To Install or Not?

[ridgerunner]

OK I have 2" front leveling spacers, shackles to lift the rear, and the adjustable bushings for the front alignment. My dilemma...its a 94 4.0 manual, 68,000 miles, 5 new 29" tires, open diffs, 3:27 gears and I'm getting 19-22 MPG now driving the hills of PA. I'm having a hard time installing these parts due to the truck getting good mpg and it hasn't yet let me down while off-road. If I raise it 2" I'm gonna loose mpg. Once I lift it I'll want new 31" MT's (more weight and power loss, mpg loss). Once that happens I'll have to regear it, then in will go lockers... Just can't bring myself to modify the old girl yet. I'll be installing a front winch before winter and wiring up a rear winch on a cradle if I need winching out of a ditch backwards so I'll have the goober extraction tools ready. What do you all think I should do? Install the parts or wait?

 

[doorgunner]

Brace yourself:

1. Go to PIK-A-PART ( or any other high-end salvage yard )

2. BRING YOURSELF HOME AN IDENTICAL CHASSIS

3. Outfit it EGGZAKLY as you desire

4. Admire your work

4a. Take pics & post em in this thread

5. Swap chassis(s) when you get the urge!

 

[Schnot]

Life's too short to worry about fuel mileage.


Sent from my iPhone.

 

[Jsommers]

Just throw the parts on and leave the stock tires on until they need to be replaced. All your mog loss will be from changing tires

 

[swynx]

You bought the parts for a reason...

 

[Andy D]

The Rat is pretty much the same as your jewel. I consider lift kits a fashion accessory that affects what the truck does 99.9% of its time, driving around in 2 WD. You jack it up and everything you lift into the bed is that much higher. Not only do big tires rob MPG, they stress out suspension and steering parts. If you work the truck, I would keep it stock. If it is your DD, I would keep it stock. If it is a toy, go nutz Flame away, guys

 

[ridgerunner]

Brace yourself:

1. Go to PIK-A-PART ( or any other high-end salvage yard )

2. BRING YOURSELF HOME AN IDENTICAL CHASSIS

3. Outfit it EGGZAKLY as you desire

4. Admire your work

4a. Take pics & post em in this thread

5. Swap chassis(s) when you get the urge!

DG, I'll assume U are kidding...I've got 3 trucks now, one more and I'll be looking for another wife with NO money to boot lol!

 

[ridgerunner]

The Rat is pretty much the same as your jewel. I consider lift kits a fashion accessory that affects what the truck does 99.9% of its time, driving around in 2 WD. You jack it up and everything you lift into the bed is that much higher. Not only do big tires rob MPG, they stress out suspension and steering parts. If you work the truck, I would keep it stock. If it is your DD, I would keep it stock. If it is a toy, go nutz Flame away, guys

I do work the truck and it is also my DD. It is a 4X4 too. I'm liking the MPG since my other DD/work truck, 3/4 ton Dodge, sucks fuel at the astounding rate of 9-12 mpg. Thinking of waiting until next spring/summer to install the parts. I'd like a winter driving it to see how she handles being shortbox/short wheelbase. I figure the winch(es) will get me out of trouble if/when I get stuck. Who knows, maybe I'll get bored this winter and install them anyway. Keep shooting your comments my way.

 

[Andy D]

The 3.27 gears in the Rat get me 21 MPG highway. But if you go to larger tires, then you will have re-gear the diffs to stay in the same torque band.
KA ching !!. The only 2 mods the Rat may get is an LSD rear end and/or a 1 piece rear drive shaft. With the 3.27 gears, on 235/75/15s, the 4.0 loafs along at 2K RPM doing 65 in OD.

I lucked out with the Rat, by beginners luck, I got a good yr and model. Mechanically, the 94 XLT 4.0 / 5spd/ 4x4 is one of the better equipped models. I especially like the 10" clutch and the 10" rear brakes. on the 8.8 axle. The 3.27 gears are a sop to the CAFE numbers. I would prefer 3.56s

 

[wildbill23c]

Lifting a truck just doesn't make sense. You will only gain maybe 2" of ground clearance. Remember that lifting a vehicle doesn't mean you will be able to clear any larger obstacles, the differentials still sit where they did before you put the lift on. That gives ground clearance is larger tires, and you can only go so large before you lose the ability for the truck to get out of its own way.

If you aren't mud bogging, or anything why waste the time with a lift? You'll lose stability and fuel economy because you'll look at the truck with the lift and say well it needs larger tires now, then pretty soon, well it needs this, and that. You'll have more money tied up in a vehicle that never gets used for what it was built for.

