question on suspension

CreepyCrawler95

CreepyCrawler95

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Location
Hampstead, NC
i have a 91 ranger i am doing a 3/4ton swap on and am trying to find advise on shocks and what not. i want to 3 link the front for sure and run coil overs. ive never dealt with coil overs so not sure what size and length i need (collapsed/extended). i want to run a 38-40" tire (40 being the max and not dogging it). the rear i DO NOT want linked. i want to keep the rear with trust worthy leaf packs...possibly do a 3/4" elliptical.

my question is: where and what do i start with on the front end? shock length, link sizes, mount location,...other stuff
 
I am running a 3 link on the front of my 87 ranger with 6" xj coils, Dodge D60s and 37.5s at the moment. I can't remember for sure but I believe my links are 36-40 inches (barnes 3 link kit with .25 wall square links). Right now, the shocks I am running have about 13.5" travel and I use up almost every bit of that. If my front drive shaft angles weren't maxxed out and I cut out my inner fenders out I could gain a little more, but it isn't worth it at this point because I would gain more from linking the rear. I'm running MJ leaf packs in the rear with an additional full length main leaf from my ranger pack (also shortened the wheelbase). As a whole, the truck works real well and has tons of flex for what it is ( a thrown together rig built from misc. Dodge, chevy, jeep, ford, mazda parts I had lying around the shop)

I kinda threw this build together in a short amount of time, but if I were to do it again with more time and coil overs, I would have pushed the front end forward a couple inches, dove nosed it, and moved the steering box (not running full hydro, want to keep it a driver). I wouldn't go any less than a 14" travel coilover. If you plan out engine/radiator placement, ditch some of the body and design the suspension setup right you could utilize all of that 14" and still have a decently low COG. You do have more flexibility with the coilovers as far as positioning them and tuning the springs and valving.
 
I would say a 14" coilover is going to be the right size for packaging reasons 16" will probably have to cut holes in the hood. Check pirate they have ALOT of info on setting up a 3 link
 
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