Won the hard way, a few heads up for anyone thinking about working on the front/rear suspension of your older Ranger-two piece front axle 2wd
- If you wnat to change the front shocks, exercise extreme care with the lower locknut. I broke studs on both radius arms. Even exercising a fair amount of care. Best to either carefully cut off the nut-somewhat difficult on my '96, the thing is a combination locknut/cupped washer, try a Dremel, or apply a lot of heat to the nut. Aftermarket shocks come with their own bushings, you'll have to cut out the old rubber bushings as they won't work with the aftermarket shocks. If you end up replacing the old locknut, go to a better hardware and get an automotive grade nut (M12), the dealer will sell you this nut(another locknut sans washer) but the kit also includes all the other crap you don't need, bushing, upper nut and washer
- If you need to replace the rear springs you'll probably have to cut the bolts out, after removing the self locking inner nuts. Three of the four shackles for the springs are riveted in place, keep this in mind when cutting. You will have to lower the axle considerably when installing the new springs. Jack the axle back up slowly until the stud on the spring pops into the receiver on the axle, using a rubber mallet to move the axle if necessary.
- It is easier to cut the front springs out, my tool of choice was an electric grinder. Cut the spring as low as you can manage, will make it easier to get the keeper nut off. Impact wrench with a 28 mm socket, this size is a specialty item, most places don't carry it. You'll want to take care with the bolt, it is extremely difficult to remove, I can personally attest. If it comes to that, would suggest applying a lot of heat to the axle, then quench the bolt as well as you can. The head of the bolt is also
- If you've read this much and are the unfortunate owner of a radius arm with broken studs, the rear nut is also 28 mm, best to grind this nut off also, not as difficult as you might think.
John Cairns