rangergt
05-09-2010, 07:30 PM
I thought I'd detail a bit about my rear suspension as I'm sure some of you know I preach leaf springs. I'm not against any other setups it's just that the ranger is already equipped with them and and when properly set up can work very effective, especially considering some guys have run in the 7's with leaf springs and 10" slicks.
My leaf springs are stock moved in board 1" and lowered 2.5". I machined a solid aluminum bushing with a stainless steel sleeve for the front spring eye and the rear shackles have polyuerathane bushings. I use southside machine lift bars (not in business any longer) which work similar to the caltrac bars, just the caltracs have a little more adjustability. If I didn't already have the southsides I'd make up some caltracs but the southside do work well. I am using lakewood drag shocks (40310), they are a 70/30 street/strip shock. The only problem is that there extended length is shorter than advertised. There E.L. is 20.5" and they were advertised at 21.75". Now I'll have to make new upper mounts for the shock to get proper extension. These shocks bolt in other wise, the reason I selected them and they MAY fit suspensions with 4" lowering but I would definetly check it out to verify that before using them.
Another key component to my suspension setup is a 30" tall tire. Southside bars hit hard and the 30" tall tire has a lot of side wall to help absorb the shock. I'm not saying this is a must have ultimate setup or anything, just sharing with you guys what I have done.
My leaf springs are stock moved in board 1" and lowered 2.5". I machined a solid aluminum bushing with a stainless steel sleeve for the front spring eye and the rear shackles have polyuerathane bushings. I use southside machine lift bars (not in business any longer) which work similar to the caltrac bars, just the caltracs have a little more adjustability. If I didn't already have the southsides I'd make up some caltracs but the southside do work well. I am using lakewood drag shocks (40310), they are a 70/30 street/strip shock. The only problem is that there extended length is shorter than advertised. There E.L. is 20.5" and they were advertised at 21.75". Now I'll have to make new upper mounts for the shock to get proper extension. These shocks bolt in other wise, the reason I selected them and they MAY fit suspensions with 4" lowering but I would definetly check it out to verify that before using them.
Another key component to my suspension setup is a 30" tall tire. Southside bars hit hard and the 30" tall tire has a lot of side wall to help absorb the shock. I'm not saying this is a must have ultimate setup or anything, just sharing with you guys what I have done.