edge lowering control arms

[GPRACING]

I called AIM but they didnt know if they would work or not so I did my own research.According to the Moog online catalog,The ranger EDGE and explorer have the same part # upper arm.Im going to verify this with a friend of mine that works at a Ford parts Dept.Ill get him to compare the uppers,lowers and spindles.Ill let you guys know something this week.

 

[james t]

I had the Ranger uppers. They worked..... kinda..... after i had them extended 1"...... made the camber good but caster couldnt be set.

 

[GPRACING]

The ranger EDGE control arms are edge specific in the aim catalog.They are adustable so they should correct alot on the camber.

 

[Doug]

Wow I never new ford did something as crazy as make an sla 2wd ranger. I would imagine those arms would work then, i can't imagine the front suspension is any different from an explorer, but I've already been proven wrong once.

 

[lo xploder]

james t: I had the Ranger uppers. They worked..... kinda..... after i had them extended 1"...... made the camber good but caster couldnt be set.

i have read the thread on ur trying that. (man is it a book) caster can only be adjusted on the pass side 2 piece arm. the driver side has no adjustment. so did the arms just tilt the spindle too far forward or backword causing bumpsteet and wandering. was that the deal???

 

[james t]

I had them lengthened at a machine shop. The shop did exactly what i told them- lengthen the arms 1". Problem is, this tilted the wheel back (or forward, cant remember) and i could never get a decent caster reading. Honestly, i should've done a little more engineering. "Oh well" i thought "at least i now have good camber". I lived with the bad caster and poor ride quality (from the torsion flip) for maybe a year. I finally decided to give up after one night on I30 in Dallas. Coming over an overpass that sweeps left at about 75mph, there is a little drop off on one of the expansion joints- its raining, and when i go over this the truck swaps lanes in about 0.0005 seconds. It scared the **** out of me and if there would have been anyone next to me at the time i would have ran both of us off of an overpass that was 100ft tall.

 

[Hartman]

I'm going to tell you right now that they won't work

Fact:
Ranger Edges and 4WD Rangers 98+ have the same front suspension as an Explorer.

AIM (because they are complete morons as a company) are mistakenly passing off the Edge suspension as the same as the 2WD coil spring suspension.

 

[lo xploder]

I had them lengthened at a machine shop. The shop did exactly what i told them- lengthen the arms 1". Problem is, this tilted the wheel back (or forward, cant remember) and i could never get a decent caster reading.

ok, i know what caster is. how would increasing the overall length of a control arm affect forward or rearward tilt of the spindle. i am clueless????????

 

[GPRACING]

If they are passing it off as a reagular ranger arm why do they have a different part# for a coil spring ranger.It also says "Edge only",but I have to agree they ARE MOROONS.The reason the coil spring ranger arms cause the caster problems is because they have the ball joint in the center and are not side specific(left or right)The explorer arms have the balljoint offset to the rear of the truck.They are side specific.So you end up with neg caster(BAD!!!!) as james found out.I guess we will find out when someone trys them.

 

[lo xploder]

***The explorer arms have the balljoint offset to the rear of the truck.They are side specific.So you end up with neg caster(BAD!!!!)***

is this true??

and did anyone ever figure this whole edge arm deal out? are they really the same as the ranger ones or what?

does anyone know someone that wants to sell some used DJM ranger arms

 

[nobody2654]

Need help with 2004 Edge 4x2

my bud has a 2004 edge 4x2 and all i need is how to drop the front end besides the torsion bars and camber adjustment plates that we already have its only 2 inches of drop!! but the back we got 6 inches on my made flip kit in the rear!! Who and where do we get arms or spindles,oh and front shocks from??????!!!!!!!!!

 

[rlfknlorangers]

may not be in your range of things you want to attempt...but just get the two inches of bolt on drop or less then just ditch the torsion bars entirely and airbag the front end like you would any 2wd torsion bar truck i.e. tacoma, b2200....it wouldnt be to difficult to them make it as low as you want and still ride comfortably...once you drop a truck its never low enough and the owners tend to wanna bag it one day anyway

 

[Spas]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead, but you're all subscribed to it and i'm after some edjumicated answers


Thanks to James, we know that A) An Explorer spindle is different than Ranger (2wd, I assume). B) An Explorer upper control arm has the ball joint offset more towards the rear of the vehicle and is side-specific, whereas a Ranger upper control arm ball joint is centered and can be swapped from side to side. C) The DJM upper control arms will work as long as they're lengthened 3/4" but the caster will be irreversibly incorrect. Correct me if I'm wrong on any count!

Here's what I'm trying to figure out: What if you used Ranger uppers, lowers AND spindles on your 2wd Explorer? Would they use the same frame mounts? And what do you think would happen?

 

[james t]

Here's what I'm trying to figure out: What if you used Ranger uppers, lowers AND spindles on your 2wd Explorer? Would they use the same frame mounts? And what do you think would happen?

Edge Ranger or regular coil spring Ranger?

I think that would work with the Edge stuff. Grab a tape measure, and check the width between the mounting points on the Edge. Then, check how much seperation there is between the upper and lower arm at the frame. If it matches up to the Explorer stuff it should all bolt on.

 

[cleancutranger]

The coil spring trucks lower CA is a narrower width than the edge/explorer frame. but you can use a 2wd (coil spring) ranger spindle and the DJM uppers. The upper balljoint is 0.020" bigger on the edge/expo.


I just recently bagged my Sport Trac.

 

[Spas]

Thanks for the info guys... this stuff is driving me nuts. In order to run my specific wheels, I had to run a spacer because the hub hole wouldn't fit over the 2wd spindle. HATED the ride after that, the vibration was horrible

Looks like I'm going to take the redneck route and hack off a cv joint so that I can use the AWD/4wd spindle instead, since then I could run 13" Mustang rotors too. So that means no 2wd Ranger spindles, which means no coil spring mount 2wd lower control arms I think I'm just going to have a local shop build me a pair of upper arms, and modify the stock lower arms.

 

[cleancutranger]

coil spring 2wd lowers won't fit on an expo.