The "Squirrel" goes under the knife...

[Tbars4]

...Needless to say, the rain put a damper on me finishing for this trip...

...The rain did let me have some time to run around locally and shop parts for future stuff though......I had to special order J-hooks from Superlift P/N #1099 and they will take about 10-14 days to get here...Nobody around here carries them in stock anymore..:thumbdwn:

...I did remember to ask about spindle nuts in stock and I scored 2 sets P/N #28068X..:

 

[Scott B.]

...Needless to say, the rain put a damper on me finishing for this trip...
...

Rain? What are you talking about? It never rains in California!

 

[RockRanger]

Rain? What are you talking about? It never rains in California!

The first rain drop that hits you is God's will. The second is your fault for not packing up fast enough and calling it a day.... Thats my theory anyway.

 

[DB_1]

I had to special order J-hooks from Superlift P/N #1099 and they will take about 10-14 days to get here...Nobody around here carries them in stock anymore..:thumbdwn:

Kartek has them but they are like $15 a pair

 

[Tbars4]

...Thru 4WP they were 15.99 a pair, $17.39 w/tax...I had another shop quote me $25...

 

[DB_1]

Damn, you would think they were made of gold for for those prices. It's a simple piece of bent steel

 

[Tbars4]

...I just got a call from 4WP...

...J-hooks have arrived and only took 4-5 business days...:biggthump

...Due to just getting back from Truckhaven and now needing to save for a new tire on the X and with the Holidays coming up, the progress on this will slow down for a while...

...Edit: Picked them up this afternoon...:scratch:..They look Gold...:

 

[Tbars4]

...Need some ideas...:scratch:

...One of my concerns is the front coil springs...The new ones are fine and definitely better than my old setup..But...

...I'm thinking of getting some taller coil buckets...My thoughts are to put in a taller coil spring and maybe a little stiffer than what I have now..This would allow me to increase the front end height minimally while giving a lot more up/down travel..

...My current coils are superlift 2" lift but I'm thinking with a taller bucket I could fit a 4" coil spring...I'm also hoping it will give more support/strength to the F250 shock towers if the coil bucket has already, an integrated side plate for mounting to...I know Autofab and Fabtech have something similar with a shock mount already on them for the F150 prerunners that I saw and put these silly ideas in my head..

...I first thought about raising the stock bucket but thought an aftermarket bucket would be stronger...

...Any thoughts on coil buckets and springs??...I'm still wanting to try and keep this on the cheap...

 

[Rick]

I used my stock coil buckets when I was running 4" lift springs with the TTB. Of course, I also had 4" drop brackets...

 

[Tbars4]

...I'm still running the stock brackets while trying to get the most out of them...

...If I re-use the stock buckets I may relocate them 1-2" higher max to accept the 4" coil springs...Now is the time for me to start figuring this out while it still aligns good with 2.75* bushings...If I do this I think I could still get it aligned with say, up to a 3.5* bushing..

...I'm still working on keeping this stock/stock looking while hiding all the goodies...

 

[Tbars4]

...Well, it appears Camburg quit making them, Autofab and Fabtech both want as much as coilovers for just the buckets...:thumbdwn:

...Ballistic has these for about $75 a pop, fully adjustable...

....If I had the funds I would probably just get their Hybrid Coilover/Air shocks instead...

...I'm still hoping someone will chime in with some coil bucket options and save me a bunch of money...

 

[Scott B.]

Camburg hasn't made coil buckets for quite a while - they've had their coilover as long as I can remember.

I've thought about their coilover kit - but, it is a lot of money, and I don't have plans to jump my truck. But it would be a sweet suspension.

 

[Tbars4]

...Man, I need to find me a "Sugar Momma"...

...I am starting to really want the Hybrid coilovers...and they color match well the Ranger..

 

[Tbars4]

...I saw that F150 I had previously talked about and remembered to get a pic of his coilbucket and shock setup..IIRC, this is the Camburg or a Mcneil setup..:scratch:

 

[Tbars4]

...I got busy with work and have a two week trip starting this weekend...Sad to say, I haven't had time to work on the Ranger but I have scored some more parts...

...A custom hitch from DB1 and I swang by Deaver Springs and had them make me up some 5/8's inch U-bolts..:biggthump

...A couple weeks ago OSH had a 15% off sale so I scored a new Dewalt 10 amp grinder..

...I also received some replacement parts from our vendor Kbabiak and another Ballistic battery box...

...Hopefully I will resume work on the Ranger by the end of next month..

 

[DB_1]

...A custom hitch from DB1
(

It's actually a hidden hitch from Summit Racing for them crazy guys with lowered Ranger's:

 

[Tbars4]

...It's going to work perfect for the future mod's..:biggthump

..But we won't tell anybody..:

 

[RangerX]

I have that same 10amp Dewalt, it's a good one!

 

[Keeper0311]

...It's going to work perfect for the future mod's..:biggthump

..But we won't tell anybody..:

Front end hitch eh?

 

[Tbars4]

...Hitch is a rear hitch...It will allow for a lot more ground clearance..

...RangerX, I borrowed Daves at his house when I removed the trans cross member..I warned him that I've burned up every grinder I've used and he said go for it...

..That grinder got so hot I couldn't hold it anymore and it never slowed down...I was sold...:biggthump