Sorry for this newbie post. I currently have a 2001 chevrolet silverado Z71 that i will be selling and then 'downgrading' (if you even want to call it that) to a smaller pickup. I am wanting to go with a 2wd setup and eventually turn it into something fun for the local dunes. anywho....quick question, what are the differences in suspension designs between the yota and ranger? are the yotas a-arm design similar to my silverado? what are the rangers? are they an 'i-beam' setup? im not very familiar with either one of these setups so any info would help out.

what suspension setup is easier and cheaper to work with? on that note, id prefer to stay away from the 'yota is better than ranger' or vis versa arguments.


thanks!

Justin

 

I can't fit in a Ranger and I fit in a Taco easily. 6'2" 225 lbs plus come on, it's a Ford...

 

Justin,

The biggest difference is one breaks and the other doesnt.

Ok, all joking aside, my answer is "I don't know". Hopefully someone here will enlighten you.

However I did want to comment and say "buy a 4wd" and not a 2wd. I know there's several people that I've wheeled with that do the dunes and trails rather successfully w/o 2wd, but to have the capability (and security) of a 4wd would be a good thing to have since you have a choice to purchase one or the other.

bob

 

altho, i dont know a great deal about the suspension setups i have figured out that i would like to eventually go with some sort of long suspension setup that can handle a decent amount of jumping. as far as i know, these sorts of suspension setups are not available for 4x4's. i could be wrong, shrug.

 

i don't know for sure about this, but i've heard stock rangers have pretty long wheel travel up in front.

but i'd still go with a toyota. both can be built up quite nicely, but only the tacoma has the proven reliability.

there are a couple long travel kits available for 4wd, but the ones for 2wd are easier to find and offer more travel than the 4wd versions. i think, correct me if i'm wrong someone.

check out http://www.camburg.com/suspensionprod.html for suspension setups on both trucks.

 

The new rangers dont have the beam anymore, but the older ones do. Im not sure on which truck has a better suspension to mod and other things in that area, but I can tell you that I had a ranger for 4 years(4spd auto, stepside, v6) and it has nothing on my 01 prerunner. More power, better ride, better quality, better truck.

 

what years are the newer generation rangers? also, what suspension setups do the different generation yotas have?

 

I'm new to the yota's and have no clue.

ranger:

1997 was the last year of the i-beam front suspension
1998 it went to wishbones and coil springs
1999 added rack and pinion steering



Another area is fuel mileage, fords drink gas, my 01 prerunner with the 3.4 auto averages 17.5 city, my ranger with an auto did worse than that with less power.

 

what would you consider a better/easier/cheaper/whatever setup between the 97 and 98/99?

 

Well, I did more work on lowering than raising, but the ibeam suspension is not near as good as the newer setup, better ride too. The ibeams were ancient and should have been done away with long before. If you do get a ranger, get a 98+ with no less than the 4.0L.

 

Here are some pics of I-Beam supension, that has some major mods to it. I would have to disagree with you, the I-beam suspension is very strong and you can get good travel out it. I do agree with the 4.0 thought, good engine.

 

I have a '97 ranger with the camburg coilover system on it. I think I-beams are a little cheaper to build a long travel setup for, you can get more travel but camber change becomes a problem. Their is a lot more fab work to do with the '98 and up rangers. '01 rangers I believe went to torsion bars instead of coils. As for 2wd or 4wd, with the pre '98 rangers you can get just about the same amount of travel but the 4wd will cost a lot more. With the 98 and above rangers there is no long travel available yet, unless you go totally custom fab.

That is my truck in the above link.

Here are a couple of videos that have both a-arm and I-beams

clicky #1

clicky #2

 

If you go with a Taco ESB Fab makes a kit for it. I have some more pics of the Ranger if you want them. I think Total Chaos also makes a kit for the Taco.

 

Just looked over a bud's new ranger, Its got Torsion bars! They really hang down there too

 

Here is a good discussion on A-Arms Vs. I-Beams

 

thanks

 

Here's a discussion on Pirate about 2wds at the dunes. The general concensus is that it sucks, 4wd is best. A locker helps though.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...5&pagenumber=1

 

www.therangerstation.com has alot of info on the rangers. IMHO 2WD sand setups have to be pretty spendy to compete with even a stock 4WD. They are fun to drive but they have to be light and powerful.