Anybody planning to lower their 2019 Ranger?

[Aonarch]

I'm surprised no one has gone air-ride.

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[Jwells96]

No problem. When I spoke to Belltech a few months ago, they actually said their front drop kit would only allow it to drop 2.75"

With the expensive front drop I have, you can actually drop it down 5+", but that's only for show, it will not be drive-able at that height... I don't have the awesome rear coilover drop from Control Freaks, but it'll drop the rear 6+"

Wheel size and offset as well as tire size are going to be what makes the difference in getting it that low. I don't think the rear is an issue, but since the front wheels have to turn and all, wheel/tire choice will play a huge factor here! I was cloning the SEMA truck, so I did months of research and planning to find as much as possible on what they used!

You don't want too much "sidewall", on your wheels, when you drop it. I would look at something taller than an 18" wheel. You could do a 22" wheel and have a little more sidewall than normal, that would also fill in the fender gaps.

He's a pic of the SCT truck sitting 5.50" front and 6"+ rear, but they did inform me, that this was for the "cool factor" only....

Since I've been called the grammar police by many, including my illiterate wife, I have fixed my misspelled forum name and a few other things in your paragraph

My puppies woke us up an hour ago, so I'm going to try to go back to sleep now...?

Sorry for all the grammar errors, I was half a sleep as well when posting.

Yeah my plan is to go with the same wheel set up as you, since I was able to find a hell of a deal on the wheels. Sometimes looking at pictures the belltech drop seems to appear lower than 2.75” (As in SelfMade’s photo above).

Honestly at This point I need to get the pieces all together and see how they fall. The truck has and will be my daily, and I just want some better performance for the Canyons when I decide to go for a Canyon run here in beautiful So-Cal.

 

[Mirage775]

Sorry for all the grammar errors, I was half a sleep as well when posting.

Yeah my plan is to go with the same wheel set up as you, since I was able to find a hell of a deal on the wheels. Sometimes looking at pictures the Belltech drop seems to appear lower than 2.75” (As in SelfMade’s photo above).

Honestly at This point I need to get the pieces all together and see how they fall. The truck has and will be my daily, and I just want some better performance for the Canyons when I decide to go for a Canyon run here in beautiful So-Cal.

No problem.

Just remember, my wheel/tire choices were about $2500 shipped.

 

[Jwells96]

No problem.

Just remember, my wheel/tire choices were about $2500 shipped.

Yessir, found a set of the wheels for 1300 and tires look like about 800 installed. My build will be a much smaller fortune but maybe one day it will get to your scale.

 

[Gsxrdoug]

Dang I just want to do a 2/4 drop on my stock wheels. I like them with the 1" spacer.

 

[Mirage775]

Jason,
Thanks so much for these pictures.
Man looking at your truck is such and inspiration to my build, i ordered the belltech 3/6 kit today (no idea when ill get it) and will be picking up some 605s friday (found a good deal) just need to decide bronze or black. I have a magnetic gray truck, additionally need to order the fender flares to send them off to paint to get them matched. It wont be black like yours but I’m excited to share once I can finally start. I’ve been dreaming about doing this build since I bought my truck in 2019. Any advice on any steps that I will be taking will be much appreciated.

Jared,

Somehow, I misread or missed this reply last night? Method Racing came out with the 605's in Titanium, which looks delicious!

Also, if you're wanting an all blacked out look, you'll have to either paint the center caps or buy the black ones and you'll also have to buy the bead lock black bolts too.

 

[Jwells96]

Jared,

Somehow, I misread or missed this reply last night? Method Racing came out with the 605's in Titanium, which looks delicious!

Also, if you're wanting an all blacked out look, you'll have to either paint the center caps or buy the black ones and you'll also have to buy the bead lock black bolts too.

That new color is for sure dreamy, if I hadn’t found such a good deal I’d consider it. How do you feel bronze would look with a Magnetic Grey truck? I’ve always wanted bronze wheels. Since my truck isn't black I don’t know if I can fully accomplish the all black look such as yours.
Thanks again for all your guidance on this.

