1994 Ranger Lift - Experiance With Proposed Setup

[fiftyfordfloored]

Since I have my '94 all torn apart (extended cab 4x4 4.0 auto), I planned on giving her a little more suspension height on a budget, but I want to do it the right way. My plan was a set of +1.5" Rough Country springs up front, aftermarket Explorer leaf springs out back (which is supposedly good for +1-1.5"), delete the lift blocks, and a set of the +1-2" lift shackles to make up the difference for the absent blocks. Has anyone else run this setup, how does it handle, and does anyone have any pictures of what it looks like completed?

Going to end up putting a set of 235/85R16s on it.

 

[fiftyfordfloored]

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[josh40601]

so the biggest problem you are going to have with the front suspension is your camber angle. You can almost get the camber back to normal with adjustable camber inserts, but even a small 1.5" lift will throw the camber out of whack. If you don't drive a lot on the road, doesn't matter. If you're daily driving it, you'll want to go with a set of drop brackets or I think there are some companies that make drop bracket spacers.

As for the rear end, the shackle will bring you the most gain for the lift, so I'd start there with your factory ranger leaf pack. Then if you need more, Procomp makes an add-a-leaf kit you can pick up for cheap that will level things back out.

Good luck on the swap!

 

[fiftyfordfloored]

I have access to a set of +/- 4 degree caster/camber inserts and also +/- 2 degree caster radius arm bushings, and I'm hoping that will get it close enough to daily it for now. Hopefully.

I want to remove the lift blocks completely in the back to eliminate the torsional leverage, use the better heavier Explorer springs, and the lift shackles to make up the difference of the removed lift blocks.

 

[RangerX]

The 'conventional wisdom' on this board over the years is that you can coil lift the TTB up to two inches and still be able to align it, more than 2" requires different degree shims. You already have shims, but I'd try without and see, first.

Not sure Explorer leafs will work, I seem to recall they are a shorter length, but I'm not sure on that.

 

[Explorin'VA]

It should handle well with that setup.

I had the skyjacker 1.5" coils on my Explorer and new caster/camber shims were needed. I didn't absolutely need drop brackets on anything but there was a lot of stress on the factory radius arm bushings.

I gave a friend a set of 4x4 Explorer leaf springs to lift his 2wd 88 supercab ranger. I then put his old leaf springs on my 2wd 95 single cab short bed ranger to lift it. Everything was interchangeable.

The skyjacker leveling coils are in my ranger now and all it really needed was new shims and an alignment. It would also benefit from having a longer pitman arm out of a 4x4 because the 2wd one is nearly flat. Since you have a 4x4, your stock steering setup should work fine with 1.5" coils. You might need longer shocks.