SLA vs. IBeams handling / drivability wise?

[rab]

which rangers did you like better for handling/daily driving your sla 98-up ranger or your 83-97 i beam ranger?

I would assume the sla has to be better, but maybe I'm wrong?
if the sla is better how much better would you say the sla was?

I'm asking this cause i have a 83 2wd that i would like to make handle the best i can. I'm weighing my options on what i would really like to do with this project truck. go all out and swap a mustang 2/ or other front suspention in it or maybe just be cheap and swap in a 98-up sla ranger set-up or just leave the beams and see what it can do.

I know this will be a lot of work, but thats not a big deal to me, but if its not that big of a change maybe its not worth my time. your input wouild be appreciated.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Lots of people have made the tib work. But there is a reason you don't see them on serious road race vehicles. If you're serious about handling go sla

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

 

[stmitch]

SLA has better camber curves, and probably less bump steer than beams. It's also lighter, and allows easy use of rack and pinion steering

 

[bobbywalter]

pavement----sla


dirt-- tib.

 

[JoshT]

Having driven both, I don't think that the SLA 98+ is enough of an upgrade to bother with swapping it in. If you want the 98+ SLA get a 98+ truck to build.

If going to the trouble of a suspension swap in a first gen I'd rather go with a non-Ranger suspension. MII would be one choice but it probably isn't the best any longer. I think if I were going to do it I'd have to give serious consideration to the Fox/SN-95 K-member swap offered by AJE. It's a better suspension than TIB, SLA, or MII.

 

[bobbywalter]

Having driven both, I don't think that the SLA 98+ is enough of an upgrade to bother with swapping it in. If you want the 98+ SLA get a 98+ truck to build.

If going to the trouble of a suspension swap in a first gen I'd rather go with a non-Ranger suspension. MII would be one choice but it probably isn't the best any longer. I think if I were going to do it I'd have to give serious consideration to the Fox/SN-95 K-member swap offered by AJE. It's a better suspension than TIB, SLA, or MII.

i can see that, a irs and sla swap would be sweet but require a ton of frame tweaking via boxing and caging to reap the reward.

but holy hell it would be a rail runner...

5 speed manual ecoboost to set it off....


that would be the only way i would consider a 2wd.....still i would likely just use an awd explorer chassis...cause i a a lazy bastard like that

 

[rab]

Having driven both, I don't think that the SLA 98+ is enough of an upgrade to bother with swapping it in. If you want the 98+ SLA get a 98+ truck to build.

Thats the answer i was looking for..

If going to the trouble of a suspension swap in a first gen I'd rather go with a non-Ranger suspension. MII would be one choice but it probably isn't the best any longer. I think if I were going to do it I'd have to give serious consideration to the Fox/SN-95 K-member swap offered by AJE. It's a better suspension than TIB, SLA, or MII.

I think a sla set-up,,, not the ranger one is better then the fox body style suspention.

 

[stmitch]

I think a sla set-up,,, not the ranger one is better then the fox body style suspention.

SLA may be the more desirable suspension geometry option vs the foxbody setup, but the foxbody setup is a really appealing total package that may result in better overall handling.

The biggest advantage of the foxbody k member swap is weight loss. An SLA swap may lose some weight vs beams, but you'd still have big heavy pieces. AJE says their k-member kit will take 260lbs off the front of an I-beam Ranger, which makes a really big difference in front to rear weight distribution. That change in balance, plus the huge Mustang aftermarket of coilovers, etc might mean that you'd end up with bigger net improvement in handling than if you went with a stock style SLA setup.

I'm with JoshT. If I wanted to do a suspension swap on an I-beamer to make it handle, I'd go foxbody k-member with coilovers.

 

[JoshT]

I think a sla set-up,,, not the ranger one is better then the fox body style suspention.

Maybe, if it were already in the vehicle I wouldn't replace it. I was specifically referring to the Ranger's SLA.

The fox/sn95 style suspension was used from 1978 until 2004, then with a few tweaks was used in the s197 until 2014. I don't think there is too much wrong with the design if Ford used it in their performance car for over 35 years.

 

[rab]

I have a couple foxbodys, and yes its a ok suspension with plenty of aftermarket parts.
I wounder how the 03-09 crown vic front suspention/front subframe preforms, I probably can get one pretty cheap and chop/section it to the correct length and iirc it's mostly aluminum

 

[JoshT]

Its too wide for a ranger. You might be able to narrow, but you would also have to modify steering for it. I don't know if I would trust it after cutting and narrowing. Gluing steel back together is one thing, aluminum...

 

[enjr44]

which rangers did you like better for handling/daily driving your sla 98-up ranger or your 83-97 i beam ranger?

I know this will be a lot of work, but thats not a big deal to me, but if its not that big of a change maybe its not worth my time. your input wouild be appreciated.

I will tell you from my experience from owning both that for your original question there is no practical difference. They both do their thing well.

I do think that the sla seems to be a little more steady on the high way above 70 miles per hour. Maybe more precise is what I am trying to say. My 91 and 93 just didn't seem to like the higher speeds like the 02 and 08 do. It was like you had to drive the 91/93; but, you can just sit there and sort of zone out with the newer ones. My 97 was somewhere between. I really know why the 97 was better than the 93 or 91.

 

[stmitch]

If you're looking for handling, and want to do the CVPI swap, forget all of the issues with narrowing the clip, and just widen the body. Use some prerunner front fenders or something to cover the wider track width.

 

[rab]

I found a couple guys who narrowed them, I will post some links after work.
I definitely think the swap is doable for me, but then i might as well upgrade the rear suspension.

 

[JoshT]

If you're looking for handling, and want to do the CVPI swap, forget all of the issues with narrowing the clip, and just widen the body. Use some prerunner front fenders or something to cover the wider track width.

Now that's something I'd consider, if I could find prerunner fenders that wouldn't look like ass on a lowered truck. Wide body ranger might be kinda cool. Wheel wells on those fenders are just too large for it to look right though.