HAVE I GOT A STORY FOR YOU!!!! (Thanks to your video, I now own an 88 Jeep YJ Wrangler) 2 days after watching your video I crawled under my Explorer and found the 2 bolts... 5 minutes in I broke my 13mm socket and went to Autozone to buy a new one, They only had cheap duralast sockets and didn't have one in 1/2" drive so, I figured I'd go check O'Reileys and they did have one and the guy said IF YOU BREAK IT, BRING IT BACK! I did the 4 turns in the O'r parking lot AND IT WORKED! Here is where it gets good... The little street next to the O'reileys goes by thei old green jeep thats been in the back yard for years. I think subconciously I drive by and always think... One of these day, I'm going to stop and ask if they'll sell it. There were about 10 people standing in the front yard this day so I stopped and a lady asked if she could help me and I said Y'all looking to sell that old jeep back there... Before I finished the sentence she leaned on my passenger window and said with a smirk..." Gimme a grand and get it out of here!" I gave her $1200 and she threw in everything she had bought for it Check it out here... facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209191631338588&set=pcb.10209191632898627&type=3&theater
I maxed my torsion bars to match the 37” in the rear and the ride was crazy stiff on my 2000 Explorer. I’m back down to 36” in the front and it feels ok now. I’m using shackles and leveling keys.
Truck looks good with that height. I don’t like it when other people make these trucks really tall but I guess they mostly use it for off roading. I just like to cruise down the freeway and the occasional trail to a cool spot with a nice view. Nice truck man. Very nice.
Anything over about 1” on the bars will play havoc with consistent alignment and over time compromises suspension components. I speak from experience. If you must lift it spend the $ and get a suspension lift-do it right.
Nice looking Ranger, I have a 01 4x4 am Going with a bigger knuckles on the front end for a 21/2 in lift. Was going to do keys as well but metal Memory. This way no stress on the CV axels. Then body lift. Altogether 7in lift on 31s. Cool Vid. Do more up dates.
My dad put air shocks on his 1987 Ford F250 himself…my dad’s not an auto mechanic, he’s an Electrical Engineer/Radio Engineer/Satellite Engineer/Telecommunications Engineer/Computer Technician/Blues Guitar Local Legend… he did so because of a 1950’s camper he acquired which has nicer oak cabinetry than the 2 million dollar house I grew up in…he ended up having the F250 Re-Sprung to be able to handle about 3500-Lbs & an old guy at a State Reservation campground was familiar with the model of camper and he was like “you’re moving it with a Ford F250?!” And my dad was like “Yeah, I’m an Engineer, I’m educated in physics, I had the suspension ramped up to be good for 4 tons” and the old man laughed & said “that’s not enough, it should be set up for 10 tons & the truck should have dual rear tires _(meaning two rear tires on each side)_ anything with a single rear tire on each side wouldn’t have the necessary stability to hold this thing…I’ve seen these campers bow pickup frames so badly that the trucks were useless after…”
Or instead of flipping the shackle upside down you could've simply just made a steel plate to slap right between the axle and the spring... Make longer ubolts and you're on your way for your rear. Much cheaper than a shackle
Ah another Ford guy I see! I like the new look, only problem is it makes your tires look too small! I thought 4x4 Rangers have a stock lift? I measured my truck and it sits about the same as yours, Maybe the guy that had it before me did something, who cares though lol Ranger's are killer trucks!
They do come with a stock 'lift' but I wouldn't call it a lift. They just have blocks in the rear and sit higher than a 2wd. Your truck probably sits at the same height as mine because of your 31s. I only have 28 inch tires on this truck now - bigger ones are the next step!
when lifting the body and tub together, do front and rear bumper come up together? or you have to put in a work to lift those up together to line with a cab and tub?
Dude... Plasty dip your fender flares and your front plastic valance so it matches the rims... all the gray plastic make it black plasty dip it will look way better... and the back bumper plastic.. I did it to my ranger and it looks amazing and even those rails on your top of your bed..do all the gray plastic in black plasty dip I did mine it looks sweet trust me I did it to mine I can't post any pics though
i know this is a old vid. so been on the ranger forums are ford ranger forum lol i was a memeber back in the day u prob seen the posts of the big knox meets we did. any how ive had my 00 ranger sense 04 had 58k on it when i got it. maxed the bars on the first day of owning it. 14 years later and 195k now still oem cv axles and 1 set of ball joints. cant complain about cranked bars wearing out stuff. what happens is when people install after market lift keys it allows for over cranking and that gets stuff out of wack your safe fully cranking stock keys. and your right ive seen people take days installing body lifts ive installed quite a few on different year rangers over the years usualy takes me around 4 hours to do. all depends on how rusty the bolts are lol
Using the shackles was a bad idea crap ride the rear end is under the leaf springs at least that's what it looks like. Why didn't you just get a set of 2 in lift blocks same price as the shackles. Wouldn't have changed the way your truck road in the rear less play in the rear end as well anger toward the shackles will now allow the rear end to twist and bind. Using the original shackle all you would do is pick up the whole rear end of the truck about three or four inches then put it on stands support the rear end with Jack underneath the center of the rear end. Then cut the u-bolts with the Sawzall lower the rear end down until you can fit to work tomorrow and slide in the block. Reinstall u-bolts repeat on other side do not torque down on u-bolts until both blocks are in place and rear end is lined up. You have the right idea with the torsion bars in the front as well but rather than twerking down on the original torsion bar torque key. For about $30 on Amazon you could get torsion keys made to give you up to three inches of Lift. So really you could have looked at it 3 in for around $65 all the way around and it would have been a much better riding truck. Just a tip for you to look into. If you don't want to go crazy spending money for the lift that is your cheapest and most effective way. That will not compromise your truck like the shackles and the way you cranked up on the torsion bar with those keys it probably close to out of adjustment space so when you hit a bump you should have a hell of a bounce. Those shackles will allow the leaf springs to twist and bind you could break the universal or even the shackle I'm just letting you know. Just look up to torsion lift keys and lift blocks it's easy cheap and you'll be able to go up to 3 in and still ride decent. When I did it the only thing I wanted to change where are my shocks they're almost fully extended. So if I had a good bump or say a set of railroad tracks and my tires left around even a bit I could hear my shocks catch the rear end. They need to be replaced anyway. So when I did it I went to a 6 inch longer shock on my Ranger it was much better. They do make little shock extenders but I don't like them. One more thing to screw up the ride or to literally give way!
