Anybody planning to lower their 2019 Ranger?

[BassRanger]

Congrats Bass! Quick question. Is it just the photo angle or is the rear wheel no longer centered in the wheel well as a result of the change in geometry?

Love the ride height, btw! Looks about where my 3G Ranger with larger tires sat in stock suspension form.

Honestly I can't tell. Even at stock height it looks like the rear wheels favor the front of the bed a bit , but it likely is more foward the stock.

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[BassRanger]

How is rear bump travel?

 

[Doc]

Rear wheels are too far forward…this kit is not for me.
Geometry is wrong …

 

[TechnicallyReal]

Rear wheels are too far forward…this kit is not for me.
Geometry is wrong …

Excuse my ignorance, but can't that be accounted for by moving the axle further back on the leaf? I'm new to this..

 

[Doc]

Excuse my ignorance, but can't that be accounted for by moving the axle further back on the leaf? I'm new to this..

I Don’t know, but I’ve been through this with the FreakRide suspension, easier to adjust by changing shocks, but the rear is coil over with adjustable links…

 

[Big Blue]

Excuse my ignorance, but can't that be accounted for by moving the axle further back on the leaf? I'm new to this..

There are locating pins built into the spring that hold the axle saddle in position. Would need offset saddles to change. Wouldn't want the axle to move around while your driving.

 

[TechnicallyReal]

There are locating pins built into the spring that hold the axle saddle in position. Would need offset saddles to change. Wouldn't want the axle to move around while your driving.

Gotcha, that makes sense. It always kinda worried me, thinking that the axle could potentially move down the leaf, if I hit something like a curb. Guess I don't have to worry about that lol

 

[Kevin Franklin]

Excuse my ignorance, but can't that be accounted for by moving the axle further back on the leaf? I'm new to this..

The wheelbase can be adjusted. The saddle would have to be modified by slotting what is currently a hole used for alignment. I will have all of my parts in by tomorrow and will record the wheelbase specs prior to and after the installation. If I find that the wheel base has been altered dramatically or if I find the tire to wheel opening gaps not to my liking, I will make the adjustments and share the information on this page. As long as the wheelbase is within 4mm from side to side, there will be no tracking issues. These are specs used and applied by I-Car and used in collision repair. The 4mm tolerance is the average allowable tolerance as listed by Car-O-Liner

 

[Doc]

The wheelbase can be adjusted. The saddle would have to be modified by slotting what is currently a hole used for alignment. I will have all of my parts in by tomorrow and will record the wheelbase specs prior to and after the installation. If I find that the wheel base has been altered dramatically or if I find the tire to wheel opening gaps not to my liking, I will make the adjustments and share the information on this page. As long as the wheelbase is within 4mm from side to side, there will be no tracking issues. These are specs used and applied by I-Car and used in collision repair. The 4mm tolerance is the average allowable tolerance as listed by Car-O-Liner

Yup Belltech should have done that already with a new set of springs in the kit ready to go…I thought the price was kinda cheap, but I thought it would include new springs..
my bad ..

 

[Big Blue]

The wheelbase can be adjusted. The saddle would have to be modified by slotting what is currently a hole used for alignment. I will have all of my parts in by tomorrow and will record the wheelbase specs prior to and after the installation. If I find that the wheel base has been altered dramatically or if I find the tire to wheel opening gaps not to my liking, I will make the adjustments and share the information on this page. As long as the wheelbase is within 4mm from side to side, there will be no tracking issues. These are specs used and applied by I-Car and used in collision repair. The 4mm tolerance is the average allowable tolerance as listed by Car-O-Liner

By modifying the alignment hole in the saddle you just gave the axle the ability to move around under load. In drive it will try to move the axle forward and reverse backward, maybe not always evenly.

 

[Rinn69]

You could plug weld the hole and re-drill a new one, providing you take good measurements for the new location. Or a cold-rolled steel (CRS) rod could be inserted, welded in place with a E-7018 rod (low-hydrogen), and re-drilled, if the saddle was made of CRS.

 

[Doc]

You could plug weld the hole and re-drill a new one, providing you take good measurements for the new location. Or a cold-rolled steel (CRS) rod could be inserted, welded in place with a E-7018 rod (low-hydrogen), and re-drilled, if the saddle was made of CRS.

Out of my league…but changing position will throw off geometry ..
Regards

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Out of my league…but changing position will throw off geometry ..
Regards

With the resources of Ford behind us, Livernoise and I started to develop an axle flip for our SCCA Rangers. I will not bore you with the details as it is old hat now. Our first handling track attempt was halted with the fact the U bolts could not hold the axle. We needed to pilot the flip brackets on the spring center bolt...Even when we tightened the crap out of the U bolts... We learned a lot...

BTW...if God wants to punish you in your next life...He/She will make you a shackle bracket...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[Kevin Franklin]

Got it all covered fellows. I should have stated that I would be only using a slot to locate and align the rear axle, I had no intentions of leaving slotted. I make the mistake of assuming that everyone has fabricating and machining experience and omitted all those details. To me, it's second nature, just like understanding the baseball strike zone. I've been exposed to both my whole life. I just assumed incorrectly. Anyway, if the flip kit arrives today as FedEx indicates it will, I will have several updates by the end of the weekend and hopefully be able to provide better details for you all

 

[Kevin Franklin]

FedEx just dropped off the flip kit! I will keep you posted the best I can provided I survive over the few days

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