Completed Project Kirby's 1991 Ranger Build Up

[Kirby N.]

My exploder used to do the three wheel thing- I dont know if it was the rear detroit locker, being taller, more weight in the rear or not being as wide- but my ranger doesn't do that. I dont know about moving the lower mount 90 degrees. The shocks need to move on both axis' due to trackbar and due to radius arms- so I dont know if that would fix it, but Ill look into it.

Maybe the Ranger doesn’t carry a front wheel due to the longer radius arms. I ran a stock length eb style arm setup on my exploder with a wrist unpinned for off-road. I suppose the Ranger has more travel with less bind with the longer arms all the time. I think with an exploder arm unpinned, they were similar travel. Maybe 12” on the exploder. I was running rancho rs9000 shocks. And it is interesting how much the radius arm bind helps with handling and road manners. My exploder drove night and day different with the pin out on the road.

 

[BKennedy]

I think the tire lift with the Explorer was definitely due to the stock length radius arms and shorter axle.

Did you already try moving the lower shock mount up on the radius arm?

 

[Kirby N.]

I think the tire lift with the Explorer was definitely due to the stock length radius arms and shorter axle.

Did you already try moving the lower shock mount up on the radius arm?

I have it where it is so that I can get the most up travel out of these 14” shocks and still utilize the droop. It uses almost all of the shock travel.

 

[RangerX]

I think a rear sway bar would
Probably help my handling and force the front beams to work even harder.

Jamie, Brett once told me that exactly. He recommended I run a rear sway.

 

[410Fortune]

Brett taught me this and so did Kris gillbaugh? I think his name was.. the dude with the really nice black explorer and long travel ttb… his buddy winter built the suspension? Can’t remember exactly it was at truckhaven. He watched my bii work and then was like a rear swaybar would really help you and he explained why.
I never did add one lol
I keep swaybars on my big rigs that go down the highway and tow

 

[BKennedy]

I looked into sway bars a few years ago because my Explorer has an occasional sudden wiggle in the rear while high speed dirt road cornering, and lots of low speed body roll on the highway. Several people in the off road industry recommended upgrading the rear shocks first. If I was going to install a sway bar, the torsion bar type sway bar manufacturer I talked to said it would be more effective on the rear with an Explorer. 75% of the wiggle went away when I swapped out the Maxxis Razr's for Grabber X3's. I think it was the softer sidewall on the Razr's. I learned to live with the body roll.

I remember Kris, he helped out a lot when I was doing my SAS. Knows his stuff. He's the one that told me to build a multi-purpose off roader for going fast and it will crawl just fine. He was right. Purpose built rock crawlers might crawl a little better, but they suck going fast.

 

[RangerX]

Brett taught me this and so did Kris gillbaugh? I think his name was.. the dude with the really nice black explorer and long travel ttb… his buddy winter built the suspension? Can’t remember exactly it was at truckhaven. He watched my bii work and then was like a rear swaybar would really help you and he explained why.

Oh geez, my memory is faulty. It wasn’t Brett that told me.
Paul Bredehoft had the killer black gen1, and Colin’s friend Winter was the builder. Winter told me the rear sway tip.

 

[BKennedy]

Oh geez, my memory is faulty. It wasn’t Brett that told me.
Paul Bredehoft had the killer black gen1, and Colin’s friend Winter was the builder. Winter told me the rear sway tip.

I think Winter is a mechanical engineer. The first Winter version worked, then version two never got finished.

 

[410Fortune]

Paul!! That’s the explorer swing set steering *****in