lazynorse
Well-Known Member
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- Mar 16, 2022
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- Washington State
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- Ford Ranger Crew Cab XLT FX4
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- Public Health
For those that care not about Instagram, prefer function over form and want a truly useful truck to operate within safe parameters, this is exactly the type of advice this forum needs.People here need a lesson on IFS and tire size.
33" is the max I'd rock on a Ranger no matter the lift on the stock arms. You can only lift an IFS vehicle so high with the factory control arms and subframe. Maximum travel is set in stone. The exception would be an extended travel coilover and a UCA, but you might get an inch of additional, we aren't talking 5 extra inches. Maybe more, but you will eventually bind, which is bad.
If you go with an APG or Bajakits extended kit, then you can go above a 33, because the geometry is different. Think of a pendulum. The factory arms has a fixed amount of travel. I'd then argue with anything bigger than a 33 on our front diff, you will increase the wear and tear and the probably something breaking offroad.
Lifting IFS just reduces your ratio of down travel. So lifting an IFS truck will allow you to fit a taller tire sitting still. But once you articulate, that is when the tire might no longer fit (Scrubbing, rub, binding). So right now, you can fit what ever size tire you want that can sit inside the wheel wells as long as you do not have any suspension travel, aka a SEMA build.
I could talk about this for 30 minutes at least.
But here is an example:
Say the factory front suspension has 10" of total travel. 5" up and 5" down. You then put a 2" topper spacer (Strut spacer), all that does is push your suspension further down it's travel arc. So now you have 7" of up travel and 3" of down travel, still only 10" total. You might now need an upper control arm to correct for camber and caster.
^ note I didn't say coilover or shock. Travel is determined but the combination of all of the parts, the arms, the CV, the tie rod, and the coilover.
An extended coilover, could grant you additional travel, but then you might end up binding something, whether it's the CV, tie rod, UCA on the coil bucket, lower control arm, etc.
The absolute worst thing to bind is the upper ball joint.
Note: I am not saying that an extended coil over does not work with our trucks, they do grant you a tiny bit more of total travel.
For record I've had several Jeeps on 37"+ tires.
I've had three IFS trucks on 33s.
The first 'lift' I plan on (whenever I actually get the truck I ordered) is a 32" tire. I'll make no decisions or mods until I've exercised that for a while in the PNW and eastern WA and OR deserts. I'm touring, camping, exploring first.. I'm not into dedicated rock crawling for the sake of it.
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