What options do I have to increase my load capacity in my 2wd Ranger?

So far I have discovered Timbren which is a rubber bumper - www.timbren.com

OR

Supersprings which is an additional spring - www.supersprings.com

Both of these options are over $300, a little bit expensive for me.

Anyone use these or have other options?

Thanks
Dgr

 

There are a few ways to stronger rear springs.

An add-a-leaf under the stock leaf pack is one of the least expensive ways and will also lift the rear of the truck a little but will ride stiffer when empty.

Helper springs that go on top of the leaf pack and clamp around the ends do the same thing as an add-a-leaf for maybe a little more money but should be easier to put on.

Air bag helpers are a cool solution too since you can drop the air pressure when not loaded and have a descent ride and increase the pressure when loaded to level the truck. They are in the $200 and up range.

Air shocks, which I only mention as a warning, are not a good idea for increased weight carrying. The shock mounts were not designed to carry the weight of the vehicle, which is what they end up doing when you pump up a pair of air shocks to take the weight of the load.

Finally, replacing the stock springs with a higher rated leaf pack is probably the best way to increase carrying capacity and may not be as expensive as it sounds.

One note of caution, don't overload the truck beyond the weight rating of the rear tires, as stated on the tires' sidewall and be sure to pump them up to full pressure when they are loaded heavily.

 

I don't carry heavy loads frequently. Maybe 1 or 2 per year. So I don't want to stiffen up the rear too much. I'd rather keep the ride I have now. So I am trying to balance cost with a good ride with the ability to carry a little bit more weight than normal a few times per year.

Based on those criteria, what would be the least expensive, but still offer good ride quality (willing to sacrafice a little tho) and increase weight carrying capacity? The add a leaf sounds good, but how much stiffer will it be? I am not looking at doubling the capacity but merely have a little extra when I need it. It's not for a business or anything, but merely to carry topsoil, rock, lumber, etc for my home when I need it.


But won't that stiffen up the rear? By how much? Is it more or less expensive than just adding a spring?

My tires are rated at 1753 pounds and the payload capacity of the Ranger is 1260 pounds. I assume that if I do add springs or air bags that I can increase this payload? But by how much though?

 

The add-a-leafs will probably suit your needs. They don't stiffen the stock ride characteristics much. The benifit of the added leaf is mainly when load is applied, they keep the stock spring from squating as much. A draw back is you will get an added inch or more to the rear ride height.

 

How much stiffness the add-a-leaf adds depends on how much of the spring comes into play (how much arch it has) when the truck is not loaded or lightly loaded. Some have more arch than others. If the current springs are getting old and sagging, the add-a-leaf will have more effect when unloaded than if the springs are in good shape.

For a spring that doesn't come into play at all when the truck is unloaded but is there to help out when loaded, look at the rear spring pack of a one-ton truck. Most one-tons have an overload leaf on top of the pack that does nothing when unloaded but contacts a seperate set of bumpers mounted to the frame when the truck is loaded and begins to sink in the rear. The spring pushes up on these bumpers and helps carry the load. My F350 has this setup and so did my old Chevy dually and it works pretty good. This probably isn't something that would be real easy to add on to your truck though, as I doubt anyone makes a kit for it for a Ranger.

A stronger leaf pack can ride stiffer if it uses the same number of leafs but with thicker leafs and/or higher strength leafs, which is probably what you're likely to find. A set of multi-leaf springs using thinner leafs but with more leafs in the pack may ride as good as the stockers and carry more weight too. A spring shop can make you a set if that's what you want. If you're in Southern California, National Spring is the place to go. Yes, it would be more expensive than an add-a-leaf.

About the payload, you cant Legally increase it, but you will be able to haul more weight safely with stronger springs. Not Too much more, because your tires, wheels, frame, axle and brakes all have their safe load limits. If I remember correctly, an 8.8" axle in a Ranger is rated for about 2400 lbs for the axle itself, per the axle manufacturer (Visteon). My guess is your truck will probably exceed the limits of other components before it exceeds the actual axle weight limit.

 

how about coil-over shocks?

 

Coil over shocks? Not sure what you mean my friend...can you describe it to me?

