So I was thinking a little bit today wondering if I could find some stiffer torsion bars cuz mine are sagging like crazy, While i know #1 bars are stiffer I dont know if they are that much of an improvement over my stock B bars. I was googling stuff and I realized that the suspension of the Australian 2000 ford courier's suspension is verrrrrry similar to my 2000 ranger 4x4, are they interchangeable ?? Does anyone have a front end suspension diagram of an austrailian courier? Because I know that ARB and Ironman make some sweet off road stiffer torsion bars for the Austrailian ranger/ couriers. I emailed ARB Austrailia and they said they are not interchangeable but did not say why, though IM still convinced they look identical. Anyone ever try or know how they are different ?

 

i would trust arb in the matter, they know their stuff. if your looking for stiffer (not sure why) bars #1's are your best bet. maybe look into sport trac bars, but still not sure.

 

Just out of curiosity why do you feel the need to have stiffer bars?

 

he wants them for the lift i bet.

 

stiffer doesnt mean taller................

 

This is very true :)

 

#1 Bars will not sag nearly as much as the B bars will. However, this comes at the cost of a stiffer ride. While the stiffer bars will allow you to gain a little more height if you do a t-bar crank (and ultimately #1 bars are recommended for a t-bar crank due to higher durability, and slower sag-rate) it will also have a stiffer ride. From what i have found in the difference between Dan's truck, and any other ranger, is that if you take the sway-bar out, the stiffness goes away. Just be mindful that the sway-bar would not be there to keep the truck from having some body roll.

You can thank my stupid internet that there is no picture here... Had an awesome one demonstrating the body-roll I was talking about, but since my internet decides it wants to tell me I have a firewall, I cannot upload pix. Will be working on this issue since it's been like this for days.

All in all, the #1 bars are better for life-span and strength, However, This is at the cost of a slightly rougher/ stiffer ride.




Did that answer your question at all? (BTW, #1 bars are the stiffest for US rangers as far as I know... I think even the SportTrac's used them.)

 

It's not your interwebs telling you about the firewall. It's the administrator privileges on your PC.



GB :)

 

It would actually be within his network privileges ....

 

Another note with pulling the swaybar is that it also acts as a suspension limiting strap. I pulled mine out last summer and so far I've gone through two sets of shocks since, because they're substantially shorter than the suspension will drop and therefore causing the shocks to become the limiting point which pulls them apart [the suspension will literally drop until the upper A arms contact the frame, and well past the point that your CV shafts also start binding up too]. I will also agree that it definitely does improve your ride (if you don't mind a little more body roll), but installing a set of limiting straps would be a good idea. Just an FYI. LR

 

i have had mine out for almost 2 years and had no problems at all not even ball joints

 

They're all turned off. That's the first thing I do when I get a computer.

I actually think it may be a virus. Scanned with avg, now gunnna try malwarebytes.




@dan. Im gunna leave the sway bar on the new one for a week with cranked bars, then pull one of the sway bar links out to see how much of a difference it actually makes, then ill go from there on leaving it or pulling it.

 

ok, well i figured that my bars have went to crap really fast because I take it out to the dunes a lot and im pretty sure if I got some stiffer bars it might last a little longer. Correct me if im wrong but stiffer bars would have a longer life and my goal is to basically retain my current height ( cranked 1.5") without it sagging so soon, not really to lift it more. Looks like #1 bars are the way to go.

. Oh and how much does the sway bar affect travel? I had mine off for awhile but to make it a little more bearable on the freeway I recently put it on.

 

The #1 bars will last quite a bit longer, especially if cranked.

The sway bar does not effect the travel. It works as a torsion between the front control arms to counter the body roll by having the compressed side pull up on the drooping side, thus twisting the truck back towards upright. <<< let me know if that made no sense. Lol

 

Nor does re sway bar act as a "limiting strap". The torsion bars are what effect how far re suspension will droop. But if you only are going 1.5" up in the front, it should be fine with stock shocks. The only time you would need limitin straps is if you convert to coilovers, and that is to keep the coilover from hitting the upper control arm at full droop.

 

not quite stephen, when i pulled mine i gained, well, reaquired more travel. and also got a ton better ride out of if because of that.

now as for reinstalling it for the freeway, why? the only noiticable things u can feel while driving is a plusher ride and body roll. not having it allows it to soak up bumps so much better

 

But that's because the bar has the control arms connected. I can see how it would effect the travel now that I think about it, because the low side has to work against the high side. But overall travel shouldn't change the travel drastically. If both tires sit somewhere at full droop, it shoud be extremely. Similar if not the same.


Gotta love fully independant suspension on the road!

Edit: post 666 for me. Lol

 

haha no that made sense stephen, I know what the sway bar does, thats why I put it back on to control my body roll now that mostly commute on the freeway now.

What excactly is the spring rate difference between all the bars ? specifically #1 and B bars ? Cuz it looks like i might go with #1, so that I can keep my front end level when I put in my add-a- leaf I bought. my rear is sagging with the cranked bars and an add a leaf would level it out nicely but from past experience i know my bars are gonna sag in the future.

Also totally off topic, I bought a James Duff traction bar to help with my crazy axle wrap on the freeway from my flat leaf pack, Would it help to have it or would my add a leaf been sufficient to cure axle wrap ?

 

I felt a difference between with sway bar and without, It couldnt hurt I guess, unless it really limits travel to that much of an extent, What exactly do you gain in travel capabilities from no sway bar?

 

I dont even notice any negative effects of no sway bar on the freeway.

Im not sure on the spring rate difference. Ill look that up when I get home cause im actually curious myself. (I need to finish my IFS for dummies post!!!!)

It would be better to upgrade to K leafs. (Leaf version of #1 bars)

 

Hmm it might have been my imagination.... haha Ill take it off again when I get home and drive around and see, I could have sworn that the ride improved by a bit. Would k leafs be better for loads and towing also ? cuz it seems an exxtra leaf versus the same size leaf pack but just stiffer ( k pack ), the added leafs would help more.

 

K leafs have a stronger spring rate so yes. Add a leaf does nothing to improve your ride, it just makes it feel like you welded your leaf pack together. Another option is to use expo leafs. Or, if your really good, you cm take the leafpacks apart like trepaul86 did and make a hybrid expo/ranger pack.

 

Keep in mind guys, there will be differences in feel between the XLT model and the torsion bar (Edge) models when removing the sway bar end links. You can't compare the two models against one another in that respect. Not that I think anyone is actually doing that..

Just a heads up.

EDIT: I'M WRONG. I THOUGHT THE XLT's WERE STILL COIL SPRUNG.


GB :)

 

How? Same suspension, EDGE just has different look.

 

I have #1 bars that have been cranked for over a year and they have not started to settle yet. and my k leafs make for some serious wheel hop on the interstate.