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Performance Upgrades - Maintenance - Modifications - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street Trucks. Covering the Explorer, ST, Sport, Lincoln Aviator, Sport Trac, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Aerostar. Featuring H.I. - Human Intelligence.
as far as i know, yes. im gonna call the shop first thing in the morning. if the ball joints are in, its a go. dont worry, ill give plenty of updates.
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they dont work. not only do they not work, they are ten times worse than the stock control arms. i have the truck sitting with only a 3" drop, and the camber adjusted all of the way out. it will not adjust out any farther. the wheels have so much negative camber that only the inside inch of the tires is touching the ground. there's really no point in taking it to the alignment shop, cuz this is all the camber im gonna get. i would have been 300% better off just using the stock control arms. end of rant.
If I'm understanding this right, you're saying they are not long enough? Like they dont make the top of the spindle stick out far enough? What if you had them cut and extended?
Arent the stock arms made up of 2 pieces that are bolted together? Any way of making extensions that bolt in?
they are on the truck, and with only a 3" drop(key flip), the camber is hideous. at 4" it was so far from drivable it wasnt even funny. its almost as if they are SHORTER than the stock control arms, because i know the camber wouldnt be near this bad with the stock control arms. something isnt right. ive calmed down a bit, and am now curious. if this works on a torsion bar ranger, it HAS to work on an explorer.
on a side note, i dont like the key flip at all. the key doesnt fit in the "pocket" upside down nowhere near as secure as it does right side up. i dont mind ghetto, but d@mn. just not what i was expecting, i guess.
Originally posted by 98FordX24 If I'm understanding this right, you're saying they are not long enough? Like they dont make the top of the spindle stick out far enough? What if you had them cut and extended?
you nailed it. the top of the spindle is basically too close to the truck. i could possibly cut and extend them, and that may be an option months from now when i calm down.
[/i]Arent the stock arms made up of 2 pieces that are bolted together? Any way of making extensions that bolt in? [/QUOTE] only the passenger side stocker was 2 piece. im not too big on extentions, as i helped a friend do this on an S10 years ago... we made them way more beefy than necessary, and it wouldnt hold an alignment over a month. too much trouble to do right. i would rather cut it all out and swap in a Mustang II front clip.
who said this? these arms were designed to work on a 2wd ranger which IS NOT torsion bar- theu have coil springs. Maybe you know someone that has done this on a 4x4 ranger.
I am wondering... how are you using the torsion bars on these control arms???????
are you only using the bottom arms? or wait..... i think i have this backwards.... are you only using the top arms? which allows you to keep the stock lower for the torsion? these were designed to work in pairs..... im sure if you used the matching lower everything would be fine.... but you would have to switch to coil spring, coil over, or airbags.
I believe JBHIll did this on a 2WD Tortion Bar ranger, might want to get on RangerPowerSports.com and see what he says.
I know when i had the Spicer camber adjusters on my stock arms and the Tortion Flip with the adjustment all the way out, the outsides of my tires didn't touch the ground.
Originally posted by Yomie I know when i had the Spicer camber adjusters on my stock arms and the Tortion Flip with the adjustment all the way out, the outsides of my tires didn't touch the ground.
its not the outsides, its the insides. essentially, the ranger arms made the negative camber worse instead of correcting it. think of a truck with air bags aired all the way down. my camber is much worse than that.
PUR PONY- i am using the upper arms only. Yomie did some research, and the coilsprung 98-up ranger upper control arms are the same part # as the 95-up explorer's. it was supposed to work in theory, but with theory, you cant foresee everything. it was a d@mn good idea, but it doesnt seem to work. i havent given up completely, as i cant change it back until Friday. until then, i plan on doing some thinking. not that it will help.lol
JB said it would work, but I don't think he's actually done it yet. This really sucks, I was planning on doing this. You might try to totally switch to a coil sprung front suspension?
im still having a hard time comprehending why it wont work. if the Ranger control arms are the exact same as the Explorer control arms, then it HAS TO WORK. either you have to use the lower control arm with the upper on a Ranger to get it to work, or the Ranger does not have the same upper control arm. if the stock arms interchange, then aftermarket ones would also have to interchange. this makes no sense whatsoever.
Well, the only thing I can think of ...its that the lower control arms of the Ranger are shorter or the Ranger balljoint mounts on the spindles are in diffrent locations. I'm thinking of doing the ranger control arm swap for air bags.
Right now I have a 3" drop on my Sport. I have a really good alignment guy near buy who told me that with a Camber adjustment kit from NAPA and grinding about an 1/8" outward on the upper control arm mount would give me the pos camber I would need. The only problem I had was with "bumpstreer" that was cured buy shimming the rack up about 1/8".
What we really need are some good pics of this 2WD Ranger front suspension.
i'll be a SOB... thats what it is!!! the Ranger spindle is different!!! not that this helps me, but at least i can stop wondering why two objects with the same part # wouldnt interchange. thank you.
as far as opening up the upper arm mount, it would be tough to get to. not impossible, but tough non the less.
here is something else i thought of...
new idea/possible phase II
i have an aqaintance that works at a very reputable local machine shop. i am now thinking about carrying him the DJM arms, and asking him what he thinks about either lengthening them, or making new ones that are longer. just looking at the arms, there really is nothing to it. even if i had to get some made, im thinking it wouldnt cost too much. it will be Tuesday before i can get them there... what do you guys think? wouldnt hurt to ask?
Yup, I was thinking of doing the same thing. I was hoping for an easy way out. Are the ball joints in the Ranger control arms removable? That's one reason I was looking for alternatives, since the X control arms/balljoints are one piece. It's a real pain when you have to mic the taper of the ball joint. Could you Imagine going to you local parts store saying that you want a balljoint with a taper of .567 to like .267 and a head of 1.783 HEHE
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