Leveling 4 cylinder (depressing)

[2OOL]

I don't spend a lot of time here, wish I did. I have spent time looking for an answer, but found none...but I bet it has been beaten to death on here. I apologize.

I am 33, and recently divorced. Dead broke. My ex wife is my boss at work, her Dad owns the business, and life is miserable. Even worse than it sounds. Please give a guy a break.

I won $2400 at the Indian casino today. It is the first ray of hope in many, many years. Most will go to bills and the ex, but I spent $250 of some EDGE wheels and tires, used, tonight, and I am so stoked to get rid of the ugly steels I had.

On to my question. I want to level the truck. A 2005 single cab little 4 cylinder. I see I can get a spring kit, a spring/shock kit, a "spacer" kit...etc. I don't have much to spend, seriously even with the winnings. $100-200 would be so very cool. What do I do?

Are shocks needed with a 2-3 inch spring kit? What do I want- 2 or 3 inch lift? Is alignment an issue once I do this? Are the spacers as bad an idea as I think they may be?

This truck will not be off-roaded, hell I drive 100 miles a month at most...only on-road.

I very much appreciate all your time and your reading this. It has been an excruciating past few years, and this is all I have right now.

Roy

 

[Monty35]

Its worth a shot to see if you have any factory spacer blocks or shackles in the rear suspension, if you dont mind dropping the ass end to level it. It would save you a few bucks, which you could put into the "**** you ex" section of your bank account, and start the progress towards rebuilding everything.

 

[AngryLepercon]

I can't answer any of your questions but I see your going through a ruff time. Chin up man. You will get past it all.

 

[Monty35]

I cant say for sure about the 2005, but on my 88 ranger a 2" lift was enough for my (very trusted, not money grabbing) mechanic to highly suggest I tossed on some longer shocks. Cheapest route if you want to raise the front is to grab spacer blocks, and if needed a pair of shocks.

 

[dogboy]

Dude.. If you are talking about the 05 in your profile, leveling it would be free....

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/TorsionBar.html

You will lose downward travel if you crank them all the way, but if all you are looking to do is level it, then you're fine.

I didn't look very hard, but I could sworn I saw a different link a while ago in the tech library. I'd just go to the tech library and look for more info, or just try searching for torsion bar crank/ cranking.



EDIT: Wait, nevermind... I was thinking of a 4wd, sorry...

For the coils, as long as the spacer goes UNDER the coil, then you're fine. DO NOT get the ones that go IN the coil, The are dangerous and not a good idea, I'd never use them.

I don't know how the IFS reacts to leveling/ lifting, but I know with the TTB/TIB front suspension, you would need an alignment. Somedody else would have to answer about your suspension though.

 

[2OOL]

Ah, but it is not a torsion truck...

Not sure what the differences are, but this truck has springs, coil springs to be exact. I wish it had torsions, and everyone tells me they wish theirs were coils, but this is how it is.

The guy I bought the rims/tires from has a 05 Edge, and it is a torsion truck, but mine is definitely an 05, and most certainly has coils.

Thanks for the time and information!

Roy

 

[Shran]

You can get some washers and weld them together to build coil spacers. There is an article about it in the tech library. I'd not go over 1-1.5 inches with them though.

Sorry to hear about the ex troubles man...I'm currently going through some with mine too..it blows to say the least. But I guess it always gets better with time.

 

[dogboy]

Yeah, sorry abotu that, I noticed that afetr I had posted that post..

I went back and changed it, don't knwo if you saw that (between the time that I posted and you posted).

If the washer method works for the new 2wd suspension, I'd say go for that! I did it to my '93, and it was less than 20 bucks for everything.
I'd look into that method.

 

[MAKG]

No, not free.

You forgot the alignment. And the shock absorbers (maxing them is not good).

I strongly recommend against "levelling" the truck for several reasons. Foremost is that people simply don't understand how that affects alignment. You can very easily wreck $100+ tires.

Secondly, your handling will suck.

Thirdly, if you put anything in the bed (remember, this is a TRUCK) or on the tow hitch, you're going to drag your ass around like a dog with worms.

If you want a car, you should have bought a car. The rake is a GOOD thing for a truck.

You're on a serious budget. The last thing you want to do is screw up your only ride.

 

[Earl43P]

^^^^Solid advice, right there^^^^