Suspension Wear Items

[runningslow]

I'm planning to lower my 97' 2WD SuperCab in the near future. My plan is to use 3" drop coils and shocks for the front with eccentric bushings and an Explorer axle/leaf springs for the rear.

The truck itself has somewhere in the ballpark of 240k miles on it, so what I'm asking is this: are there any other wear items I should be replacing as I'm doing the drop?

As I drive it now, the ride is extremely bumpy and steering is sloppy... not to mention to the Ranger lean. I want to correct that.

 

[wahlstrom1]

Leaf spring bushings out back, radius arm and pivot bushings up front. Check all your steering and replace anything that has play. Gonna need shocks too, but that should cover most things as far as tightening up the ride.

 

[Casper98]

Here's my advice, get drop beams instead of drop coils reason being 3" coils are going to be a bitch to align. If you get drop beams you'll be getting new bushings in the beams as well as new ball joints which you should replace if the truck has 240k miles.

 

[runningslow]

Well, thanks all for the input. Ball joints are definitely on the list of items to replace.

I've gone back and forth on the I-Beams or Coils debate. I should probably do it right and get the beams, but if there's even a chance I could save a few bucks and actually get it aligned with only coils... I'd rather do that.

However, even if I do beams, I'm probably going to need to replace the factory coils anyway, as the drivers side is sagging a bit. The whole truck seems to lean an inch to the drivers side, having measured from the ground to the top of the wheel well on all four corners recently. I'm planning to just hit the junkyard and get a couple of passenger side springs to use.

*****

There's plenty of things that are on the list of 240K replacements. The interior is going to need some freshening, like new carpet and seats. I've already installed some junkyard Explorer seats & center console, but they were only a mild improvement. The most significant replacement will be for the anemic 2.3L, but its still going strong after all those miles.

I'm also still looking for the factory fog light brackets, but I think I'm going to give up and just try to fab something on my own.

 

[doorgunner]

There are some good articles about coil/beams drops...

I did the coil drop to save money/adjustable-eccentric-bushings...but now that I've saved some $$...I'm getting drop-beams...3 years of bottoming-out in potholes is enough!!!

(see avatar on left...1989 Ranger chassis lowered 3"/5"/w/1936 Ford repro-body )

 

[runningslow]

Well, I think I've heard enough. I'll start saving my pennies and I'll just go with the drop-beams to begin with. Looks like I can get a decent price on the DJM DreamBeams from Summit. I'll still have to find some junkyard replacements for my sagging factory coils. Maybe I can find some Splash springs for that extra 1".

Once I get the suspension done, we'll start talking engine.

 

[doorgunner]

Sounds good......pics & comments neede though...I'll do the same if/when I get my drop beams/new coils(since I cut the old ones to get the 3" drop )

 

[runningslow]

Sounds good......pics & comments neede though...I'll do the same if/when I get my drop beams/new coils(since I cut the old ones to get the 3" drop )

I'll post pics once I get started on the build. Don't worry! I've just got to free up some funds first, but at least now I have a direction.

 

[JoshT]

Watch the Ranger forums classifieds sections as well. They might not be brand new buy you can get some decent prices on used beams on occasion. They may need new bushings but those can be had for these beams for about $25 IIRC from the DJM web store. To give you an idea on price of used I paid 350 for my beams from a guy on here. That may sound a little high but it included good ball joints, 2" drop springs, flip brackets for the rear axle, as well as the spindles, and calipers I needed to upgrade my 86 to dual piston calipers. So new the beams and flip bracket would have cost around 375, new drop springs around 150, Ball Joints for beams around another 150. The real kicker is the spindles and calipers I would have paid over 200 for that stuff if I had tried to buy it from the local yards. I wanted to upgrade to the dual pistons cause I'd doing a V8 swap, and the 95-97 spindles will also allow me to run bigger brakes with adapter kits. For now I've got adapter brackets to run 12 inch Explorer Sport Track rotors, and I'd like to move up to 13" Cobra calipers and rotors in the future. I love bolt on calipers, so many possibilities that don't exist for the pin type.

I ramble to much, all I'm getting at is that the beams can be had for cheaper if you can find a used set. If you want to go that route just keep an eye on the classifieds sections here and at RPS, R-F, and possibly at FRF. Remember if you go used you can use beams for 89-97 on your truck.