swaybars

[therieldeal]

I found a little here and there about swapping swaybars from broncos/explorers onto the ranger to improve handling. Something about an explorer front bar with a B2 rear bar.

Will this work on my 89 2wd? What model/year range do I need to look for at the junkyard?

 

[therieldeal]

ok so i have NO swaybars at ALL

definitely need to do something about that lol

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

ive also hear that a BII rear sway bar is a considerable upgrade from the puny ranger bar (or no bar in your case).

unfortunatly i dont have the details. the BII's never went through a body change, so im sure any rear BII bar will work...but i dont know about the exploder front bar.

 

[therieldeal]

i guess i'll just hunt down some broncos and explorers in the junkyard.

since i'm eventually going for the explorer rear and leafs, i might just see if i can run the explorer rear swaybar too.

 

[GatorBlue92]

some later model rangers have a rear sway bar also... not sure what years though

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

i thought all year rangers were avialable with rear sway bars. im pretty sure my parents '85 has one...and my '93 has front and rear.

 

[Insanejughead]

Mine has front and back bars as well. '94 longbed.

 

[therieldeal]

you lucky sob's and your swaybars.... lol

it looks like i have all the mounting points, but no bars front or rear. the truck is very clean too, so i doubt they were removed.

 

[therieldeal]

okay so... i just drove my old car again to drop it off with the guy who bought it from me and... wow. my ranger really handles like complete and utter crap.

i know it needs shocks, and i know i need to add swaybars... but with that and like a 2" drop is there any chance of getting car-like handling out of the thing?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

just adding swaybars....even the factory ranger swaybars....will help tremendously. with 31" tires and stock 4x4 height, i can take corners fast enough for the front end to start snowplowing. ive even had the rear end kick out under centrifugal force on dry pavement. i really enjoy the way the truck handles.

yours is 2wd and thus already lighter and lower than my truck. add to that the much thicker BII rear swaybar and either a stock or thicker front sway bar...plus a small drop (not to mention dcent tires) and it has the potential to handle very nicely.

 

[therieldeal]

okay, that makes me feel a bit better about the purchase haha. i mean, i needed to get a truck in order to tow my drag car to the track... but at the moment i'm dreading driving this thing everyday in its current condition haha

i'll try to hit the junkyard next weekend in search of swaybars

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

you towing your escort with that truck? got a web page for the escort? do you plan on trailering it or using a tow dolly?

 

[rangerbum]

I have no rear sway bar, and Im pretty sure the truck came that way. The suspension handles real nice at higher speeds. Hardly any body roll. I dont think i could roll the truck on flat ground no matter how hard I try.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

you must not try very hard.

ive had mine on 2 wheels.

 

[therieldeal]

you towing your escort with that truck? got a web page for the escort? do you plan on trailering it or using a tow dolly?

i'm going to look at a used dolly tomorrow afternoon. the escort is a registered street driven car, so i figured a dolly would be easiest/cheapest/lightest.

i dont really have a web page for it, if you search "escort gtr" on youtube theres a few videos of it running 12.4's. what were you wondering about it?