I made an intro post a few days ago but I have a specific question regarding a front and rear lowering kit for my 2011 Ranger Sport 2X4 4.0L 5sp. It does have the disk brake rear and torsion front setup.

I'm looking for a 3" front 4-5" rear drop. I've heard lowering this particular model is a bit harder to do? Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks,

 

You can't lower a torsion bar ranger without some major modifications. The lowering kits out there are made for coil suspensions. You can lower the front about an inch by just adjusting the torsion bars and you can easily lower the back 2 inches by just taking out the stock blocks and putting new u-bolts on. But you can not easily lower your truck 4/5 inches.

 

redranger, Thanks for the info. I've read about flipping the torsion bar and keys. What does this entail besides the obvious? This is a 2" drop by what others have said in the threads i was searching.

 

Well, I found a company that makes re-indexed key's for this setup for up to a 3" drop. Paired with their after market control arms you could get slammed in the front. This may help others looking to lower their torsion setups.

Ranger, Explorer Drop Torsion Keys: Illusive Design & Fabrications

 

Those keys will give you the same affect as adjusting the preload bolts on your torsion bars, which you can do for free.

It's also going to be nearly impossible for you to slam the front end because of the torsion bar brackets hanging under the frame.

Trucks with coil suspensions are a lot easier to drop, especially if you want to be slammed. You could always remove the torsion bars and replace them with coilovers (you can buy the brackets from a member on here), but I don't know of anyone that's gone that route on a lowered application. It would probably take a good bit of custom work in order for it to function properly.

 

It will give the same effect as adjusting the pre-load bolts and that's what you use to make the drop. The keys allow the bar a couple extra inches of adjustability. Going from 1" to 3". That's how the seller of the keys described it to me anyway.

 

That's exactly what I said, and you can adjust the bolts for free in your driveway. The seller is trying to make money. I'm trying to make sure you don't waste your money.

 

^^X2^^

Do not waste your money on aftermarket keys. Besides, looking at the link you provided the keys are for a 1995-2006 ranger. In 2008, Ford re-indexed the torsion bar keys which makes the front lower. A popular mod for guys who want to lift their truck a little bit is replacing their 2008 keys with previous year keys. My guess is the new keys you are going to buy are identical to the ones one your truck right now.

Do not buy keys, they will not let you lower the truck more.

 

Thanks for looking out for me! He was telling me it would give me an extra 2" of drop in adjustability on the torsion bar. If that is false, it's a bummer. haha

EDIT: What about the control arms on the site listed for the torsion bar front suspension? He said this could give a 4-5" drop. Seems like I might be getting BS information from the vendor.

 

The only control arms I see on there are for coil sprung rangers. All they say are 98+ which doesn't specify whether they are for coil sprung or torsion bars, but looking at the pictures, and just the fact that they are DJM, I know they are for 2wd coil sprung rangers. His vague-ness on the website is enough of a red flag for me to avoid it altogether.

I'm sorry to say man, but if you really want to lower a ranger, you are best off finding a 2wd version that has coil springs (so avoid the edge and sport models). There is no good answer to give you 4-5" of drop like you want. the rear is easy.. but not the front.

 

what about drop spindles ? don't know but can they be used on a ranger with TB

 

3 in the front 4 in the rear is really all I'm looking for. There is no way I'm getting rid of this truck though as it only has 8000 original miles on it and is literally showroom floor condition. It looks like I'll just be dropping it an inch in the front and 2 in the rear. That will be fine for now. Then I'll look at doing the coilover swap down the road if need be.

Thanks for all the information fellas.

 

Apparently you can flip your torsion keys to lower the truck more, and get as low as this. From the brief research I did you can't get it aligned properly, and in order to get the most lowering out of it you need keys from a pre-08 truck.


Check out these 2 threads from RPS and the explorer forum. I don't know a ton about lowering, so maybe some other guys can chime in.

RPS torsion bolt/key flip

How-To: Torsion Adjuster Flip - Ford Explorer and Ranger Forums "Serious Explorations"®