although having owned and destroyed a Skyjacker lift and two sets of rear leaf springs now, their quality is definitely not what it should be for the price.
Most of the common brands of TTB lift kits are designed to fit larger tires and that's about all - you gain very little performance offroad from them.
I agree most of the kits for our trucks are very dated nowadays (and is why I pieced everything together separately for my BII, many components which were not even made for RBVs). The last major revision to Skyjacker's kits I recall was in the mid-'90s, aside from them going from tube-style extended radius arms to boxed-plate ones about 8 (?) years ago. James Duff's Stage-III kit could be considered somewhat more current, but they still have some of the same issues common to most other kits (incomplete/improper steering corrections for example).
The Skyjacker FR34s on my Ranger are over 20 years old now. I've had no issues at all with them (and it's been wheeled a lot too).
Another buddy of mine sports FR36s... He did have one of the the bottom leaves break, BUT he also continued to run them with the overload leafs splayed apart and it broke right where the edge of the OL leaf was grinding into the leaf above it. He replaced them with the same about 10 years ago (now keeping the OL leafs in check) and no more issues.
I also bent an FR34 under my BII, except that I've also bent more than half-dozen other brand & type OE-fitment springs under that thing too, until I finally went to Chevy 63-inchers.
So basically, if they're installed properly and not overloaded to the extreme with big 35"+ tires torquing on them, I think they will work out fine for the OP here.
Short of going to Chevy 63s, I still think they are among the best options available (I have not used Deaver leaf springs though, I know many do regard them highly also).
I was gonna guess that the OP's lift is Pro-Comp since the parts appear to be silver-gray (hasn't been made since the early '90s). IIRC Rough Country has always been black, and I think RC also has a couple "speed holes" on the face of the bracket for the driverside beam.
×2 on the axle bracket. A few guys here, rather than replace it, have simply cut off the offending part of the plate & bracket, then welded the two pieces together to reinforce it. If budget isn't real tight though, I'd say just swap it for something decent.
I bow to your experience. I'm still learning. However I still think a swaybar will have an effect on ride handling. The swaybar connects the two axles and the springs/shocks. So if you hit a bump it's not just the one side spring/shock that is hit but the other side too. In the pic it looks like he may have a large bar, perhaps a 1", and that would definitely stiffen up the ride, re; bumps/potholes/cornering. It's also very easy to disconnect and check.
You're absolutely correct. A stiff swaybar will create a lot of side-side rocking & tossing when one side hits a bump or undulation (this is quite noticeable on SLA IFS trucks with their huge swaybars) I still think overall the shocks & springs come before it though (at least for ride smoothness, if not handling).
I'm noticing that Fox doesn't sell the remote reservoir shocks for this truck specifically. Will proper length ones just bolt up or will I have to build a bracket or something?
You just need to make sure the shocks are the right length and have the correct mounts (stem-upper + eye-lower for front, eye & eye for the rear). You may need to get or make a bracket to mount the reservoirs though, as there isn't enough room up front to have it beside the shock itself.
They also have a number of custom valving options available... If you don't specify, I think they give you 40/60 (though it might be stiffer for stem-type shocks, not sure). I have 30/90 (F) and 30/80 (R) on mine and I've thought of going maybe to 40/90 all around (mainly because, as I eluded to above, I typically carry a lot of weight in the rear of mine). Your Supercab truck should be a bit heavier on the front than my BII, so maybe 45/90 or something like that (rear might be good with 30/70 or 30/80 if you don't haul heavy loads often).
I'll concede I do need to play around with mine some more to get a better feel of the different valving options, but I think the above should still be well within the ballpark. Couldn't hurt to speak with a Fox tech (which is what I did initially) and maybe give them some idea what you want for ride quality.
Also, you recommended the FA600 pitman arm, but that part says it's for 6-8" lifts, the FA400 says it's for 4-6" lifts. Is there a reason for the FA600?
See here:
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2008/steering_tech.htm
Please don't ask me why they are like this, I haven't a damn clue, but virtually every kit made for these trucks since the very beginning comes up two or more inches short on the steering (and almost guaranteed that is why yours is the way it is). It's actually given these suspensions a bad rap for tire wear & handling because of being so common, when it's never been any fault of the suspension itself.
Ron, I do agree with you an extremely stiff spring would make for an awful ride, but they'd have to be pretty dang stiff to make it worse than a crappy set of shocks. I think Fox shocks with Skyjacker springs would work out very well for the OP here. A set of swaybar disconnects can be used also which would make barreling down a rutted road a lot smoother as well (and of course allowing for better articulation too).