LIFTED 2.5 INCH RANGER T64

[Matt B]

Hi everyone, this is my first post. Hopefully someone can help.

Lifted my truck about 6 months ago, in all honesty has drove like a bag of proverbial ever since.

About 2 weeks after I noticed was pulling on braking so had a look and it broke a track rod inner ball so swapped it out and it’s started doing it again.

I’m wondering if I needed to change track rods when you lift the Ranger due to maybe extended travel?

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[DukeCanBuildit]

Not a problem I’ve seen reported here on the forum - mostly Americans here and a few Canadians and RoW Ranger owners.

How did you lift it? Levelling spacer kit or with adjustable levelling coil over front shocks?

Did you get the front end aligned after the lift?

 

[Matt B]

Yeah had a 4 wheel alignment done by well respected guy in the area.
Lifted with blocks on top of strut.
Only reason I ask is looking on a 4x4 website they offer track rod ends for lifted rangers so wondered if I’d missed a crucial part of it.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

It’s not something we do to our North American Rangers when we lift or level them - we really only need to worry about issues when we lift greater than 3” and then it’s things like the upper ball joint and the CV axle angles - not the tie (track) rod.

Maybe the Aussies have some experience with it. Maybe @Cmar has some insight. Cam?

 

[Cmar]

Over here front diff drop kits are popular for big lifts to fix the CV angle issue. There are a number of local suppliers for fabricated upper arms with adjustable (and replaceable) ball joints. They also do make extended / adjustable, steering rods, suspension arms and panhard rods (the Ranger based Everest wagon has coil rear suspension) A good local supplier is Superior Engineering. https://www.superiorengineering.com.au/

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Over here front diff drop kits are popular for big lifts to fix the CV angle issue. There are a number of local suppliers for fabricated upper arms with adjustable (and replaceable) ball joints. They also do make extended / adjustable, steering rods, suspension arms and panhard rods (the Ranger based Everest wagon has coil rear suspension) A good local supplier is Superior Engineering. https://www.superiorengineering.com.au/

Hey Cam, ever hear of folks in AUS changing out track rod ends or having any issues with them when doing a modest level or lift?

I’m guessing that “track rods” are what we call “tie rods” in NA. You may even have a different name. ?

 

[Whiplash]

I have a 3.0" coilovers lift.....aftermarket UCA....my coilovers are Extended travel, ICON ( 30%) more stroke length than stock
My OEM Tie rod end/ balljoints were maxed out at full droop...I replaced mine with a heavy duty standard length APG Billet Rod End with the Heim joint...Not necceary for normal lift...

.

Any chance your ball joints to spindle were seperated by Pickle Fork in a careless manner and damaging the rod ends...could cause ride issues....

Edit: A " Track Bar" could be what we call a 'Sway Bar" .....making everthing in my post irrevelrent..?????

 

[Cmar]

Hey Cam, ever hear of folks in AUS changing out track rod ends or having any issues with them when doing a modest level or lift?

I’m guessing that “track rods” are what we call “tie rods” in NA. You may even have a different name. ?

HI Duke

No we also call them tie rods or also rack ends, these days with everything being rack and pinion steering. I can't say I've heard a lot of tie rod issues but longer rod ends are available, depends on your lift. ~= 2" and you can pretty much do nothing else with no issues, 3-4" and you might have to drop your rear tail shaft center bearing to stop vibrations. Any higher and your are looking at a diff drop, or else your front CV's are gonna get a work out, and be likely to want to pop their splines on a rough track.
And besides anything more that 2-3 inches technically, you are supposed to get an engineer's ticket on it to be road legal and not have your insurance wipe you in an accident. In practice you are allowed in most states to do 50mm ie 1 inch from tyres, and 50mm from springs, without any actions, maybe a bit more and no one will notice, any more and the claim is you are affecting the electronic driver aids and you need the engineers ticket.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

HI Duke

No we also call them tie rods or also rack ends, these days with everything being rack and pinion steering. I can't say I've heard a lot of tie rod issues but longer rod ends are available, depends on your lift. ~= 2" and you can pretty much do nothing else with no issues, 3-4" and you might have to drop your rear tail shaft center bearing to stop vibrations. Any higher and your are looking at a diff drop, or else your front CV's are gonna get a work out, and be likely to want to pop their splines on a rough track.
And besides anything more that 2-3 inches technically, you are supposed to get an engineer's ticket on it to be road legal and not have your insurance wipe you in an accident. In practice you are allowed in most states to do 50mm ie 1 inch from tyres, and 50mm from springs, without any actions, maybe a bit more and no one will notice, any more and the claim is you are affecting the electronic driver aids and you need the engineers ticket.

Hey Cam, that was super condensed mate! I think we all just learned a whole lot about RoW lifts, levels, and road safety regulations! ?

 

[Cmar]

No problems mate, that's just been our experiences over here as we have had these vehicles since 2011. And I should qualify my post above you can lift a total of 50mm ie 2 inches, either by tyres or springs, or bits both, on ESC equipped vehicles, except in the Northern Territory where 100 mm ie 4 inch lifts are legal, without inspections. - lots of things are legal in the NT - it's the Australian equivalent of the Wild West.

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