I wish lol. Doing anything with the rear besides shocks is probably out of the budget for the foreseeable future anyways.. gotta take care of the front first.4 link with coil overs and a bed cage. Could probably do it at factory ride height too...
Get custom springs made that are tapered, multi leaf, and military wrapped. Make sure there are a ton of leafs and very thin.
Not entirely true. The leafs from APG dont imcrease travel thanks to the amount of leafs in each pack. They have to use the Raptor Bump stop just so you dont loose the travel. Also if you notice those leafs dont provide any extra lift(with the exception of the HD version but it still adds more leafs). The Icon get close but again don't provide lift if you use the single leaf function. Doing that actually lowers the load capacity as well. The Old Man EMU Leafs on the otherhand will provide lift and travel without decreasing load. Depending on the leaf you might even increase load capacity(more of what you can carry while maintaining lift). To say the least I was very impressed with them. If I had another Ranger I'm sure it would get the Old Man EMU Suspension.From what I understand, they all are going to provide approximately the same amount of extended travel, which isn't much. This was APG's explanation below.
The correct way of increasing travel numbers in the rear is to install a longer leaf spring, typically paired with a longer shackle that's been moved back. Ford decided to mount the leaf springs directly under the frame rails on this truck, and placed the shackle right up against the rear bumper mount support on the frame. This poses two engineering problems. 1, your bump stop is under the frame, taking up precious inches of travel room between the top spring and the frame rail. That's why we give you Raptor bump stops in the kit, because they're much shorter than the Ranger's, and thus giving you back some inches of up-travel you lose with a taller leaf pack. 2, a traditional longer shackle would contact the rear bumper mount support on the frame at full bump.
Incorrect sir. Due to the amount of leafs in the leaf pack you don't gain any travel. You actually loose travel. Also with the Leafs installed the rear of the truck does not gain any lift. If you gain no lift and add a bunch of leafs to a leaf pack then you loose travel. That is why you get the Raptor Bump stops so you don't loose travel. That said I'm sure they will improve ride quality.I would take a look at the Deavers. (T92) They will increase travel.
When you have more leaves from someone like Deaver, they are thinner leaves, and thus more flexible. Now if you are making your own leaf packs out of multiple packs, you are 100% correct.Incorrect sir. Due to the amount of leafs in the leaf pack you don't gain any travel. You actually loose travel. Also with the Leafs installed the rear of the truck does not gain any lift. If you gain no lift and add a bunch of leafs to a leaf pack then you loose travel. That is why you get the Raptor Bump stops so you don't loose travel. That said I'm sure they will improve ride quality.
For light duty vehicles at least(wich the Ranger is classified under) a leak in a leak pack is arounf 1/8 of an inch thick. Not much by its self when you think about it. Now to do some math(dont hurt yourself here LOL). The factory leaf pack has 2 leafs. So about 1/4 inch thick. The basic Old Man EMU is 4 leafs so about 1/2 inch. Deaver leaf packs contain 10 if not mistaken(it still amazes me on how they ride well) and that would be 1 1/4 inch. Big difference there. How much lift does Deaver offer on the basic? None. Old Man EMU? 1.6 inches. What does Deaver(or APG at this point) offer? A shorter bump stop to make up for the Lost travel. How much shorter is the Raptor Bump Stop? No idea but it would be nice for someone to share.When you have more leaves from someone like Deaver, they are thinner leaves, and thus more flexible. Now if you are making your own leaf packs out of multiple packs, you are 100% correct.
The Raptor bumps are shorter, which can cause other issues. If you are running a reservoir on the rear, under full compression the passenger side reservoir can contact the axle. This can even happen with a factory bump stop.
Assuming you got them from APG I have questions that have not been answered.I tried out some Deaver leaf springs, and they offered both extra travel and a modest lift.