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Old 05-25-2010, 09:38 AM
tahenke tahenke is offline
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Question Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

Well I finally raised my Ranger this weekend using a shackle/spacer kit (1" rear and 3" front). It looks fantastic but after the installation I went for a test ride and man is it bumpy up front. I wasn't expecting that! Is there anything I can do to limit this a bit (other than buying spindles which I will eventually do just not right now). Possibly some shocks with better dampening or something? Has anybody ever limited the bounciness successfully and have some known good solutions (I'm not looking to experiment). Thanks for any help.
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Old 05-25-2010, 10:44 AM
05RangerEdge 05RangerEdge is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

You need an alignment after coil spacers. That might have something to do with it being so bad. Other than that I am sure they will affect your ride some what, just gonna have to deal with it.
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Old 05-25-2010, 07:35 PM
bcghosttowns bcghosttowns is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

I wouldnt expect a spacer to affect the ride at all.Its not adjusting anything except spring lenth so to speak,if its on the up bounce maybe your shocks are limitung out.
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Old 05-25-2010, 08:05 PM
edgeman4.0 edgeman4.0 is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

It's actually a loss of downtravel that you've achieved.
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Old 05-25-2010, 08:26 PM
Johnbaum13 Johnbaum13 is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

maybe you're shocks are too short for the lift? That would cause you to have little down travel left, if any, which will make it ride like shit. You want your shock to be in the middle of it's travel at ride height for best ride. Not enough up travel or down travel in your suspension will cause poor ride quality over anything but the smoothest roads.
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Old 05-26-2010, 11:04 AM
tahenke tahenke is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

So I hate to say it but I asked if I needed new shocks in a different thread and someone told me no...Guess I got some bad advice Anyway it does kind of feel like the shocks might be topped out. I agree that it's weird that spacers would do anything to make it get bouncy like this? I was baffled when I first drove it. The spacer is supposed to be a 3" lift. After measuring it raised it 2.25" from stock if I'm remembering correctly? A good example of how bouncy it is would be when I pull in my driveway there is a 4-5" rounded curb. If I hit it a little to fast it feels like the tire actually leaves the ground. How can I find the current length of my shock and further more how do I determine the new length I need?
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Old 05-26-2010, 11:31 AM
tahenke tahenke is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

Well this is the first vehicle that I've ever lifted so I'm not an expert...but I was on ebay looking for the kit I bought so I could get in touch with them to see if they had any ideas and I came across another kit that was springs for the front and blocks for the back. Anyway they say anything 2.5" or more requires new "Lifted" upper A-Arms. And they aren't cheap! Could this be the problem? I do remember getting the a-arm back into the spindle was harder after the spacers wre installed. Man...I should have just bought the spindles from the get go!
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Old 05-27-2010, 07:07 AM
Johnbaum13 Johnbaum13 is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

You shouldn't need "lifted" a-arms. I've seen plenty of guys lifted 3" on the stock upper arms. But if you put in a 3" spacer and only went up 2.25", yeah, sounds like something is limiting the lift. To determine what length shock you need, remove your shocks, and measure at ride height (sitting on the ground) the distance from the bushing seat at the top of the shock tower to where the lower eye would be. Then find a shock that has that dimension right in the middle of it's travel.
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Old 05-27-2010, 10:44 AM
tahenke tahenke is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

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Originally Posted by Johnbaum13 View Post
You shouldn't need "lifted" a-arms. I've seen plenty of guys lifted 3" on the stock upper arms. But if you put in a 3" spacer and only went up 2.25", yeah, sounds like something is limiting the lift. To determine what length shock you need, remove your shocks, and measure at ride height (sitting on the ground) the distance from the bushing seat at the top of the shock tower to where the lower eye would be. Then find a shock that has that dimension right in the middle of it's travel.
Perfect! Thanks! As far as the 2.25" vs. 3" I really believe it has to do with the spacers fitting so many different years and the differences in front suspension geometry. Becuase last night I jacket the truck up front the center cross member and the wheels sagged for approx 3" before they lifted off of the pavement so it's not topped out just sitting there. It does seem that they sould sag more?? Not sure yet. tonight I will remove the bottom bolts off 1 shock and see how far it drops out with the truck on the ground and then jack it up and see if it still extends out (possibly limiting the travel). The guy I bought this kit from says he has 2" shock extenders (basically bushing for the upper shaft) that will work if I feel the shock is to short. Also could some of the tight bouncy ride be cause by the ani-sway bar being pre loaded some at full extension due to the spring length being increased? It seems it could be because the anti-sway bar bolts extend down to the lower a-arms which are now further away. Probably 1.5" if not more?
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Old 05-27-2010, 10:51 AM
RazorsEdge RazorsEdge is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

With that spacer you MUST get new upper control arms and longer shocks!


EDIT: IMO the best thing to do would be to ditch the spacers and get spindles. With lift spindles you won't need new shocks or upper control arms.
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  #11  
Old 05-27-2010, 10:03 PM
tahenke tahenke is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

Well I don't know what the deal is? I do know that my front springs are preloaded bad! If go to the rear and push down and let go it acts normal (meaning it goes down faily easy and slowly comes back up) If I go to the front bumper and push down it's very stiff and I can't push it down half as far as I can in the rear, and it bounces back up fast! Is this what spacers do? Should my front suspension be preloaded like that? If that's the way they are then I will have to take them off. I know everything is installed correctly. I don't understand why basically lengthening the springs approx 1.25" preloads it so drastically?
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Old 06-15-2010, 10:19 PM
tahenke tahenke is offline
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Default Re: Coil spacers = Bumpy ride! Can I fix this?

Well it seems it is my shocks are causing the problems. I added spacers to the shocks to lengthen them a bit and now it seems to be working fine. I am still going to go with spindles as soon as I can get some but if you have a 2010 ranger your shocks will come up way short for a coil spacer lift!
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