Lift kits

[04rangerman]

Ok, So I've read all your forums about lift kits and what not. Currently I have a 3'' lift on my 2004 Ford ranger 4x4 Supercab V6 4.0L. The lift consist of new torsion keys and 3'' rear blocks under the leaf springs, that's it. I can't really find a 6'' anywhere but I do know 3+3=6. Using a body Lift, but I hear so many bad things about the body lifts out there, they make the ride stiffer and harder, disables alot of the towing mechanisms on the vehicle such as the tow hooks. So coming from you guys I want opinions on everything. I'm thinking about getting a 3'' body lift to add to the 3'' already on it. BUT what are the real downers from getting the body lift? Yes I do use it off road only has 30'' tires on it right now aswell.

 

[mjonesjr]

If you want a 6" suspension lift, get yourself a Superlift kit. It will give you 4" of lift, but you can still crank the torsion bars to get another 2" out of it.

 

[04rangerman]

I tried cranking them yesterday but was only able to crank the adjusting bolts mabye 6/8'' only on the passenger side. wasn't able to budge the driver's side. yes I had it jacked up aswell. There a certain trick to it?

 

[Fx4wannabe01]

Whyyyy do people fall for torsion keys??? Soon we'll be seeing 'whats the noise coming from my front end?' threads. Or the 'I was out wheeling and was in 4lo and i blew up my CV shafts!' threads.


Anywho....there's no real downside to bodylifts in my opinion. Diables towing items? Do you tow with your front hooks? You can always cut your valence to clear the hooks...or do what I did, add a front hitch for a MUCH MUCH MUCH better way to get tugged out compared to those dinky hooks on a dinky crossmember. Do you tow with your bumper ball? That's just stupid right there and certainly not a recovery point...a REAL frame mounted hitch is though. All the bad hype from bodylifts are coming from people who aren't familiar with these days bodylifts that use really high quality high grade reinforced nylon plastic. The kits are pretty darn good quality kits and totally worth the little $150-200 investment and 3". No real downsides aside from the thin front bumper brackets that like to bend and the hitch and exhaust that hang down 3" away from the body. If you get shackles, you can't run tight body hugging after axle exhaust tips.

Only 30's on a pretty much way cranked truck? gross! lol. I use my truck on the trails quite frequently in the past being double lifted(sus lift and body lift) and have had no issues whatsoever in regards to either lift kit. Torsion bar drop brackets hang a little low, but that's getting cured soon.


But if you're stuck getting a suspension lift, get a 4" superlift. With stock keys(ones that wont require new balljoints every year because some members like to max their bars out) can actually be taller than the 5" RCD coil-over lift. Oh...those are your only suspension options and the RCD is not in production anymore.

 

[Fx4wannabe01]

I tried cranking them yesterday but was only able to crank the adjusting bolts mabye 6/8'' only on the passenger side. wasn't able to budge the driver's side. yes I had it jacked up aswell. There a certain trick to it?

Well...is the driverside bolt all the way in? take a flashlight and look at it. If the bottom of the bolt head is against the 'torsion keeper plate' thingy, then you are maxed out. But if there's threads showing between the underside of the bolt head and the 'nut' of that plate, then you've got cranking room left.

Remember...driverside is always cranked more than the passenger side even from the factory....takes away the 'Ranger lean'.

 

[04rangerman]

Well torsion keys weren't that much bigger from my stocks. I still have about an inch of thread on my bolts. Guess I wasn't very clear. lol. No I don't use my bumber to tow I have a reciver hitch. I don't tow with my front hooks just tend to get stuck cause I'm a wild child that always goes balls out. I don't want to cut anything on my valence though, so I guess I jsut might be looking at a front hitch. Well the tires are 245/75 on 16. Look pretty nice on it now. I don't want to max everything out to where I have to replace everything. I still want an alright ride not rough of terribly stiff. Plus I still want decent gas mileage. I get about 20-22 mpg now.

 

[04rangerman]

So what I really should do is get the stock keys back put them on and get the superlift 4'' then either crank the bars to get 2'' out of them or just go ahead and get the 3 inch body?

 

[04rangerman]

Well...is the driverside bolt all the way in? take a flashlight and look at it. If the bottom of the bolt head is against the 'torsion keeper plate' thingy, then you are maxed out. But if there's threads showing between the underside of the bolt head and the 'nut' of that plate, then you've got cranking room left.

Remember...driverside is always cranked more than the passenger side even from the factory....takes away the 'Ranger lean'.

Yeha I still have about an inch left on both sides. Just wasn't able to turn them at all. Mabye I was being a pussy about it. idk

 

[Fx4wannabe01]

ohhh...mkay. Btw....the keys you put in are exactly like stock in size and shape, except where the torsion bar slides into the key, it's rotated a few degrees making the torsion bar twist more andin turn pivot the lower control arm, thus creating lift. Same thing cranking the bars does....twist the bar to provide lift.

The one good thing I have to say about keys....is that they let you use your worn out sagging torsion bars because you can put more twist on them and put it back to a decent height because of all that new adjustability because of the rotation of that bar.

Lifting a truck and wanting good mileage is dumb. You shouldn't really care other than trying to get the best out of what you've got. You are VERY lucky seeing the numbers that your seeing...I NEVER saw 19 when I was stock on stock tires and stock gears. I now am seeing about 18 on freeway runs on average, and about 16.5ish with mixed on 8" of lift and 35's with 4.88's. Do you plan on running 30's while being lifted? Remember...you go up, go wide....aka wider wheels with lower backspace and wider tires.

You can run those keys ya...just dont think that you should max 'em out or get anywhere near. Right now with those bolts in as far as they are, you're about at the same equivilent to stock keys being maxed. Lets keep it that way for wear and tear reasons. The superlift requires dropping the bars and keys anyway...so either keep runnin' em or throw the stockers back in.


It's up to you what you wanna do really....I'm not gonna tell you what to do. In my opinion, I like the $200 option compared to the $1500 option with the superlift. Of course...I'm a little biased...I've got a superlift ANd bodylift and on 35's.

 

[04rangerman]

Well I figured the setup I have now adding the body lift would make it alot more unstable then if I was to get the Superlift and the body lift. My bolts def aren't maxed out and highly doubt I'll even get close to maxing them out. I'm pretty buck wild whenever I go mudding aswell. So I really need a good suspension and the factor (that I heard at least) was that putting on a body lift changed your center of gravity making your roll over ratio alot higher. For now I'll keep these 30'' tires on it prob in october when I can afford it I'm getting new rims and tires. cuase after I do this I'm working on getting a sound system.

 

[Toms01PSD]

lol. If you're worried about a body lift doing that then you shouldn't get a suspension lift. Another thing, you may want to put bigger tires on it because that's going to help with your stability. I don't see you getting 22mpg when you lift that sucker and put bigger tires under it either. I'm getting 14 on a good day, and I mainly drive highway. And i'm only on 31's.

 

[Fx4wannabe01]

ummm.....


bodylifts JUST lift the body off the frame, not the drivetrain and frame. Bodylift is MORE stable than suspension lift when it comes to center of gravity.... CG only goes up a whopping 1" or less. Suspension lift is another story though...

Your worried about rolling? lol. Lets see.......go up, go wide. You really should follow that. Those 30's...umm...yeah. no. I assume stock 16" alloys too huh? That setup will roll you faster than a bodylift would. Scour craigslist for used jeep wheel and tire combos....I bought a set of 80% tread 35x12.50 on 15x10 steelies off a jeeper for a whopping $450.