Budget long travel

[Bentley528]

i am ging to be building a long travel budget ranger

front suspension
f150 lift springs or 5" xj lift coils
beefed up tough country drop brackets
prolly just make my own extended radius arms
pro comp shocks extended length shocks 21"-36"

rear suspension
f150 leaf main leaf with xj leafs and ranger leafs for the rest
shackle flip with longer shackle and full size chevy shackle mount
pro comp shocks extended length shocks 21" -36"

gunna make my own snorkel and straight exhaust

any advice before i start

 

[AaronC]

Yeah screw drop brackets.

If you have the ability to build your own radius arms, you should be able to handle a cut and turn on your ttbs..

 

[Bentley528]

i am only gunna extend the factory ones with round stock of very thick wall and move the factory mount back about a foot its very cheap and should hold pretty good for the price to fix if it breaks had a buddy do it once for an offroad truck and they were good he also didnt ride them as rough as i will just going to do it and see if it breaks then i will build better beams

 

[Zachalanche]

i am only gunna extend the factory ones with round stock of very thick wall and move the factory mount back about a foot its very cheap and should hold pretty good for the price to fix if it breaks had a buddy do it once for an offroad truck and they were good he also didnt ride them as rough as i will just going to do it and see if it breaks then i will build better beams

you may want to consider also reinforcing the part where the radius arm bolts to the beam. and perhaps box the back of the radius arm.

 

[disciplerocks]

f150 leaf main leaf with xj leafs and ranger leafs for the rest
shackle flip with longer shackle and full size chevy shackle mount

This is confusing me. If you flip the shackle without longer leafs, you will end up lowering it. And where did you get the idea for that frankenstein leaf pack?

 

[AaronC]

i am only gunna extend the factory ones with round stock of very thick wall and move the factory mount back about a foot its very cheap and should hold pretty good for the price to fix if it breaks had a buddy do it once for an offroad truck and they were good he also didnt ride them as rough as i will just going to do it and see if it breaks then i will build better beams

I know what you are planning on doing with the factory radius arms..

I am saying to do a cut and turn setup on the beams instead of drop brackets.


Words of advice on moving the stock radius arm cross member back.

-If you extend the radius arms to where the bushing lands before the transmission x member you will have to clearance the radius arm cross member to clear the body mounts.. If you extend them to where the radius arm bushings land behind the transmission x member, you will lose up travel on the passenger side.. Your better off building some simple mounts instead of using the stock radius arm x member..

I just tried to do it and gave up on it because I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with the finished product..

 

[Bentley528]

im doing it simple because i am going to have a welding shop do my extended beams cause im on a very tight budget and dont have a welder hence the cheap and easy to reinforce drop brackets havent worked in like 3 years other than my national gaurd so i dont make a whole lot

the frankenstien leaf pack came in because you want as many soft springs instead of a couple thick ones and jeep xj springs are very soft and the rangers are a little thicker and the f150 springs are real thick so i will only use the main for the lenght

and the lowering suspension is why im going to run the chevy shackle mount cause its very long and will drop the shackle down so i can runa long shackle and shackle mount without loosing any height

not looking for a super high performer just something i can have some fun in at the doons and its going to be my dd

 

[Bentley528]

i was also thinking for getting rid of the factory bushing and maknig my factory radius arm threaded and running a hiem join and making a simple mount out of some 1/4in steel plate would this work keep im mind not a super performer just a weekend beat and beat till it breaks and fix it on the cheap out of junk yards parts thats the main reason im ding this is so if it breaks a few bucks at the junk yard and i can be back to having fun again that way im not breaking a super expensive kit and thanks for all the advice

 

[subydrift]

Usually the super expensive kits are more expensive because they won't break no matter how hard you beat on them. If your looking to do this on the cheap and go break it I wouldn't bother with heims. I doubt it will be your radius arm bushings that will break before anything else does. And if your looking for some shitty setup to replace with JY parts then why do all this custom work? Why not do the super cheap stuff like F-250 shock towers, box in the radius arms, cut and turn your stock beams and brace them and then spend a little extra money on the shocks because that is where you'll notice the most difference.

And those Chevy hangers look like they position the shackle mount out further from the frame than the stock ranger hangers. I'd look into that first cause if they are out further then those won't work.

 

[Bentley528]

i planned on doing the f250 shock towers cause they are going to give me a lot more room to run taller shocks
the problem i have with running shocks is i have to run single monotube shocks for the competitions i will be running the truck in on the weekends its a stock truck competition and thats the big rule
i plan on cutting the bed open a little bit so i can run a mini bed cage for taller shocks in the back and for a weight rack so i can run weight so it will jump better
i planned on boxing the radius arms when i extend them but if you dont think the factory location will be a weak point then i wont worry bout them till they break
i was going to run the xj coil cause i was told that they fit good and they have the right ppi for the rangers so they arnt to stiff but what coils should i run for lift cause i will be running 265/75/16 tires on it and dont want them smashing in to much its still going to be my DD in the end just want it to be to handle jumping better than stock trucks while being within the rules
and also keep telling things to improve cause i dont want to do somethings like move the radius arms back if im going to be moving two steps backwards with one step forwards thanks again everyone for all the advise
theres the link for a video of me two years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h3LeLFHB5c&feature=related

 

[Bentley528]

i am going to be doing a build up thread on it as i start it and will inform you guys of it i get home from tennessee on sunday an i will start the build up prolly tuesday

im gunna check into those shackle mounts the ones i looked at for a full size f150 and the chevy ones looked the same just longer yet i will check and when i start i will let you know but im going to make some if i cant find some of the self

plus the reason i am not going to be doing the cut and turn is cause im working out of my parents garage and they dont let me have it for a few days to leave my truck in there so when i work on it have to be able to drive it out again same day and the cut and turn will take more than a day to modify and install

please keep telling me how to improve cause im new to the long travel off road most of the vehicles i lift dont requir flex just lift for mudding but i like to go fast and wheel in the woods so thanks for all the good advice

 

[Bentley528]

here is the link to the build up thread
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94572

 

[doyouquaxu]

why did you start a second thread when this one could have worked?

 

[Bentley528]

my account wasnt letting get to this one when i was going to start putting info on the truck so i started a new one and of course i started that one yesterday now it lets me get to this one today

 

[Bentley528]

just found out that my driverside spring perch is bent and touching the frame is this a problem and is ther a fix for it