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Old 06-02-2019, 07:10 AM
hat_man hat_man is offline
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Default Leveling kit ?

Hello everyone.

Not knowing anything about leveling or lifting I'm asking for some advice.

I'll add some pics but here's the short story. The black truck is my '97. I've owned it for 10+ years. 2wd XL and I believe has a stock suspension. I like the stance and the forward rake it has. Bought the tan truck ( '03 plain Jane possibly a fleet truck or some sort?) when the black truck got near 300k miles and started having expensive issues. It is a definite step up to get into the tan truck and I'm not wild about the stance. I am assuming the previous owner put a leveling kit on it. Hopefully the other pics will confirm this. I realize we're talking about two different generations of Rangers here, but I'm assuming the suspensions are similar if not the same in stock form. For reference the black truck sits on 215/75/15's and the tan truck sits on 235/75/15's.

The questions are.....

1) If a leveling kit was added, can I return to the stock suspension equipment with the 235/75/15's?

2) If a leveling kit was added to the front, would the previous owner have added anything to the rear that I should look for? I can post pics of the rear leafs and things if anyone needs them.

I'm not looking to make a lowered street truck out of this. I just like the stance of the black truck better and the way it handled on the highway. I can feel quite a bit of air under the front at 70 mph and thought having the same stance might help that a bit. I don't need the clearance anyhow and I don't tow or off road. Just a daily driver 60 miles to work and back. The 235's are fairly new and very quiet so I was hoping to keep them. The 215's are surprisingly quiet for A/T tires and rode nice also.

As a bonus question....... I like the rims on the black truck and think they look nice on it. Does anyone have an opinion on how they would look on the tan truck? Black vehicles just seem to have a different "feel" to them. I may not be keeping the black truck, but really want to keep the rims.

Thanks for any advice.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg '97 front.jpg (82.3 KB, 15 views)
File Type: jpg '03 front.jpg (90.2 KB, 16 views)
File Type: jpg '97 Ranger.jpg (92.6 KB, 13 views)
File Type: jpg '03 Ranger.jpg (91.4 KB, 12 views)
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Little Black Ranger: R.I.P Born-1997 Died-2018. 297k miles of good times. You will be missed.

Oh Deer: 2003 XL 2.3L 5-speed stick w/OD. Current mods: Body work after hitting a deer 12 hours after I bought it. Averaging 32 MPG on the highway.
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  #2  
Old 06-02-2019, 10:00 AM
sgtsandman sgtsandman is offline
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Default Re: Leveling kit ?

As a guess, I would say they added a spacer block if the installed a leveling kit. Look and see if there is a additional ring under or on top of the front coil springs. Remove the spacer and possibly replace/install the stock spring rubber ring and you should be good.

Another option I’ve seen on vehicles is taller springs installed in the front. The only way to fix that is either cut the spring (not the best option) or get factory springs. If you dan’t want to buy new, you should be able to get some from a salvage yard.


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Old 06-02-2019, 11:16 AM
Dirtman Dirtman is offline
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Default Re: Leveling kit ?

There is no leveling kit on your 03. They came from the factory almost perfectly level unlike older trucks. If you want to give it the retro raked look you could add a small lift block to the rear. I wouldn't mess with the front though.
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Old 06-02-2019, 02:43 PM
hat_man hat_man is offline
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Default Re: Leveling kit ?

The vertical piece with the bushings on the '03 is stock then? The '97 (I know different generation) has a "spoon-like" shaped piece near the spring in the 1st pic, that is mounted to a "tab" looking thing. I saw the same "tab" like mount on the '03 and thought maybe the "spoon like" thing had been swapped out for the vertical piece.

Please help me with the terminology as I know nothing about the suspension components other than shocks and springs.

If the springs from a 2nd gen Ranger are shorter, would that bring the front end down a bit?
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Little Black Ranger: R.I.P Born-1997 Died-2018. 297k miles of good times. You will be missed.

Oh Deer: 2003 XL 2.3L 5-speed stick w/OD. Current mods: Body work after hitting a deer 12 hours after I bought it. Averaging 32 MPG on the highway.

Last edited by hat_man; 06-02-2019 at 02:48 PM.
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