Shortest Suspension Lift Opinions (2-3in.)

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tbrown

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Several companies offer a suspension lift of a couple of inches (less than 4) that consist of front coil springs and add a leaf for the rear. I want my bronco to be raised up a little to run 31 or 33 inch tires (all terrain) and I was hoping someone had some words of wisdom on these types of lifts. If anyone has a picture of a bronco with this type of lift that would be great too. I would like to make my mind up soon and get my bronco project going.

 

Justshootme84

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Only Rancho Suspension (www.gorancho.com) offers a 2.5" suspension lift kit to my knowledge. There are others that offer leveling coils for the front, which claim to lift the front 1.5-2 inches over stock. I would stay away from these, since they don't normally address the camber issues you'll encounter with frontend alignment. I would suggest a 4" suspension lift kit with 33" tires, that will give you the best value. Look for one with longer coil springs, shocks, dropped Pitman arm, and blocks for the rear springs. Rancho offers both the 2.5" and 4" lift kit and is a few dollars more than competitors for the 4" kit, but is well-designed. Just search the mfg websites and do some shopping before you commit to one. There's several threads in the forums here on that info, JSM84

 
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keeprollling

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Several companies offer a suspension lift of a couple of inches (less than 4) that consist of front coil springs and add a leaf for the rear. I want my bronco to be raised up a little to run 31 or 33 inch tires (all terrain) and I was hoping someone had some words of wisdom on these types of lifts. If anyone has a picture of a bronco with this type of lift that would be great too. I would like to make my mind up soon and get my bronco project going.
You do not need to add a lift to add 31" tires, mine is stock height and I am running 31s. I was advised a few days ago on adding 33s with no lift. It is also possible, but it makes it the alot closer to rubbing.

I will be adding 33s in the next few weeks. Here is a picture of mine with 31" tires

bronco.jpg

 

bidibronco

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I'm running stock suspension and I also have 33's. I do get a little rub on the bumper but that can be taken care of with a small grinding wheel or even spacing out the bumper.

 

michibronc

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I believe there's a 32 x 11.50 that some tire manufacturers make for a 15" rim. Does anyone have any idea how much they rub on the bumper and radius arm with stock suspension?

 

B_Cack

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I have 33's on my 93, I also used the fix of spacing the bumper out a little. The tires don't really rub unless you crank it all the way to the far right or left. ( I always try and avoid this anyways since the stock Ford power steering pump for this year seems to scream like a banshee when you do that anyways!) There is another problem I would like to address when adding larger tires to your rig, and that is the ABS system.

As I stated at the beginning of this article, I have a 1993 and I am not sure if it is just my Bronco or if it is the entire series ( I believe two different types of ABS systems were used the RABS I and II) but ever since I put 33's on I have had quite a few problems with the ABS system. The most noticeable problem is that when coming to a complete stop as you press on the brakes they work fine up until about slowing down through 12-15 mph. At this point the brakes seem to feel spongy and actually release. My solution is to press the brakes as I am slowing, kind of in a slow methodical "pumping" action. For example I slow down to about the point I know they are going to go soft, then I let my foot off and about half a second later I step on them again. This method, although annoying, seems to work very well. I have taken my ride to several brake "specialty" shops as well as the dealer and I can't get a straight answer from any of them.

As you know when you put larger tires on it will mess up your speedometer if no recalibration is made. So, along with somewhat inaccurate speed and mileage readings, I believe that the braking problem has to do with the larger tires, allow me to explain: It is my understanding through what I have read in the Haynes manual as well as several articles online, that the ABS is designed to release brake fluid pressure when the ABS sensors determine that the wheels have "locked" up so as to allow the vehicle to maintain better control. I believe that since the tire size changed and no adjustments were made to the speedometer ( which I am pretty sure is controlled through a computer) the vehicle is somewhat confused and is causing this action. I will put a link on here to a website that explains how to recalibrate the speedometer. If anyone has done this or is going to do it, please let me know if it works. I am writing this from Iraq and won't be home for quite some time. The recalibration techqnique is my last best hope for fixing this problem, and quite honestly I am thinking that the next time I get a set of tires I am going to just put the stock 31's back on. Hope this helped, good luck!

http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/8/0...AND_BRONCO.html

 

BroncoJJG

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I believe there's a 32 x 11.50 that some tire manufacturers make for a 15" rim. Does anyone have any idea how much they rub on the bumper and radius arm with stock suspension?
BFG Mud Terrains make a 32 x 11.50 I'll be installing those on my bronco this weekend. My bronco is a 94 and completly stock so i'm hoping it'll be fine.

 

michibronc

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BFG Mud Terrains make a 32 x 11.50 I'll be installing those on my bronco this weekend. My bronco is a 94 and completly stock so i'm hoping it'll be fine.
If you get a chance, let us know how they fit. BFG Mud Terrains are some great tires. I've always had good luck with BFG's.

 

BroncoJJG

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If you get a chance, let us know how they fit. BFG Mud Terrains are some great tires. I've always had good luck with BFG's.
I installed the tires yesterday, and of course I forgot to take pictures of it. But these tires look very aggressive and very awesome on the bronco.

The tires fit great in the rear with plenty of room to spare, the front however is an issue. If the steering wheel is turned more than one time around the front tire is grabbing the lower plastic fairing on the bumper, Turning the wheel a little bit more it hits the bumper. when moving the plastic fairing and bumper out of the way, i turned the wheel completly to the extreme, There is no rubbing in the rear or in the front. So, the only obstical appears to be the bumper. Could either replace the bumper or get a 2.5-3" lift to easiely clear these tires. I'm interested in doing both :-D

 

bidibronco

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I used to run 32x11.50's but a blew one and couldn't find them around here for a good price like the 33's. The 32's never rubbed on anything though.

 

Roadkill

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I installed the tires yesterday, and of course I forgot to take pictures of it. But these tires look very aggressive and very awesome on the bronco. The tires fit great in the rear with plenty of room to spare, the front however is an issue. If the steering wheel is turned more than one time around the front tire is grabbing the lower plastic fairing on the bumper, Turning the wheel a little bit more it hits the bumper. when moving the plastic fairing and bumper out of the way, i turned the wheel completly to the extreme, There is no rubbing in the rear or in the front. So, the only obstical appears to be the bumper. Could either replace the bumper or get a 2.5-3" lift to easiely clear these tires. I'm interested in doing both :-D
Another easy fix is to shim the bumper out a little with washers. Get some washers big enough to fit the bumper mounting bolts then install them between the plate on the bumper and the bracket on the frame horn. That is cheap and will likely give you the clearance you need by moving the bumper forward a little bit. You could also trim a small amount from the rear edge of the bumper. Both ways are a lot cheaper and easier than a lift or new bumper.

 

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