 

[Mirage775]

That new color is for sure dreamy, if I hadn’t found such a good deal I’d consider it. How do you feel bronze would look with a Magnetic Grey truck? I’ve always wanted bronze wheels. Since my truck isn't black I don’t know if I can fully accomplish the all black look such as yours.
Thanks again for all your guidance on this.

I'm not a fan of mixing tans(bronze) and greys or tan with chrome, but that's just my opinion. I do like the bronze wheels on blue vehicles though. It's your truck, your decision

If I'd known they were releasing that color what, I would've ordered my truck is a similar color, but at the time, I was cloning the SCT truck, so ordering black was the plan. I regret it now, LOL!

 

[Mirage775]

I dropped the rear another 1" earlier today and snapped a pic. What do yall think now?

 

[Jwells96]

I dropped the rear another 1" earlier today and snapped a pic. What do yall think now?

Wow and to think I thought it couldnt look better.. Here I am patiently waiting tapping my foot for all my parts to arrive. I had to order the Air Design flares from Ford Direct as they actually are a factory part and Air Design told me 4-6 weeks. P# VKB3Z16268H hopefully I can get them painted.

 

[Mirage775]

Wow and to think I thought it couldn't look better.. Here I am patiently waiting tapping my foot for all my parts to arrive. I had to order the Air Design flares from Ford Direct as they actually are a factory part and Air Design told me 4-6 weeks. P# VKB3Z16268H hopefully I can get them painted.

Ford just sells them, because Air Design makes them... Ford sells a bunch of Air Designs parts on their website. I bought mine directly from Air Design and it took 2 months +/-... Then, another few weeks to get them painted from a friend of my fathers... Do the prep work, exactly like the directions say too, since these flares don't screw into the sheet metal, like most of them... Also, the Super Bolts are not black, as I had to paint mine to match my murdered out theme. After dealing with Air Design once, I'll never buy from them again... CS is piss poor awful!

FYI, Ford is going to contact Air Design to make the flares, so it's most likely going to take 4-6 weeks, if not longer to get them from Ford... Just my opinion.

 

[Jwells96]

Ford just sells them, because Air Design makes them... Ford sells a bunch of Air Designs parts on their website. I bought mine directly from Air Design and it took 2 months +/-... Then, another few weeks to get them painted from a friend of my fathers... Do the prep work, exactly like the directions say too, since these flares don't screw into the sheet metal, like most of them... Also, the Super Bolts are not black, as I had to paint mine to match my murdered out theme. After dealing with Air Design once, I'll never buy from them again... CS is piss poor awful!

FYI, Ford is going to contact Air Design to make the flares, so it's most likely going to take 4-6 weeks, if not longer to get them from Ford... Just my opinion.

For sure makes sense, I just couldn't find another option and I liked the fact that it extends to the front bump. If it ends up being 4-6 weeks for them then so be it, I will probably have to rock it Fender Flare-less for a little while or stall the build till everything arrives.
I got the same feeling from Air Design when calling, basically told me who knows and when I pressed for more information I got put on hold for about 10-15 minutes to get the same answer as he told me before.
I did just find @ShiftinPanda17 's build and he has the same color as mine running the same offset as you I believe which the tire poke doesn't look too bad. Have you done any backroad driving with your new set up? How does it handle in the Canyons if you have. Also any vibrations when cruising on the free-way? I drive SOCAL freeways almost everyday cruising 75+ normally.

 

[Mirage775]

For sure makes sense, I just couldn't find another option and I liked the fact that it extends to the front bump. If it ends up being 4-6 weeks for them then so be it, I will probably have to rock it Fender Flare-less for a little while or stall the build till everything arrives.
I got the same feeling from Air Design when calling, basically told me who knows and when I pressed for more information I got put on hold for about 10-15 minutes to get the same answer as he told me before.
I did just find @ShiftinPanda17 's build and he has the same color as mine running the same offset as you I believe which the tire poke doesn't look too bad. Have you done any backroad driving with your new set up? How does it handle in the Canyons if you have. Also any vibrations when cruising on the free-way? I drive SOCAL freeways almost everyday cruising 75+ normally.

Yep, Air Design is the only option with the extra pieces on the front bumper. I have the guy's number, that installs/sells the kits, if you want it? He sounds like he's got a New York heavy accent, but he said if I ever needed anything replaced, to give him a call and he'd get it to me.

