Swapped my spacer level for new KING Coilovers

[onobeka]

Decrease in travel but livable if on a budget. I also found a stiffer ride experience with the spacer. Google the subject and you will see more. Here is a good writtup if you are on the fence. https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1...ew-springs-the-need-to-knows-before-you-lift/

Thank you for sending me to school .


Here's my view: you were talking about "extension geometry of the shock", which in other words means droop. On an IFS vehicle the spacer (top, preload, ...) and a coilover lifting the vehicle will compromise droop compared to stock suspension. The only way around it is to body lift. Stock suspension is sitting 50/50 between up travel and down travel, it's the most versatile position, period. When you lift (regardless how) the arms angle down, drooping already quite a bit from the total droop available, which is limited either by one of these: maximum extension of the shock, UCA hitting the coils or the top tower (this is the case of the Ranger) or CV binding. With stock UCAs, the Ranger has two droop limiters: with a spacer on top of the factory strut, it will be the UCA hitting the top strut mount on the body. With the aftermarket coilover it could be the shock itself limiting the droop or the UCA, whichever happens sooner. The worst combination would be an aftermarket UCA with a factory strut spacer - this will result in an overextended droop that would either break the CV or bind the UCA in the coils.

A spacer will increase travel compared to the stock suspension, possibly beyond capacity. A coilover is not guaranteed to increase travel - depends a lot on the details (above and below).

The article you've shared, talks about downsides related to compression (up travel). Indeed with a spacer, there could be coil bind happening sooner than with an aftermarket lifting coil over - debatable due to the bumpstop configuration on some vehicles. With the Ranger 2019 I can see that happening as they've removed the bumpstops on the lower control arms. The bumpstops are integrated in the shock. If the coil fully compresses before the bumpstop engages, the shock or the strut mount would break.

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[Dr3wDrop]

The worst combination would be an aftermarket UCA with a factory strut spacer - this will result in an overextended droop that would either break the CV or bind the UCA in the coils.

I am interested in more info on this statement. Doesnt the aftermarket UCA provide the ability for the top ball joint to be in a more neutral position after a spacer lift OR taller coil overs? And the UCA should not be able to droop more than another limiting factor like the shocks they are paired with.

I am mainly asking because I did a 2” spacer lift on my Tremor. The UCA is no longer in a neutral position so I am exploring options for aftermarket UCA’s to bring it back to where it started (or close).

 

[onobeka]

I am interested in more info on this statement. Doesnt the aftermarket UCA provide the ability for the top ball joint to be in a more neutral position after a spacer lift OR taller coil overs? And the UCA should not be able to droop more than another limiting factor like the shocks they are paired with.

I am mainly asking because I did a 2” spacer lift on my Tremor. The UCA is no longer in a neutral position so I am exploring options for aftermarket UCA’s to bring it back to where it started (or close).

I do not own myself an USDM Ranger, yet the front suspension is not that different from the European models, and anyway there is way too much tolerance item to item with Ford.

If I am right (also for the USDM versions) currently, your stock UCA is the limiting factor for the droop. At least on mine is. In order to verify this, just jack up one front wheel like for a tire change. Check if the UCA is touching the strut tower (the housing/top mounting of the top of the strut) on the sides. At least on mine it makes full contact on both sides, the wheel will not drop any further and if that would happen in would be a harsh stop.

If that is the case, the UCA is your droop limiter now, compared to stock when the shock would be.
At least in my case is, I have stock suspension with a 32mm spacer on top, that gives roughly 2.5" lift.

Alright, now take an aftermarket UCA. Depending on the design, many are just bent pipes with a ball joint, because of the very minimalistic design of the UCA compared to the bulkiness of the stock one, the UCA will not engage the strut tower, allowing the wheel to go further until either the shock is fully extended, the UCA would finally contact something (possibly the coils) or the CV would bind. So, in my opinion aftermarket UCAs (especially the ones with minimalistic design) should ONLY be used with an aftermarket suspension in which the shock is the droop limiter in the safety zone. The spacer effectively makes the shock seem longer wrt. droop, preventing the stock shock to limit the droop.

I hope my explanation makes sense.

 

[amick1995]

Hey there, I got the extended version as it was the only one I could find given the huge backlog here for KIng Shocks, or any 2.5s for that matter. Model specifically is :
25001-386A-EXT the stock spring rate is 600

Thanks! Those are on my list with new UCAs whenever I get tired of my spacer on my tremor

 

[Whiplash]

I'm running an extended travel 2.5 coilover (ICON)....To get the full advertised 35% of additional travel an after market UCA is required.... Another point of binding at full droop is the stock tie rod ball joint...In this picture taken during my recent tire rotation you can see the FK bearing Heim joint ( which has a greater range of motion than the stock ball joint) nearly maxed out at full droop.

 

[onobeka]

I'm running an extended travel 2.5 coilover (ICON)....To get the full advertised 35% of additional travel an after market UCA is required.... Another point of binding at full droop is the stock tie rod ball joint...In this picture taken during my recent tire rotation you can see the FK bearing Heim joint ( which has a greater range of motion than the stock ball joint) nearly maxed out at full droop.

That makes a lot of sense! Good job! Do you have a picture of the CV angle at full droop?

 

[Whiplash]

I don't have any pictures of CV angle, it was a concern , but having read a bunch of threads on this subject it appears 3.5" of lift is the height that most doing a diff drop are at...I searched and could not find a heavy duty after market CV outer half shaft for the Ranger... I'm at 3" of lift and aware there will be some extra stress and probably a shorter life span with the stock CV...

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