Has anyone done any mods to the suspension to get bigger wider tires to fit? I have an '88 Aerostar(138x miles) with the 3.0. I mostly use it to go skiing and mountain biking as it has plenty of room to hold all my gear. However, It is not too sturdy. It would be great to be able to run wider tires to get a little more stability and grip on the snow and gravel. I remember seeing an article way back when in Offroad magazine about someone who did a whole conversion on an Aerostar and an Astro. Can't seem to find it anymore though. Any thoughts?

 

I would caution against going wider to gain more traction. To increase traction, you want narrower tires. This spreads the load (vehicle's weight) over a smaller patch of rubber, which increases the amount of force (in any direction, "spinning" or "sliding") required to break traction. However, a narrower tire generally has less weight capacity so be careful in selecting the right tire.

I have a 93 AWD model and installed P225/75R14 (one size over stock) on stock rims without any clearance problems. I did this mainly for extra weight capacity and to get a "heavier duty" (SUV) type of tire. With AWD, the traction is absolutely INCREDIBLE and I would highly recommend that, if your budget allows, buying an AWD model. Fortunately (for buyers anyway), the resale value is quite low.

Two other mods you might want to consider just to improve overall driveability are better shocks (I like KYB gasadjust) and a rear anti-sway bar.

Have fun,
Mark

 

In regards to my previous post, I wanted to clarify that the traction part was mainly in reference to loose/slick surfaces. The danger in having a narrow tire on dry hard surfaces is that you can "over power" it. Comomn sense & tire ratings need to be high on factors to consider.

 

I'v been tring to find a way to drop mine a little. I dont want to cut the springs. I'v been thinking about getting the lowering kit for a 93' ranger but would it work and will a 4in drop cause problems?


93'Aerostar XLT. Intake, cherrybomb glasspack, dual 3" tip, red LED blinkers, red neon inside.

 

Damn! I had a lengthy msg typed up, hit "Preview", and Netscrape folded up and died! Damn!

Well, let's see what I can recall . . .

Do Rangers use rear coil spring suspension like the Aero? I was under one recently, but I don't remember. I thought they used leafs in back.

If there are drop spindles available for the Ranger, perhaps they'll fit the Aero? Drop spindles are the best way to lower, because they don't radically affect the suspension geometry, so the vehicle handles a lot like OEM, and you can still get reasonable tire wear, turning radius, no bump-steer problem, etc. This is a fairly common mod for old Falcons.

Keep in mind that lowering the front 4" is going to have the front crossmember, lower A-arms, and maybe parts of the exhaust hangin' up on every railroad crossing you hit above 20.

At the rear, it's going to be tougher to get 4". The diff's upper A-arm will likely not accomodate much in the way of lowering, but if you eliminate the upper jounce snubber, you might be able to accomodate 1.5-2" without doing anything else. Beyond that, I think you'll have to carve a rectangle in the floor and fab new A-arm pickup points.

Modifying the rear coils to be 4" lower is trickier, I think. If you rule out cutting the springs, your options are welding new lower spring perches to the axle housing (4" lower is not going to be all that easy), or fab'ing new upper spring perches by cutting up the interiour and relocating them higher (which is going to be an order of magnitude harder yet). Unless I'm overlooking something.

You might want to scale back your 4" design, maybe to 2.5" or 3", both of which could be a LOT easier to accomodate. Or not: what a dull world this would be if we all thought alike.

I used to work in a Job Shop (but I was in the desk-type operations, Engineering and Sales, etc.), and some of the things the shop guys would turn out on their own time was amazing. I used to draw up things for myself and have them make me stuff that I didn't have the experience to build, and it was amazing the things they brought back to me.

All it took was years of experience, lot of hours, and a couple hundred thousand dollars of shears, brakes, milling machines and welders -- then, like most things, once you know how, it's easy!

If you end up doing this, please post some good pix!

Regards,
Al S.

(who is now copying this text to the clipboard before selecting the "Preview" button!)