I looked at his camber issue and replied to it. He does have the same wheel size and offset, that I have.

I like near all sorts of mountains, not canyons, but still curvy, nonetheless! Haven't gone up/down many mountains much. I would love to take it the Tail of the Dragon soon, as I've been there in other vehicles.

I have zero vibrations in my truck! Wheels and tires are much heavier than OEM, but it doesn't make the truck vibrate... You also have to drop the driveshaft with the Belltech Flip Kit, which helps tremendously! I also don't get on the interstate much, but if I go to my dad's house, the truck will do 70-75 absolutely fine!

 

[Jwells96]

Yep, Air Design is the only option with the extra pieces on the front bumper. I have the guy's number, that installs/sells the kits, if you want it? He sounds like he's got a New York heavy accent, but he said if I ever needed anything replaced, to give him a call and he'd get it to me.

I looked at his camber issue and replied to it. He does have the same wheel size and offset, that I have.

I like near all sorts of mountains, not canyons, but still curvy, nonetheless! Haven't gone up/down many mountains much. I would love to take it the Tail of the Dragon soon, as I've been there in other vehicles.

I have zero vibrations in my truck! Wheels and tires are much heavier than OEM, but it doesn't make the truck vibrate... You also have to drop the driveshaft with the Belltech Flip Kit, which helps tremendously! I also don't get on the interstate much, but if I go to my dad's house, the truck will do 70-75 absolutely fine!

I wouldn't mind giving the guy a call and seeing maybe he has a set laying around (shrugs)

The kit I have hopefully will not allow for camber issues as the kit comes with the upgraded control arms. I got the 3/6 but will likely start at 3/5 and go from there. (Havent decided yet)

Ahhh that makes sense as to why they realign the drive shaft, all in all the entire suspension change out seems rather simple. Really excited to get this done, honestly my wife is tired of hearing about it... lol. Wishing I had a lift to get this done, but the ground will likely have to do.

 

[Mirage775]

I wouldn't mind giving the guy a call and seeing maybe he has a set laying around (shrugs)

The kit I have hopefully will not allow for camber issues as the kit comes with the upgraded control arms. I got the 3/6 but will likely start at 3/5 and go from there. (Haven't decided yet)

Ahhh that makes sense as to why they realign the drive shaft, all in all the entire suspension change out seems rather simple. Really excited to get this done, honestly my wife is tired of hearing about it... lol. Wishing I had a lift to get this done, but the ground will likely have to do.

I'll PM you his number, but he's just an installer and knows a damn good bit about the Ranger pieces.

Just FYI about the Belltech front drop. I have emails from KW (Belltech) saying that the control arm/control arm front drop kit actually only lowers the front end 2.75", which is about the same as I'm at with the Control Front drop.

I do all mechanical work myself. As long as you have about 4 jack stands and a couple of floor jacks and some mechanical knowledge, you'll be fine. You have to remove the whole leaf spring pack, to do some modifications to it and it's not heavy at all. Then, when you reinstall the leaf pack, it'll mount to the front hanger first, then under the axle. It's really not too difficult, if you're prepared for everything and doing all this on the floor isn't too bad and I'm almost 50 years old! A pair of Quick Jacks would've been awesome, but not something I wanted to spend $1500-$2000 on and wait months, until they were delivered...

I actually remember starting on the rear, about 4pm on a Friday afternoon, after work and finishing it about 4-5 hours later.

Some wives are different than others, LOL! My wife was happy that I had something to work on, after selling the Miata... This build is pretty much all I talked about from early 2021 until I got the truck in October and then starting get all the parts in from October through February of this years...

I started ordering parts at the end of October and the suspension took the longest to get... I was planning on using Belltech on all 4 corners, but their, at the time, new control arm design released too early and when I ordered it, I had all sorts of trouble with Belltech CS. I finally was able to get ahold of their finance girl and then she gave me their CEO's number and all she did was apologize for everything I'd been through and gave me a discount and free shipping on my rear kit!

Oh, I found a pic of the wheel/tire after the drop, but without flares and it does stick out 3" from the fender...

Their instructions are really pretty good, with the lack of bolt torque specs, but I found this online.

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