Ford ranger front end

[Francis Blake]

I am proly way out in left field on this but I am gotng to ask anyway. Has anyone used or thought about a twin i beam like a ford ranger uses for a Tbucket front axel. It would need some modifacations.If anyone has any thoughts on let me know. Francis

 

[Todd]

They are big and ugly honestly. I don't think you could make enough mods to it make it look good on a fenderless.

 

[Youngster]

I have seen it done on a full fendered car. On a bucket..naw..a beam or tube axle would work much better. Here again you need to think of resale value. You will be way further ahead to stick with the tried and proven front ends. The value of your build will reflect that money spent at the other end of ownership.

Ron

 

[Rick]

I am proly way out in left field on this but I am gotng to ask anyway. Has anyone used or thought about a twin i beam like a ford ranger uses for a Tbucket front axel. It would need some modifacations.If anyone has any thoughts on let me know. Francis

I think its flaming river or Fat Mans that sells a kit to convert a standard tube axel to a center swing.BUT remember you have to run a rack and pinion or you be dead.

 

[T-Odd]

There's one on Hotrodders dot com and it looks OK on this one.

If YOU dig it then it doesn't really matter wat anyone else thinks... or it SHOULD be that way.

I've seen a lot of different types non-conventional front suspensions on T Buckets, a twin I Beam could work.

Hotrodders Bulletin Board - Journal - Cboy-Two's Journal

You can read through the build here.

 

[Francis Blake]

Thanks T-Odd thats is exactly what I was thinking of if I do this it will be a full fendered car. After reading so much about wheel hop on these light front axels I want something a little heavier because this will get a lot of miles on it.I have a popup camper and I intend to pull it with this.:hooray:.. Francis

 

[T-Odd]

Lot of miles? Guessing Tim's got about 300,000 miles on his T bucket and I've driven mine about 1/10th of that. No wheel hop on his and none on mine.

Full fendered with a tube axle should be fine also, never heard of any problems there either.

Pulling a popup? Nice. I'd like to find a tiny little popup or maybe build a little teardrop to pull behind my hotrod.

As we always say around here PICS! PICS! PICS!

 

[LumenAl]

Interesting setup... I wonder if coil-overs could be used in place of the shocks and get rid of all that bulk with the leaf springs.. ???

 

[Youngster]

I remember seeing a full fendered '26 touring years ago that had a set up simular to cboy's that came from a jeep. year? body style? I don't remember. I think the axle piviot was in the center though.

Ron

 

[meangreen]

The real problem with a Ranger twin-I-beam or a Fatman split beam axle is they are a geometric mess. Yes, I know Ford used them for years on their pickup trucks and vans, but they were still a P.O.S! I have worked on many of them (used to work for a Ford dealership) and I hate them. Yes, they are tough and rugged, great for off-road use, but they are almost ALWAYS out of alignment. Every bump in the road, every change in the load you are carrying, any deflection in the suspension at all causes changes in the caster and camber angles. If you have the frontend aligned with you sitting in the driver's seat, it will still be wrong when you add a passenger. If you build a car with it and then decide you want to change the ride-height, you will have to completely re-engineer the front end. A conventional tube or beam axle is much better. Wheel hop? Probably too much caster!

 

[T-Odd]

Al, I cannot figure out what the builder was trying to accomplish by doing what he did to the transverse spring. He split it and then modified the mount for the quarter ellipticals. He could've just left the spring alone and it would have been less bulky.

To each his own though... he's definitely a much better fabricator that I so who am I to so anything right?

 

[Francis Blake]

If (and I do mean IF) I would use coilovers. I went to pick and pull yesterday to look at one of these just to get an ideathats why I asked the question, but it looks like there would be more problems than I want to deal with.My printer/scanner is dead so I cant do any pics now hope to replace it next week.:funmeter2:..Francis