this weekend while cleaning the range (i call it that to make myself feel better about not having the jeep anymore), my wife mentions again (not that i'm not aware) that it needs a lift.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/TXST8tj/1995%20Ford%20Ranger%20XLT/P2280010.jpg


not to be huge or anything, but just so it is not so damn low to the ground. of course i can't agree more. it is my DD and 2wd so it doens't need to be crazy, but something's got to happen vertically here. i'm 6'5" and it's a damn pain in my *** getting in and out of this thing. now in the end, i will more than likely just do a 3" body lift and call it a day, but i'd love to come up with something different.

and now, on to the point....

first off, i have no desire to convert this truck to 4wd. i just have no need for it with this truck. so here is an idea i've been toying around with, and it will take some looking research and looking in to, but it should :D be simple and inexpensive enough.
rangers and XJs/ZJs are roughly the same width.....at least the trac width is close, thus why 8.8 axle swaps into jeeps are so popular. 2wd XJs and ZJs obviously all came with a "dummy" or "beam" axles. pretty much the same as a d30 minus the diff. the added bonus is the wheel bolt pattern is the same from jeep to ranger.
my basic idea would be to remove the I-Beam setup up front from the Range and replace it with a dummy front axle out of a XJ or ZJ. then for simplicity's sake, cut off the coil stuff, weld on spring hangers to the frame up front, shackle hanger for the rear portion, spring perches to the dummy axle and run leaf springs. then adapt XJ, ZJ, YJ, or TJ steering to the frontend, which will likely adapt flawlessly because the steering is basically the same design. the draglink length to pitman arm may be the only hang-up, but the two vehicles are so close in width, it just mate up easily enough. and there ya go, a solid front "dummy" axle swap.

now some may wonder why all the trouble. why not just buy a suspension kit with the I-Beam lowering brackets and longer coils and such?
basically just because once the SFA setup is in place, it is 100x easier to modify from that point.....lift shackles, add-a-leafs, taller springs, spring over,etc. it's just a less complicated setup that performs very well, is easy to maintain, and is easy to modify. the I-Beam setup is fine for what it was designed to do, it's just way more complicated than it needs to be.

i figure it could be somewhat inexpensive. it is not unheard of to aquire a 2wd XJ beam for around $50. considering you can get a complete d30 for $150...i wouldn't want to spend much more.
i could pull stock leaf springs from a YJ for pretty cheap, or even some new lift springs for a reasonable price.
cut some steel up to make the spring hangers, or have a shop make some, and depending on the need for it, make a crossmember to mount the hangers to.
stock XJ steering can be had for $75 from the jeep salvage yard.
then of course mount the shocks.

depending on what the stock YJ springs give me, i can do shackles or swap in some taller leaf springs (wouldn't have to use YJ springs, just the first thing that popped into my head).

a 3" BL will cost $200. a suspension kit for the stock setup is $800+, and way more than i want to spend for this.

if i actually put this into gear, i could weld the spring hangers and shackle hangers on without interfering with the stock suspension, so i could start the transformation while still driving the truck. once the dummy axle is ready to go under the frontend, i can unbolt and remove the stock suspension components and throw the new stuff under there. if i run into any snags, i would be able to bolt the facotry stuff back into place. it would be a pain in the butt, but it would be possible to do. then i could iron out all the details on the swap, put it back in place and then cut off all the unused factory bracketry.



i know that was long, but if you read it all, maybe you have some feedback for me. basically i'm looking to be told that it makes sense and would probably work as described, or be told that i am an idiot and be banned for stupidity.

No

basically exactly what i am looking to do, but with a dummy axle, and not as much lift.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/TXST8tj/Other/IMG_5240.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/TXST8tj/Other/IMG_5241.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/TXST8tj/Other/IMG_5242.jpg

If you were preparing ahead of time to swap a D30 under there, I'd say your plan makes a little bit of sense, but since you say you're not, it doesn't.

The TIB suspension is not exactly complicated if you actually look at it (after all, the whole front suspension is attached with a grand total of FOUR bushings). Cutting out the stock susp. and figuring out what's needed to mount leafspring brackets (and then figuring out what's needed for the steering) to mount up a 'dummy' axle sure seems like a lot of work just to make it sit taller (not to mention what it'll do to the ride quality). There are kits available for much less than $800.

I'd just do the bodylift.

I think lifts for 2wd's are somewhat cheap.

Gotta balance the time you spend on designing everything your talking about and the time you could be spending at work to earn that money...

Might be cheaper to just save up for a drop bracket TTB type lift... PLUS the ride quality will be much better. On a DD I'd want a smooth ride, especially if you can not take that DD off-road.

XJ's are four linked with coil springs and all YJ's are 4wd. You will need to cut off all the brackets from the XJ axle and weld on spring perches to set your pinion angle.

3in bodylift and bigger tires...simple..cheap..effective..

Pirate2X4.com?

XJ's are four linked with coil springs and all YJ's are 4wd. You will need to cut off all the brackets from the XJ axle and weld on spring perches to set your pinion angle.

that's the plan....cut off all the bracketry and weld on spring perches. no pinion angle to deal with.

Pirate2X4.com?

you raise a good point.
i'll be honest..i just have not gotten any useful feedback from anyone else. i figure at least people on this forum have a better idea of what they are doing.
i know there are obvious alternatives that relate to the factory setup. i'm just looking for ideas for this setup. if i had said i was going to use a live axle from the get-go and then just used the beam, no one would have given any slack about it.

Pinion angle doesn't apply to your situation, but the caster angle is important. If you don't want to spend the money but you have the skills and the time, knock your self out. This kind of mod will probably devalue your truck more than the cost of lifting it properly. Even if you sell it to someone who is going to cut off everything to make a pre-runner, would you have bought the truck with a leaf sprung solid axle 2wd under a 1/4 ton? This isn't a flame, I'm just being objective. What you are talking about is probably more trouble than it's worth, thats just my $0.02

if you have the time, and tools i say do it. I had a buddy with a 2wd mazda(ranger look alike)b2000 or whatever thay are called, and with a 3 in body lift he put 32x11.50x15 bfg a/t's for some reference for you.

i have a set of beams right here in my back yard. they are from auto fab. they fit 89-97 rangers. i sell you the beams rad arms and coils for $300.

oh and i also have a few jeep yj d30 fronts and bronco d30 fronts along with a few fs ford fronts. leaves coils fs rad arms and a bunch of ford9"