Sell the lift kit, and leave the truck alone. I know several people who are removing their lift kits because they're finding out it was a dumb idea in the first place. A truck in stock form with the right driver is pretty capable offroad. You don't seem like you are going to be offroad, or offroad far enough to require a lift. A lift in itself is mainly just a way to try and show off to friends, it serves no purpose. Even a 4 inch lift is going to raise your truck enough that you'll be cussing at yourself everytime you want to put anything in the bed of the truck or take anything out, its just that much more reaching you have to do, goes right along with climbing in and out of the cab.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Lifting a truck just doesn't make sense. You will only gain maybe 2" of ground clearance. Remember that lifting a vehicle doesn't mean you will be able to clear any larger obstacles, the differentials still sit where they did before you put the lift on. That gives ground clearance is larger tires, and you can only go so large before you lose the ability for the truck to get out of its own way.

If you aren't mud bogging, or anything why waste the time with a lift? You'll lose stability and fuel economy because you'll look at the truck with the lift and say well it needs larger tires now, then pretty soon, well it needs this, and that. You'll have more money tied up in a vehicle that never gets used for what it was built for.

Sell the lift kit, and leave the truck alone. I know several people who are removing their lift kits because they're finding out it was a dumb idea in the first place. A truck in stock form with the right driver is pretty capable offroad. You don't seem like you are going to be offroad, or offroad far enough to require a lift. A lift in itself is mainly just a way to try and show off to friends, it serves no purpose. Even a 4 inch lift is going to raise your truck enough that you'll be cussing at yourself everytime you want to put anything in the bed of the truck or take anything out, its just that much more reaching you have to do, goes right along with climbing in and out of the cab.

I disagree with this.
Any more clearance is a plus.
Let's say you did a 6" lift on 35"s. That nets you 3" more of axle clearance over the stock 29" tires and 9" more belly clearance. That is a whole lot of capability added, as long as you know what your doing.

It ain't a monster truck, you still can't expect to drive up and over any obstacle. There is a skill to wheeling, and picking the right line.

On a side note, my truck goes anywhere i feel like driving it, and I don't use my bed for anything, other than collecting mud falling from the sky.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Oh, and to the OP,
I had my truck setup identical to what your thinking, 94 4.0 5spd 4x4 2" 31"s 3.27s.

It was great, went anywhere with good judgment, and netted 14city/22hwy if I drove it nice. Just keep the rpms just over 2k where she purrs real nice and cruise.

I would not recommended any front traction devices with the 3.27s that already puts a ton of stress on the driveshaft and t case, it's not easy to turn. The rear would be ok, Aussie Lockers are the best bang for the buck.

Also once you put those winches on you'll lose you 2" lift. That's a lot of weight hanging out there on the end of the frame. One of those airbag kits that go inside the coils, and longer shackles would fix that.

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[ridgerunner]

Lifting a truck just doesn't make sense. You will only gain maybe 2" of ground clearance. Remember that lifting a vehicle doesn't mean you will be able to clear any larger obstacles, the differentials still sit where they did before you put the lift on. That gives ground clearance is larger tires, and you can only go so large before you lose the ability for the truck to get out of its own way.

If you aren't mud bogging, or anything why waste the time with a lift? You'll lose stability and fuel economy because you'll look at the truck with the lift and say well it needs larger tires now, then pretty soon, well it needs this, and that. You'll have more money tied up in a vehicle that never gets used for what it was built for.

Sell the lift kit, and leave the truck alone. I know several people who are removing their lift kits because they're finding out it was a dumb idea in the first place. A truck in stock form with the right driver is pretty capable offroad. You don't seem like you are going to be offroad, or offroad far enough to require a lift. A lift in itself is mainly just a way to try and show off to friends, it serves no purpose. Even a 4 inch lift is going to raise your truck enough that you'll be cussing at yourself everytime you want to put anything in the bed of the truck or take anything out, its just that much more reaching you have to do, goes right along with climbing in and out of the cab.

I agree on some of this. I do NOTHING for show, function over form! I actually do go offroad nearly EVERYDAY while working but so far the stock truck has been good to me (though lower gears would make it easier on the clutch). Keep in mind that I haven't really challenged this truck yet off road. Hence the winches. There are just places where I need to take this truck when working and it doesn't matter what the conditions are, gotta get there. Mud seems to be the main problem with the small AT tires and open diffs. Been pretty dry this yr in PA so it hasn't been much of an issue so far... We will see this next spring how she handles it when work starts after the snow melts and mud season begins.

 

[ridgerunner]

OK like I stated in the post above...there are places I need to take this truck while working and it doesn't matter what the conditions are, gotta get there. Well today was no different. Got to a site and the property owner left the cable gate locked. I defeated it by cutting a limb and sticking it under the cable to keep it up while I drove the non-lifted ranger under it. If I would have had the lift I wouldn't have made it. Second time this yr this has happened to me with this truck. Here is a bad pic of the defeated gate. Thought I'd share.

 

[ridgerunner]

Got all the parts now...