anyone know where i can buy some 2inch shocks for the front and back of my 2002 ford ranger edge?? i’ve been looking online for the past two months and can’t find any for two inches!
i have a 98 ranger and one of my shocks broke from rust and we had to put a new mount on, so one side is higher than the other. I was wanting to lift it like in the video, but i have a feeling the bed will look off. Is there a way i can fix the other side so it doesn’t look off with a kit?
I'm pretty happy with the way it looks. The t bar suspension was first used by Chrysler in the 50s or 60s. Rangers use it and so did the 90s chevys that I've seen. More common than you'd think
oh no shit? seems to work at least and easy to work on. same as the WATTS linkage, that was WAY ahead of its time and meant you could get away with a solid axle yet still have great flex in the rear.
Nice job man. That is a bad ass looking truck! I just got a 1999 4x4 with nice fat tires. Im making a video of what I got it and how I am cutomizing it. cheers man. What is your best choice of shocks... i live in baja. I drive most on the pave but at least once a week or twice I get off road to the beaches. I was thinking KyB
Want to do this to my truck chevy colorado 4x4 and run 27'' grabber at 2s on it, just afraid my mpg will drop alot. I use the truck as a daily but want to go offroad as well. Also if you go higher than 3'' you need to do a diff drop?
I have a 2004 ford ranger and am looking for a lift should I get leveling kit ? Or attempt this just asking for your opinion I'm not looking for anything to expensive like a body lift or anything time consuming and money consuming just something cheap and easy to improve my look a little bit?
Sean - a few things to consider here. Depending on how much lift you want to get , you might be able to get away without the leveling kit. Maxing your stock torsion keys should get your front end level with the back of the truck, and possibly even little higher. I would start with that as it is free! At that point, you could also do the shackles in the back and get a setup similar to mine. Keep in mind that my keys weren't maxed in this video so maxed keys and the aftermarket shackles on the lower setting will probably be about level, netting you approx 1.5-2inches of lift. Leveling keys are pretty much a gimmick....they are indexed differently so that your torsion bars are preloaded more but it is doing the exact same thing as maxing the stock keys. Now all that said, it doesn't come without risks. Any adjustments to your torsion bars can potentially cause damage to your front end....you've been warned.
I would like to correct you some 2wd ranger are coil but some are also torsion bar just like the 98 I believe and newer ranger 4wd normally the 2wd tbar rangers will be your edge and sport models
I have not had it offroad since I put the shackles in. First time I went offroading the t bars were already cranked so I can't say how they affected it. What I can tell you is that when I cranked them babies the ride did get rougher, but it smoothed out when the shackles went on
I have a 1998 ford Ranger and am thinking about getting some Wulf 1.5-2" Rear Adjustable Lift Kit Shackles. I just want to raise the rear up a bit. Do you think that would work or have any issues? I want to do it cheap. :)
Yup, lotz of ppl lift 2wd trucks , Got her stuck in the sand Monday and wish I had better tires lol! I want to go for the prerunner ranger look. (I don't 4x4 in mud , only sand dunes
I have a 2009 Ranger XL ( 2.3, 2 wheel drive & manual) so I don't have torsion bars up front there. Anyone have suggestions how I can get a cheap or free lift up there?
I'm having trouble trying to find the perfect lift kit. I have a Ford f150 1999 and I am having trouble deciding I should get a 2 inch or 4 inch? can u help? I can't find accurate pictures so idk what they will look like
Pictures are tough. Very hard to get a perspective of how tall it actually is. The 4 inch would probably look more badass, but it's also probably more expensive.
U r gonna start going through front axles, that can b dangerous when they seize up on the highway, do not lift ur truck by just cranking up the torsion bars
The shackles used were similar to these: amzn.to/2uaSoBl For the front I just cranked up the torsion bars some. Be careful, too much cranking will cause damage.
That's a beautiful truck especially the gas mileage. My brother in law has the same one and won't drive anything else. They do make shock extensions with/with out lift kits. I did a body lift once on my ford & the rubber steering coupler thing down by the steering gear box broke every month. I had to sell my '76 highboy because the cops would'nt leave me alone.
