2005 Ford Ranger Buildup - Buy And Build This Truck For $7,000

The new spring was set into position and the lower arm was lifted with a jack to keep it in place.

Suspension Max also provided shocks for the Ranger to fit with the new, shorter travel.

Jason installed the shocks using the supplied polyurethane bushings. One bolt on top, two on the bottom, and the suspension was done.

For the rear, Jason suspended the axle from the frame using three web straps and sprayed the U-bolts with WD-40 while he removed the shocks and unbolted the leaf springs. Our Ranger already had a lowering hanger, but it won't be a problem, as you'll see later.

Since Rangers use a spring-over-axle rear suspension, Suspension Max's 3-inch rear lowering components included a flip kit and lift shackles. A flip kit on its own would have lowered the Ranger about 4 inches.

Jason removed the U-bolts and unbolted the leaf springs from their hangers. The flip kit's C-shaped bracket relocated the axle using the same bolt that located the axle before.

Next, Jason tightened the new U-bolts in place.

The lift shackles have two mounting points for two separate ride heights. Since we already had the lowered hanger in place, we used the higher of the two mounting points.

We got rid of the factory bumpstops and used two conical polyurethane ones like this in their place. They offer a more progressive dampening than the old ones.