I have a question about my truck..

[300exr]

Hey guys, well I havent really been on here for a while but I've been busy with school, work, etc. Any way, my dad gave me his 96 mazda b2300, which is identical to Ford Rangers except a few body parts, and I will be getting my license in 2 weeks. So right now my plan is selling the 300 and buying used cheap 125 if i can find one, and putting the chunk of money thats leftover in the bank for paying for my car insurance. The motor has 187,000 miles on it, and when it craps out my dad and I agreed to put a 302 v8 in it because they make coversion kits for it. Eventually we'll also want to do something with the suspension. So the question is: lift it or lower it? Im just afraid that if I lift it it's going to be tippy and kinda scary to drive. So what would you do. Thanks

[vinson581]

as long as its 4x4 and has a solid frount axle, lift it...if it has torsen bars, proceed to the nearest dumpster, being a 1996 is should be solid up frount it was in 1998 ford went to t-bars..err...but anyways, dont skimp on the lift cause then the truck is gonna rattle your teath out..second do you wanna just lift it to make it look cool? or for actualy functionality offroad, cause theres a big difference in quality

lowering trucks to me, i just dont like it, trucks are ment to be what they are lifted big tires and cool looking, and as for a 125 a 1996+ can be had for 1000 bucks in great condition.

[300exr]

The truck is 4x4, and its still in awesome condition. If I lift it I will do it right the first time and do a suspension lift with like 32" tires or somthing like that. Is the handling adversly affected on lifted trucks? As for 125's I got my 96 yz125 for 800 bucks, im just going to keep my out out for a good deal on one.

[TheFontMaster]

Fabtech makes a 6 inch pre-runner lift for ford rangers, I would check into that, and some 34's.

[mrnate400ex]

his truck is a 4x4, he can't use the prerunner kit. i have a 03' ranger 4x4 that i would like to lift, but can't find a company that makes a suspension lift. anyhow, if you find something, let me know i'd be interested!!!

[underpowered]

Originally posted by vinson581
as long as its 4x4 and has a solid frount axle, lift it...if it has torsen bars, proceed to the nearest dumpster, being a 1996 is should be solid up frount it was in 1998 ford went to t-bars..err...but anyways,.........


Ummm, the ranger never had a Solid front axle. and the big trucks went with an IFS setup waaaayyy before 1998. it looked like a solid axle but it was called a twin traction beam (TTB) and still had coils but was hell on tires, alignments and balljoints.it was sometime in teh mid-late 80's when ford dropped the SFA on the 1/2 ton truck. they still have an SFA on the 250's and 350's but the 150's dropped it quite a while ago.

i would lift it, just because i dont like anything stock and see no reason to lower a 4x4. as long as you go with a mild lift of about 3-4" you should be fine. you could go with a deeper wheel and wider tires to widen the stance some to go with the added height.with about a 4" lift you should be able to stuff some 33's nicely

[pastfast125]

well it depends on the money you wanna spend and your states strictness....My s10 is way up there, but it's not tippy at all, because it has fullsize truck axles..it's about 24 wider than stock, so my tires are barely under the wheel wells, about 80 % of my tires stick out..but it is very stable. Lift it. Lowering a 4x4 is a waste. :devil:

[300exr]

Yea I am going to lift it. A lift on ebay is like 430-500$, and some 33'' tires with fake beadlock rims would be ??? off ebay. To make it wider do I just order a special offset rim, or what? I'll post a pic of this little beast and maybe somone can photoshop something up for me so i can get an idea of what it will look like.

[prepracing]

Originally posted by mrnate400ex
his truck is a 4x4, he can't use the prerunner kit. i have a 03' ranger 4x4 that i would like to lift, but can't find a company that makes a suspension lift. anyhow, if you find something, let me know i'd be interested!!!


Have you checked all these ?.....Rancho, Fabtech, Rough Country, BDS Suspension, TrailMaster lifts ( I think they went out but some vendors still have their leftover stuff ). I had a 4" trailmaster on mine ( sold now )