Ranger Re-do 911 @ Guilty By Design

They won't for awhile. I understand that is what he wanted. Instead of redoing my whole suspension what we did is essentially notched the side of the frame and moved the bag within the cup that we made. This allowed us to move the bag directly on top of the bars.

When we first put the bars on there it didn't look like it was twisting. Of course it wouldn't without a bed on it there is no weight. Once you put the bed on it then there is more weight to lift and over time it is going to twist the bars and those bushings are going to go bye bye..

I know the customer wanted you to do one thing, however you need to be there to tell him that this is the best way to do it because your name is going to be attached to this and that is how it will be done.

Again.. this is all from previous experience.

I understand what you are saying but assuming that is thick steel for your lower link bar and that the underside of the lower plate is supported and the bolt and bushing and sleeve are all the right size and properly bolted on i don't think you will be having any issues any time soon. i mean from my personal experience i have had a full size that has a similar lower plate and its been bagged since 2004 and have never had a problem. my bud has had a ranger with a similar setup that has been bagged since 2002 and never had an issue with that either. i can see it happening but its a bushing replace it just like you will need to replace bags or a valve or a fitting. i mean its a bagged truck you cant not do any maintenance on some thing like that and expect it to last forever

just my two cents it looks way better and i am sure that the kid will have a safer ride now that you have had it. i mean thats what it was all for anyways. good job kyle

This was how mine was setup..

This is how far the bag hung over.

This was the pass side..

This was the drivers side.

This could have been because the bag was almost at the front of the bar and it was pushing more. However this is what happened and this was after less than 6 months. I had this fixed because it wasn't safe so this is why I am bringing this up before the truck even goes out of the shop. Might as well do it right the first time and not have to fix it. After it was fixed I NEVER had to replace a bag or a bushing. That is how it should be done. You should be able to ride for years with very little maintenance if any at all.

Edited: 12/1/2010 4:26:26 PM by kdaddy

Have had my ranger bagged for two years with the bags on bars with them hanging over from the center and never have had a problem. My bushings still look like new. Might just be the fab work or the certain setup giving problems but I and the other rangers I have bagged have not had that issue.

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SunsetRanger said:

This was how mine was setup..



This was the pass side..

This was the drivers side.

did the same place do your truck too? i noticed your notch isnt finished either..

It doesn't matter how many people say it won't happen it WILL. If you use the factory leafspring perch up front and offset the bags it will be a constant battle. I know because mine has been done for 6 years and i have replaced bushings every winter. It has nothing to do with fab work. It just makes sense if you think about it. I can go out to my garage right now and get pictures of it. I am waiting on new brackets from SD to fix it for good. Just call and talk to Ricky about it or go over to rangerpowersports.com if you think it won't happen. If done right they should never need replaced and upkeep time can be spent doing something that actually needs done not fixing some fucked up link job. Not trying to be a dick but so many people seem to have an opinion and if they had this setup they would know they are wrong.

why would you run bushings on the front and rear of the lower bars, and on the front of the upper bars, but heims on the rear of the upper bars?

anyway, bushings are going to wear out reguardless. the rear axle pivots and moves up and down and twists from the frame all the time. thats what bushings do, they absorb the twisting so your bars and frame dont. its what they are designed to do. the pics you posted may look horrible to you but in fact they are not worn out at all. there should be a steel sleeve inside of them. not to mention those look like energy suspension urethane bushings. not just rubber bushings. with the bags on the bars like that it would take you a long ass time and a shit load of lifting the truck to make the inner sleeve touch the outer sleeve of the bushing. i mean thousands of ppl run 2 links and swear by them and they are probobly the worst designed rear suspension you can possibly run with bags including a monoleaf. to be honest this type of bag on bar setup probobly doesnt do near the bushing damage as a normal 2 link does to the front bushings due to the rear of the bars being bolted solid to the axle. so anytime the axle moves at all on one side or the other all the movement is in completely the front bushings. ive seen a ton of these setups and yes it looks pretty bad but in fact its not nearly as bad as you might think. my friends bodied 04 silverado has been running on a superlift just like this for years with no probs. we have drove it all over the east coast and the bushings look like shit but it rides wonderful and hasnt had the first issue.

Edited: 12/1/2010 9:08:54 PM by rooster52478

Well it looks a whole lot better considering what it looked like. Word on the street is that there is a bunch of hatin' going on due to you hatin' on the "infamous" shop that did the original work. Sounds like a bunch of dumb shit to me but who knows.

Don't get me wrong it looks like a night and day difference tho.

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waynehammer said:

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SunsetRanger said:

This was how mine was setup..



This was the pass side..

This was the drivers side.

did the same place do your truck too? i noticed your notch isnt finished either..

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It was welded all the way around except for the bottom. The guy that did my truck was a friend of mine and I drove it for years after he changed the lower link bars..

Honestly I have no idea why there is heims on one side and bushings on the other. I didn't build it I remember he told me it was for a reason and I don't remember what it is at this moment. My new frame is the exact same way. The difference being I think 5 years between builds.. The quality of his work had come a long way since my truck was originally done, however I must admit I beat the crap out of it and it held up with years of abuse.