar. This is a fancy way of saying that they put more pressure/load/twist on the bar at a given bolt setting compared to stock keys. When the bolt on a lift key is threaded all the way out it has more twist on the torsion bar than a stock key in the same situation. Situation is same when the bolts are bottomed out. The Lift key simply lets you twist the bar further and get more lift than a stock key because it starts out with a greater preload. If you adjust a lift key and a stock key to be the same height there will be the exact same loads on the bar but different bolt adjustments. If you adjust both so that the bolt threads match, the lift key will have more load on the bar and truck will sit higher. So if he adjust lift keys to the same height he would have adjusted stock keys he will get the same wear on components. If he adjusts lift keys to the max vs stock keys to max he will get greater wear from the lift keys. Moving any suspension component out of it's natural/designed range of motion will make it wear faster, regardless of what's used to move it there.

Hope that's written easy enough to understand. I'm not the best at explaining stuff.

 

[Beergod]

Thanks fof the help! I put it in this forum because I needed the answef right away. I was dropping the truck off to have my new tires put on and decided that I wouldhave the front end llifted a bit while it was there. Sooo the Goodyear Wrangler Authoritys A/T 265 75/16's look great! Also I went with two inches and the truck is perfectly level. The ride did seem a little stiffer on the way home but I think if I lower the air pressure a bit that will help.

 

[wild horse]

Well good to hear your happy with your new setup ! But I don't think lowering your tire pressure will help much if any at all . And will probly cause your tires to wear uneven but thats just my 2 cents lol .

 

[JoshT]

Agreed, unless your tire store did like mine and over inflated the tires. Still well within the range of the tire, but was much too high for the truck. Bout the only other option is get a set of really good shocks and get used to the new ride, or drop it back down a little. Personally I like the firmer ride. Just FYI the front end will probably settle a little over the next few days/weeks.

 

[Beergod]

Thanx! Well I hope it doesnt settle too much! I have seen the arguments both ways àbou tire pressurs but personAlly I feel that having your pressure closer to the factory recomended level instead of what is suggested on the side of the tire is best, since pressure has more to do with the weight of vehicle as opposed to the size/design of tire. Next on my list is a paint on bed liner then a chip! Can't wait!!

 

[JoshT]

FYI that pressure on the side of the tire isn't a recommended operating pressure. It's a maximum tire pressure, in other words the maximum pressure at which the tire is designed to operate (AKA: go higher it might blow). Tire pressure needs to be matched to the application, which can take a little trial and error. Running too low causes the outer edges to wear fast, too high causes the center to wear fast. That's a topic for regular discussion though. Usually the vehicle recommended pressure is close enough unless it's an extreme change. If the tire store set them to the sidewall pressure definitely drop that pressure down, and say something to the manager or lead tech next time you go in. That's bad shop practice and needs to be fixed.

 

[Surrey]

FYI that pressure on the side of the tire isn't a recommended operating pressure. It's a maximum tire pressure, in other words the maximum pressure at which the tire is designed to operate (AKA: go higher it might blow). Tire pressure needs to be matched to the application, which can take a little trial and error. Running too low causes the outer edges to wear fast, too high causes the center to wear fast. That's a topic for regular discussion though. Usually the vehicle recommended pressure is close enough unless it's an extreme change. If the tire store set them to the sidewall pressure definitely drop that pressure down, and say something to the manager or lead tech next time you go in. That's bad shop practice and needs to be fixed.

They probably didn't set it to whatever the sidewall says. What is more likely is they set all their tire pressures the same (say, 40 psi) I know of at least two major chains that do it that way.

 

[adsm08]

I have things I want to say about the intelligence of certain people posting in this thread, but I have been told to be nicer, so I will keep them to myself.

Don't run your tires lower than the vehicle tag says to, it's not safe.

If the tire shop set your tires to the number on the side wall, find a new place to buy tires.

 

[Tuner710]

Or go old school. Set pressure at vehicle recommendation, find a level straight stretch of pavement, color a bar across the tread with big fat railroad chalk, drive straight a ways until you can see where the color bar is worn off and adjust accordingly. Add air for color left in the center of the tread, air down for no color left in the center. Seems to eliminate the guesswork to it.

 

[JoshT]

I have things I want to say about the intelligence of certain people posting in this thread, but I have been told to be nicer, so I will keep them to myself.

If you've got something to say to/about me then please say it, how else am I going to learn. If it offends me (not likely) I'll get over it or leave (also not likely).

I was wanting this thread to end though which is why I didn't give the further explanation that tuner did.

 

[Beergod]

Thanx for the suggestion Tuner. The shop had put all tires at 40 psi. I lowered the front tires to 34 and the back to 33. Ride is much improved and I don't get the slight vibration I had at abot 72 mph plus (which I thought was just from having knobbier tires). Also it doesn't drift from sideto side like it did when it was overinflated.