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3/4 drop 99 ranger


Junglejoe

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Is the only way to lower the rears of these trucks is with a flip kit? That doesn't look to safe! My truck will be on sticky tires at the track.. Any other options?
What's the best place to getthw kit?
 


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If you're drag racing I will assume you are going to use, at the minimum, slapper bars. That will take the majority of the torque away from the flip kit. I made my own flip kit. If you want to do something other than a flip kit, then weld new spring perches on the axle.
 

Junglejoe

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Yeah Ill be using. Cal tracs...
But do they make drop leaf springs? I have been looking and don't see any. I do see hangers and shackles.. Is that a 3 inch rear drop?
 

JoshT

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Yes, there may be other options, but they may not get exactly 4" of drop.

You can flip the rear spring hangars and shackles which will give you about a 2" drop. Then add a set of lift/lower shackles like the BellTech 6400 shackles, which will lower it about another 1-2" depending on which bolt hole you use in the shackle. A similar set of shackles can be found at your local parts store, they are sold for Chevy trucks, but are the same thing. You probably won't get a true 4" of drop from this, but will probably be in the 3-4" range.

There's also the option of using an Explorer axle. They were all mounted above the axle, so installing one in a Ranger would be same as axle flip brackets. You've also got the option of getting a 31 spline axle and disc brakes with the swap. The former seems like it might be a good thing for your intended use. This swap will also get you closer to a 5 inch drop, but you could use the same shackles above to get it back up a little bit. The explorer's also have an anti-wrap bars that you might be able to adapt to your build.


You can find more about these in the tech section.
 

Junglejoe

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Yeah Josh , I know all about the 8.8 swap. I have one out of a ranger though.I was just trying to figure out the best and most safe to lower it. I'm not dead set on 4 inch.. It can be 5 a long as it rides good. I'm on a 315/35/17 rear tire and need to get rid of some air space between the fender and tire
 

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I want to say that there used to be drop leafs available, or at least certain style of factory leaf that would net a drop if installed in place of a regular leaf pack. I can't recall if it was Rangers or Explorers, but some came with a composite mono leaf spring in the back. I think it gave a little drop when installed in place of a standard steel leaf pack, but it wasn't much. I also have a hard time imagining it holding up to your intended use very well.

As mentioned the shackle swap and hangar flip combo will get you in the ball park of 4" as well and keeps the axle under the springs so not need to modify it swap it. As long as you use a good grade 8 bolt when mounting the hangar back to the frame, it's just as safe as when it left the factory.

Back when RPS was still around I recall people talking about flipping the front hangar bracket as well for more drop. I don't remember how much drop it added, but I think it required use of a frame notch. Wish that site was still around, this one is great, but they were more oriented to the lowering crowd and had collected lot more info about it. The might still have a face book group.

The biggest issue you'd run into with either that or the axle flip is frame clearance. Fender clearance might be an issue depending on your tire size, but I can't picture the size you listed on a Ranger so can't say how it'd fit there.
 

Junglejoe

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I've found drop leaves.. At belltech.
Now to decide on the drop... 3/4....3/5 or 4/5
 

don4331

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As mentioned the shackle swap and hangar flip combo will get you in the ball park of 4" as well and keeps the axle under the springs so not need to modify it swap it. As long as you use a good grade 8 bolt when mounting the hangar back to the frame, it's just as safe as when it left the factory.
Shackle swap/hanger flip combo moves the back end of the springs up about 4", but as the axle is a little forward of center, you get about 2" of lowering - OK, for "leveling", not really lowering. The good part is - it is quick, easy and if you don't like it, you can reverse it.

You can also replace the Ranger rear hangers with Chevrolet Silverado hangers and get another couple inches, Chevrolet hangers are considerably below the frame, but that requires drilling some holes in frame to mount them.

Given the cheap steel the Ranger frame is made out of, grade 8 bolts are overkill. But this is suspension and price delta between 8 - grade 8 bolts and grade 5s is only pennies. (I used 4 pair of the bolts Ford mounts the hangers on OEM but they were lying in the bucket of spare parts.

Front hanger swap/flip raises front of the spring something crazy - like 8"; almost 5" at axle and has a dramatic impact on pinion angle. It destroys the ability of the truck to function as a truck, IMO.

Personally, I would the rear hanger swap just to see what it looks like before I spent real money on springs - then you know exactly what you want.

Also, I wouldn't go more than 3" on front springs - you're losing to much travel. If you want more its time to change to the DJM arms, again IMHO.
 

Junglejoe

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Shackle swap/hanger flip combo moves the back end of the springs up about 4", but as the axle is a little forward of center, you get about 2" of lowering - OK, for "leveling", not really lowering. The good part is - it is quick, easy and if you don't like it, you can reverse it.

You can also replace the Ranger rear hangers with Chevrolet Silverado hangers and get another couple inches, Chevrolet hangers are considerably below the frame, but that requires drilling some holes in frame to mount them.

Given the cheap steel the Ranger frame is made out of, grade 8 bolts are overkill. But this is suspension and price delta between 8 - grade 8 bolts and grade 5s is only pennies. (I used 4 pair of the bolts Ford mounts the hangers on OEM but they were lying in the bucket of spare parts.

Front hanger swap/flip raises front of the spring something crazy - like 8"; almost 5" at axle and has a dramatic impact on pinion angle. It destroys the ability of the truck to function as a truck, IMO.

Personally, I would the rear hanger swap just to see what it looks like before I spent real money on springs - then you know exactly what you want.

Also, I wouldn't go more than 3" on front springs - you're losing to much travel. If you want more its time to change to the DJM arms, again IMHO.
Thanks for the info. I have 315/35/17"s on the rear so it has to come down back there and 255/40's up front
 

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