What did you do to your Ranger today?

[Doc]

Last week - I finally received and installed my BDS Rear Shackle kit, and swapped out the junk Rough Country rear shocks my truck came with for a pair of Bilstein 5100's. Swapped out my old dry-rotten wiper blades (for the 3 times a year it rains here) and grabbed some pictures/footage for my WolfBox G900 Pro review.

The BDS Shackle kit is a solid set of hardware, goes in/out a lot easier than the OEM shackles. I threw the back half of the truck up on jackstands and raised the rear axle on a floor jack to relieve pressure on the leaf springs. MOST IMPORTANTLY: The shackle kit thankfully fixed the squatting dog look my truck had from the previous owner. (see attached below)

Also, WOW, are the Bilstein 5100s a massive upgrade over the old RC shocks in the rear. Enough that I want to go buy a set of their front shocks too.... I'm not sure what kind of mileage those RCs had on them (truck has roughly 67k), but my truck no-longer violently throws me back and forth side to side when hitting a bump/curb at an angle or hitting a deep divot in the road. The vehicle also feels considerably more planted simply driving around the neighborhood or ripping down the interstate on curvy sections. I genuinely cannot understate how much of a difference these made with the way the truck drives.

Before (factory shackles and RC rear shocks):

After (BDS Shackle kit and Bilstein 5100s (rear)):

This week ---> it's time for:
- Oil change
- Oil filter
- Tire rotation

Nice !

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[ScarzRanger21(2.0)]

Last week - I finally received and installed my BDS Rear Shackle kit, and swapped out the junk Rough Country rear shocks my truck came with for a pair of Bilstein 5100's. Swapped out my old dry-rotten wiper blades (for the 3 times a year it rains here) and grabbed some pictures/footage for my WolfBox G900 Pro review.

The BDS Shackle kit is a solid set of hardware, goes in/out a lot easier than the OEM shackles. I threw the back half of the truck up on jackstands and raised the rear axle on a floor jack to relieve pressure on the leaf springs. MOST IMPORTANTLY: The shackle kit thankfully fixed the squatting dog look my truck had from the previous owner. (see attached below)

Also, WOW, are the Bilstein 5100s a massive upgrade over the old RC shocks in the rear. Enough that I want to go buy a set of their front shocks too.... I'm not sure what kind of mileage those RCs had on them (truck has roughly 67k), but my truck no-longer violently throws me back and forth side to side when hitting a bump/curb at an angle or hitting a deep divot in the road. The vehicle also feels considerably more planted simply driving around the neighborhood or ripping down the interstate on curvy sections. I genuinely cannot understate how much of a difference these made with the way the truck drives.

Before (factory shackles and RC rear shocks):

After (BDS Shackle kit and Bilstein 5100s (rear)):

This week ---> it's time for:
- Oil change
- Oil filter
- Tire rotation

How are the shackles working out? Thought about doing that to mine but heard not so great things about them. One being the leaf springs hitting the exhaust pipe. Any issues with that?

 

[pickettf3nce]

How are the shackles working out? Thought about doing that to mine but heard not so great things about them. One being the leaf springs hitting the exhaust pipe. Any issues with that?

With ~200 miles logged on this new setup, I think the shackles are great so far. Well worth the money if you're looking for a cheap and easy way to lift the rear and increase articulation.

My personal anecdote: I've had zero issues with the passenger leaf hitting the exhaust to date. (I have the factory single leaf) Visually inspecting the gap, I can imagine a multi-leaf setup possibly rubbing under extreme flexing or high payloads. But as my truck sits, there's solid 2" gap there, even with my 100lbs tent, and 50lbs bed rack currently installed.

We drove ~20 miles on an old, mining road outside town over the weekend. One that OnX Offroad considers a "5" rating. With around 300 pounds of camping gear on board, and the GF, dog, and I; the only "unusual" sounds I heard were the typical rocks and dirt bouncing off the truck. Visually looking at the exhaust, I can't say I see any signs of impact/rubbing either.

 

[ScarzRanger21(2.0)]

With ~200 miles logged on this new setup, I think the shackles are great so far. Well worth the money if you're looking for a cheap and easy way to lift the rear and increase articulation.

My personal anecdote: I've had zero issues with the passenger leaf hitting the exhaust to date. (I have the factory single leaf) Visually inspecting the gap, I can imagine a multi-leaf setup possibly rubbing under extreme flexing or high payloads. But as my truck sits, there's solid 2" gap there, even with my 100lbs tent, and 50lbs bed rack currently installed.

We drove ~20 miles on an old, mining road outside town over the weekend. One that OnX Offroad considers a "5" rating. With around 300 pounds of camping gear on board, and the GF, dog, and I; the only "unusual" sounds I heard were the typical rocks and dirt bouncing off the truck. Visually looking at the exhaust, I can't say I see any signs of impact/rubbing either.

Nice, I might reconsider it. How much lift did it get you? I currently have 1.5” blocks on the rear, truck sits perfectly level with 3.5” lift in the front. If I put any weight in the bed it squats a bit. Would be nice to get a slight rake so it’s level with weight.

 

[pickettf3nce]

Nice, I might reconsider it. How much lift did it get you? I currently have 1.5” blocks on the rear, truck sits perfectly level with 3.5” lift in the front. If I put any weight in the bed it squats a bit. Would be nice to get a slight rake so it’s level with weight.

From the middle of the rear fenders to the ground, just over an inch, maybe 1 & 1/8."

 

[AzScorpion]

Added another coat of Graphene Detailer to it this morning. There was a strange coating on it after we got back from Sedona and even after washing and detailing it last week it still felt a little dry to me. That’s what I love about this stuff you don’t get any build up with it and can detail it daily if you wanted to. Now it’s nice and slick and ready for summer. Just don’t look under the hood at the dirty engine bay.

Also for those who doubt (someone made a comment recently) that the Aerospace protectant “Lacked Luster”. You can see here where I just did one of our sun bleached patio chairs (now I’ve got 5 more to do) and it brought the color and luster back to new with only one quick coat. No snake oil here!

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Amazon Tailgate Experiment

Literally thousands of 5 star reviews so I thought I'd give it a try.

Don't know if I will keep it, but so far it is actually quite handy.

I thought the ladder being on the tailgate might be in the way for loading but it swings out of the way easily, and can be removed with 2 spring clips if necessary.

The jury is still out.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Amazon Tailgate Experiment

Literally thousands of 5 star reviews so I thought I'd give it a try.

Don't know if I will keep it, but so far it is actually quite handy.

I thought the ladder being on the tailgate might be in the way for loading but it swings out of the way easily, and can be removed with 2 spring clips if necessary.

The jury is still out.

Three mods in one specific area of the truck, all captured in one tightly cropped photo. That takes a bit of luck Dennis.

 

[dozxab]

Spa Day

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Three mods in one specific area of the truck, all captured in one tightly cropped photo. That takes a bit of luck Dennis.

The bumper and the ladder are purely superficial.

The damper is the real star of the show.

 

[AzScorpion]

The bumper and the ladder are purely superficial.

The damper is the real star of the show.

 

[veedubtuner]

Glad to see someone else who does this . So I'm not looney after all .

 

[dozxab]

Glad to see someone else who does this . So I'm not looney after all .

Using me for validation is not wise!

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Glad to see someone else who does this . So I'm not looney after all .

You and Viperwolf. Remember him? I think his account has been deleted but he lives in the Philippines and has a Ford Everest (it’s so cool). He washes the complete underside regularly and it is spotless!

 

[Cabose-1]

I did not do anything to it. Ford did....again. i am losing count of how many times this is happening. It is worse than my phone.

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