ideas for 2WD suspension lift(IFS)

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

hey im planning on lifting a bit my 2WD, it s a 99, so it has IFS.
im planning to do this custom fabricated
im planning to fab the rear blocks, but my issue is with the IFS...
has anyone fabbed a sort of lift for the front end??
do F-150 springs fit there? and if they do fit how much lift they give?
im going custom fab, im not gonna do it "kit way" cuz its to expensive, and i wanna be proud of my build
if someone havs ideas let me know please! oo and post pics if available
also i would like to see pics of the 2Wd lift kits u use, to see if i can fab the front end parts. By the way im going lifted just for the looks, the biggest tire im possibly fitting is 235/75, i just wanna see it a bit taller
i was thinking on some coil spacers, but i want some input first
thanks!
RSH

 

[BlackBII]

How much lift are you looking for?

You can't too far before you start some serious fab work...

235/75? You could get those stock...maybe a body lift.

Personally, I'd go with a spindle kit and a small body lift.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

yeah i know the tires fit stock, they will give a bit of clearance too, im planning to go 1"-1 1/2", nto to high, i just want a bit higher stance, say like near to the stock 4x4.
cant get kits, too expensive for this area, shippings will kill me, i preffer susp lift than body, which one is easier anyway?

 

[BlackBII]

Body lift is definitely easier. They are simply spacers between the body and frame.

You can get 2.5" lift coils for the front, but I have no idea if new upper a-arms and or alignment bushings are required..I'm a 4wd guy.

The rear is easy, just and add-a-leaf/shackles

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

what has to be taken out for body lift??, i mean do i have to strip the cabs floor?
yeah the rear end is easy, i have an idea for it, its the front that has me thinking
i was planning to do some coil spacers on the coil base/mounting, but i dont know if that would mess the alignment.

 

[Slim]

hey im planning on lifting a bit my 2WD, it s a 99, so it has IFS.

Just a friendly FYI ..... IFS stands for Independent Front Suspension. Rangers with twin beams have that, too. Not to make your upper and lower control arm set up seem less special of course.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

yeah i know, but i saw on another thread that they were moslty known as ttb and ifs setups
any idea for the lift??

 

[Slim]

yeah i know, but i saw on another thread that they were moslty known as ttb and ifs setups
any idea for the lift??

I figured as much. I just wanted to educate you so you look smarter than those other flex jockeys.

As for the lift - i'm more of a TTB/TIB guy, so i'm rusty with the ULA (Upper/Lower Arm) trucks, but i'll back up BlackBII in that a body lift would be much easier. If you think you can fab us something for suspension than fabing up a custom body lift kit is a walk in the park, comparatively speaking.

From what I read so far it appears you want a mildly lifted 4x4 look, primarily for looks. I'd say go with the 235/75 and a custom made 2" body lift and call it done. Fast, easy, effective. Some 3" diameter pipe, plate and longer bolts and you're on your way to looking cool and picking up mall bunnies.


With regards to doing the body lift - you only need to get to the bolts in the back of the cab for the interior portion of the install. The rest of the bolts are outside of the cab (under the hood, under the truck and in the bed). Expect some to break.

More info here from TRS's Technical Library .....

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/bodymount_lift.htm

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/1998_BodyLift.html

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

I figured as much. I just wanted to educate you so you look smarter than those other flex jockeys.

As for the lift - i'm more of a TTB/TIB guy, so i'm rusty with the ULA (Upper/Lower Arm) trucks, but i'll back up BlackBII in that a body lift would be much easier. If you think you can fab us something for suspension than fabing up a custom body lift kit is a walk in the park, comparatively speaking.

From what I read so far it appears you want a mildly lifted 4x4 look, primarily for looks. I'd say go with the 235/75 and a custom made 2" body lift and call it done. Fast, easy, effective. Some 3" diameter pipe, plate and longer bolts and you're on your way to looking cool and picking up mall bunnies.


With regards to doing the body lift - you only need to get to the bolts in the back of the cab for the interior portion of the install. The rest of the bolts are outside of the cab (under the hood, under the truck and in the bed). Expect some to break.