Digger

 

I'm thinkin' now that the best thing to do is add the Timbren option. I don't have to mess around with adding a differant set of leafs, it won't affect ride quality when empty, plus I can do it myself (adding leafs is something I am not set-up to do).

From what I can see a helper sping option is much more expensive than the Timbren product.

Someone had mentioned coil-over-shocks, not sure what that is, I am guessing that it is a spring installed over the rear shocks(?). But it sounds to me as if I will have to modify the rear chasis in order to mount the coils...?

Digger

 

coil-over shocks are just what they sound like. just a shock with a coil spring attached. they mount just like regular shocks. with mine I didn't notice much stiffer ride. they claim to add 500lbs. capacity. I got minae at napa for about 70 bucks for the pair. they did lift the rear just a skosh though.

 

I have used a helper spring (coil) from JC Whitney that comes in different lengths and loads. It mounts on the axle right under the frame. In my case, it was about half inch away from the frame when my car was empty, so it was only used when my car was loaded, hence the empty ride didn't suffer.

 

How much weight do you want to carry in your 2x4 Ranger?

The rear of your frame only has a four inch sectional height, if that, and the wall of your frame and the flanges is about 1/8 inch.

Not to mention you have a 7.5 rear end. You have small disc brakes in the front and maybe 9 inch drums in back.

imo, Going much over 1200 pounds is pushing the safety envelope on your Ranger. The other thing is raising the rear will take even more weight off the rear axle making the nose even heavier which means less traction.

If you just want to level the Ranger while carrying 1000 pounds, then I would go with the 3k Firestone airbags (less money) and use a portable 12v air compressor (less money) to fill them when you need it. The bags will stiffen the ride a bit, but, if you keep them at 20 psi it should not be that bad. The problem with air bags is they become a lifetime upkeep issue because you always have to add air.

A cheap alternative is to buy a set of used springs from a junk yard and put one leaf from each pack into yours. That way you could experiment with which leaf offers the best compromise. I think using the second or third one from the main leaf would be best.

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to exceed the capacity of the Ranger. I just want to, like you said, level the truck when carrying a heavy load - that's all.

Sometimes I carry 1/4 yard of topsoil about 25 - 30 km from the gardening store to my house on a 100km/h highway. 1/4 yard of dirt is quite heavy, and does not exceed the weight capacity (I hope). But it does drop the rear end down a bit. I just want to level it out, take some pressure off the leaf springs, make it a bit more stable, spare the leafs from the shock of the few bumps along the way, etc. That's just one example of my intentions.

All of your comments have been helpfull, and have given me options, thank you. More comments are welcome if you have them. I AM leaning towards the Timbren product though. www.timbren.com.

Digger

 

I think 1/4 yard of soil hits about 500 pounds. So, it is well within the Ranger's load capacity. The Timbren thing looks good and might be a lot better then air springs because you just have to install it and forget it.

They look like a sort of big jounce bumper, it would be good if you could remove the factory one and install the Timbren in its place if the mounting size is correct.

If you need a more stable ride from a bigger shock this is what I did on my Bronco II. I drilled out the lower part of the rear shock mounts (think it was to 1/2") and used full sized 1985 Bronco shocks. They fit right in and the BII and Ranger axles are basically the same. I use to load my BII to the roof with birch firewood and it really helped it stop wallowing with a load.

 

I replaced the rear springs pn my f150 awhile back. I got some heavy duty springs them from jcwhitney for $220 total. They have 5 leafs and the original ones had 4. The truck definately rides better even with the extra spring. I think the old ones was wore out and they had too much flex. Before my truck would squat a little with my 550 lb fourwheeler. So far I've been very pleased with them. I just put about 1200-1300 pounds in the back the other day and the truck still squatted but it was't too terribly bad. Occasionally I'll haul a cattle trailer and that really sqats even with the weight distribution hitch and I'm looking at the air lift bags to help with that. For your application if your truck is fairly new and hasn't been abused or anything I would get something like a helper spring or anything else that would help your springs out and also I would get new shocks, they will make a difference. If your truck is older and chances are your springs are wore out I'd get a new spring pack. My truck is a 95 and the springs were wore out.