Lifting my 94 Splash

[dhinch279]

Well I have been collecting parts since February 2009 and I FINALLY got the last few pieces that I needed. I have Superlift 5.5" lift brackets and coils, Skyjacker shocks, explorer rear leaves and Belltech 6400 Shackles and many other parts that you will see as I go along(the only thing I know that I need is an extended driveshaft, in case anyone would like to donate one, PM me). I worked yesterday from 5pm until about 11pm then got up and was working by 6am(I'm sure my neighbors loved the sound of a grinder against rusty old rivets at 6am).

If have limited tools and even less knowledge about lifting any trucks, but I am bound and determined to do it. I got every bit of information on how to lift my ranger from TRS, so I have to give any credit to Jim and the guys on this forum. If you guys see anything that raises a red flag be sure to let me know, because sometimes me and common sense don't always get along.

I have already taken a ton of pics and I will post them up later tonight.

But here is a before shot of my truck(It was just in the for sale section, but I changed my mind):

Here are the tires that I had laying around, hopefully they fit. They are Super Swamper TSL's 33x15.5x15 on Eagle alloy wheels. I also am working on getting a set of 31x10.5x15 All-Terrain's for my daily driving.

 

[Bennybooster]

Its gunna be sick

 

[dhinch279]

Well I was up til 11pm again last night trying to get the new lift parts on. It's 6:15am right now and it is taking FOREVER for the 20 pics to download so I can let you guys see what I have gotten done

 

[dhinch279]

Well here is the first picture after I took the tire and hub off... I was thinkin, " how the heck do you spin the big 2 3/8 nut off??!! It wont budge!" well a quick run inside and search on TRS and I figured out that you have to use a magnet to get that little pin out, well I tried and tried but to no avail.

I had to hammer it through and somehow I broke the little pin, so I am not sure what the do about that. It is still 80% intact, so I may just put it back in unless I hear otherwise from you guys

You can't see it but I was crying in this picture, I had to cut my old coil springs off because after 2 broken extensions and one very busted knuckle(ok, maybe 2). I decided not to save the old coil springs, it was a tough decision but it had to be done.

Sometimes, it helps to be rusty(not usually though). As I was removing the nut on top of my old worn out shocks, the stud snapped and save me some time on that(it did it on both sides) luckily I am not reusing the old shock or I wouldn't be so happy

Also while I was in there, I needed new ball joints, thats actually the whole reason for the teardown. It wouldn't pass Missouri state safety inspection, so I though "eh, why not put the lift on while I have the front end apart, it can't be that much harder right?"
The knuckle completely off

The old rusty upper ball joint without a big C clip in it!!! It must have rusted off!!! kind of scary

As the Tech Article states, "The Fruit of my Labor"

At 6am, this is the most important tool a man can have... a large cup of Coffee:

Well, its about 6:40am now, and I have to be going to work, I will post up some more pics when I get home, but I will at least post up the more important pic right now:

I at least got some of the lift brackets on last night

 

[dhinch279]

Well, I haven't been able to do any work today, I had to go to a "budget" meeting at work and it lasted all day... those are fun.

Anyway, here are some more pics that I didn't have time to post this morning.

Here is after I got the rear brackets loose after I got the rivets grinded off and punched through.

One thing that I didn't think about... when you have the axle out and a rag loosely stuffed in there to keep dust out, when you lower the arm it may keep dust out but it won't keep the gear oil in

 

[t0x1k]

Looking good.

 

[nate09]

put some manual locking hubs on there while youre at it.

 

[dhinch279]

They are on the way, I just ordered some Warn Manual locking hubs from another member on TRS. They should be here any day now. I also have a manual T-Case and the shifter linkage, but I will be waiting to put that in when I find a 1 piece driveshaft

 

[freerider6_9]

Looks like its coming along good, Just curious why you think its so dangerous that there wasnt a snap ring? Its really not a "needed" absolutly must be there part. Think about it this way, They are pressed in, and you have the weight of the vehicle holding it in and the trie pushing up on it.

 

[dhinch279]

That is a good point, I hadn't really thought about it that closely. You would also have to lose the lower ball joint nut in order for the whole knuckle to drop off.

 

[dhinch279]

OK, I worked on it a good part of Sunday, and I got a little further. First I will show you the stock brackets compared to the Superlift brackets. Its funny how small they look in comparison to the new brackets

Here is the drivers side arm drop bracket on after I battles with the rusty bolts:

after all that work, I went in and told my wife that I should be at a stopping point in about an hour, which should be about an hour, just in time for some dinner(and my wife is a pretty good cook). , then out of nowhere I see this next bracket, that somehow, I NEVER EVER even looked at the whole time I was under the truck... What did I see.... ************ MACK DADDY RIVETS!!!! These weren't just ordinary rivets either, these were the inbred mutant hulk hogan of rivets. They were huge

And this is the only thing that I had that would get the rivets off, a $10 Harbor Freight special, but it worked just fine, it just took about 10-15 minutes a rivet.

Here is the new bracket after I just put it on. If you notice the old bracket went behind the frame bracket, and the superlift bracket bolts onto the front of the frame bracket.

Here is the new spring held in place. the suspension is dropped to as low as it will go, but the new spring won't slide in very easy, I will need a spring compressor, and I have read on here in several places that a spring compressor normally isn't needed. Do I need to use one or is there another trick that I don't know about?
is that the right spring? because I bought this lift kit used from another member on here.

Finally, I got to a good stopping point and quit for the night, as you can see I really like to clean up the garage before I leave, because I like to have plenty of work space at all times

 

[john93rangerstx]

nice

 

[dhinch279]

I can't believe it, I went to pull the 33" TSL's out of my grandpa's barn (that's where I have been storing them for a loooonnng time), and lo and behold, I found 2 boxes of 3.73 gears, for the front and rearend, that came out of a ranger I had 6 or 7 years ago. I totally forgot about them. My truck right now has 3.27 factory gears, so I don't know whether to keep the gears and use them or to sell them and get 4.56 or 4.88 gears

 

[Bennybooster]

I would run 4.88s for the torque

 

[dhinch279]

I am really leaning toward the 4.88's. The only reason I am not dead set on them is because some lockers only work with 4.56's and down(at least according to the ones in TRS Fab & Offroad)

Well, I am just now getting in from the garage. I got quite a bit done tonight. Everything is back together except the pitman arm and the new extended brake lines, oh and my rotors because Autozone gave me the wrong wheel bearing seals and by the time I figured it out they were closed.

I will try to post pics up tomorrow of the progress... Does anyone know how the Skyjacker extended brake lines connect? It doesn't seem blatantly obvious to me, at least not on the driver's side. Connected to the brake line that goes to the caliper is a "Y - Pipe" looking fitting, so if I remove that than there is nothing for the new extended line to screw into. I still need to do more searching around on TRS, but if anyone knows right off hand it would be fantastic if you could clue me in.

PS- There were NO directions with this used lift kit, so I am like a kid with a big puzzle, and I was never really good at puzzles.