More info here from TRS's Technical Library .....

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/bodymount_lift.htm

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/1998_BodyLift.html

thanks for the education
i learn something new everyday, and i thought a bodylift was harder, so yeah i might try that one, cuz the susp lift is gettin a bit tricky for the front end.
im gonna read the info u posted to get to know the bl, seems like the only trick is to raise the bumpers to fit properly, right? and with a 1" or 2" bl, i dont need any extensions? for steering, gearbox or electric harness?
again thanks alot for the info!
more opinions are welcome

EDIT: yeah im doing this mostly for the look not really doing any off road, i just drive on some dirt roads, no big deal

 

[Slim]

The "only trick" depends on the condition of what you'll need to mess around with on your truck. If your mount bolts are rusty anticipate that they might break. While this might not seem like a big deal, because you'll need to replace them with longer bolts anyway, the big pita comes with removing what is left over.

*****Don't think a body lift will be easy!*****

If the cab mount bushings are crusty you might need to show them who's boss ..... and then buy more.

You might find some rust you didn't know was there turning your "easy project" into a small nightmare.

Do some research, search here on TRS for horror stories and learn from others' mistakes and surprises. (i'm telling you to go through your truck now and look at all this stuff in advance so you have half a clue what you might run into )

Making the stuff is easy. It's installing it that can be a pitfa.

As for the bumpers - you mentioned you'd be fabricating everything, so there shouldn't be any "trick" at all with the bumper mounts. Make a template measure twice/cut once, and get 'er done.


Other things to do -

- post a pic in the Photoshop section here and ask someone to do a 2" body lift and see if you like the look. Maybe you'll want more, maybe not.

- search for horror stories. Look, listen (read) and learn.

- look in the Wheels and Tires section at the picture thread (but realize that most of the trucks you'll see will have 31" + tires).


S'all I got I think.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

well i did a lil research, and for what i see its kinda more difficult, cuz ill have to mess with the steering, gear shifter and mostly heavier stuff(the cab), dont know, but seems to me that is easier to find the way to lift the front suspension, assuming that i have the rear end covered, im planning to fab my own type of 4x4blocks there, not gonna be blocks but will work.
my only shot is to measure if i can add spacers to the coil mounts. maybe ill add em to test if they work ok. im gonna talk to my cousin to see when we can try it.
thanks for the imput guys, and still open to some more opinions!

 

[Dep. Ranger]

Thought I might add my two cents. I own a 99 5sp 3.0L. I did a 3'' Body Lift to mine about 4 months ago. I am still running p235s until I get my 31s. I bought a performance accessories 3'' BL with the #3700 gear shift extender. The kit ran $220 from StreetSideAuto.com The kit was pretty easy to install. I did alot of research on here before I even decided to buy the kit. I would recommend finding all of your mounting bolts and spraying them with some greasing and then break them lose and tighten them back up untill you are ready. The Lift made a huge difference to the truck as far as cosmetics. I am thinking about lifting it a little higher, but thats in the far future.

I will post the link to the pictures on here, just give me a minute.

 

[Dep. Ranger]

Here are some recent pics of it. Just scroll down the page.

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58121

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

thanks dep. ranger! i saw that post, i was the first to reply lol!! i really like the look of your truck, but i cant get a body or suspension lift kit, too expensive for me over here, so im going the hard way, custom fabbing what i may need, i like the body lift idea, but i dont know how much i can get without messing with steering and trans extenders. i must take some time to see if i can do some sort of spacers for the front springs,some guys said that body lift is easier, but i think its harder imo, cuz its even more stuff involved than just adding blocks to the rear, and doing some stuff for the front, so im goin suspension, im gonna try to talk to somebody about the spring spacer im planning to do
thanks for the input, and still welcome to any ideas!

 

[JuJu1289]

You make a suspension lift sound like a piece of cake. Yea the rear end is a piece of cake but the front is a different story(atleast on my 87). Mostly becuase of all the rivets holding the a-arms and ibeam. Took me about 14 hours with 3 guys all togeather. The only thing that kills me about the body lift is how you can see between the rail and body, but you can cover that up with gap guards or something simple.