4" spindles AND torsion keys?

[Longracing25]

As we all know, the sport trac front is the real pain lifting,..or lack of ways i should say. Has anybody installed the 4" spindles AND new torsion keys together? I know spindles AND a twist will get you over 4", maybe 6-7". Would aftermarket keys get you 1-2" over a stock twist? I would think so, but wanted to ask who's used spindle and keys.

 

[Cowboy1977]

As we all know, the sport trac front is the real pain lifting,..or lack of ways i should say. Has anybody installed the 4" spindles AND new torsion keys together? I know spindles AND a twist will get you over 4", maybe 6-7". Would aftermarket keys get you 1-2" over a stock twist? I would think so, but wanted to ask who's used spindle and keys.

Hi I’m JR I have a 2004 sport trac 2wd I did a 4” ranger lift spindles that’s the same as the sport trac spindles plus I have the 3” torsion keys I still need to install but u will need the right unloading tool for the torsion keys do not use the C-clamp unloading tool it doesn’t work and dangerous but when you do the spindles and keys make sure I’m doing it right now buy yourself new upper control arms with a camber bolts and it will help but if u crank max on the keys u will have issues with camber your tires will lean in and put heavy Bend on your upper ball joint and it could snap and it will be costly

I’m doing new upper control arms installing my new 3” keys but only going to crank 1” to 1 1/2” max so with just the spindles + keys I’ll have 5 to 5 1/2” of lift plus using a tire calculators so u can check size from your factory size tires to the new bigger size every 2” of tire over your stock size u will gain 1” of ground Clarence that will add to your lift so I have right now 5” with spindles and factory keys cranked to 1” plus I’m running 31” tires right now that gave me 1” to my lift that gives me 6” of lift with 13” of ground clearance but don’t forget the rear end I went with a 2” rear shackles and a 2” add a leaf I’m off 1” in the rear but u can’t really tell by looking

 

[Longracing25]

nice truck. You mention added leaf, so you did an axle flip? If you didnt, you dont gain anything by adding leaf. Ive seen others talk about adding leaf, but it seems most are not doing axle under. Add a leaf and blocks only lift when axle is below leafs.

 

[Longracing25]

I planned on axle flip and 4" spindles...however im thinking flipping axle....may not be as easy as i thought. Perch adding is easy, but what about shock mount on plate. The damn plates are not flat enough to use on top and i think my rancho shocks might be compressed a bit much. Then there is the sway bar, are there sway bar ends that are longer...or are people not running sway bar?

 

[Longracing25]

i didnt use the crappy little expensive shackles...i bought longer shackle extention kit from autozone, $29 i think. Its 4 bars, 2-3 times longer. want strength, semi box them with welded steel

 

[Cowboy1977]

i didnt use the crappy little expensive shackles...i bought longer shackle extention kit from autozone, $29 i think. Its 4 bars, 2-3 times longer. want strength, semi box them with welded steel

nice truck. You mention added leaf, so you did an axle flip? If you didnt, you dont gain anything by adding leaf. Ive seen others talk about adding leaf, but it seems most are not doing axle under. Add a leaf and blocks only lift when axle is below leafs.

I got the perches for the swap but finding someone who can weld a axle without hurting the axle is hard so all I did was 2” lift rear shackles ( u can get a 3” shackles also but don’t know if I trust the 1”) and the 2” add a leaf and with the tires I got the 1” so just doing it that way I didn’t have to do anything special

 

[Cowboy1977]

I planned on axle flip and 4" spindles...however im thinking flipping axle....may not be as easy as i thought. Perch adding is easy, but what about shock mount on plate. The damn plates are not flat enough to use on top and i think my rancho shocks might be compressed a bit much. Then there is the sway bar, are there sway bar ends that are longer...or are people not running sway bar?

The axle flip can be really good but if u don’t know the axle angles with the drive shaft then u will have drive shaft failure that can be bad for your transmission and dangerous for u

 

[Longracing25]

yeah i know, pinion angle gauge is cheap enough..

 

[W Webb]

Hi I’m JR I have a 2004 sport trac 2wd I did a 4” ranger lift spindles that’s the same as the sport trac spindles plus I have the 3” torsion keys I still need to install but u will need the right unloading tool for the torsion keys do not use the C-clamp unloading tool it doesn’t work and dangerous but when you do the spindles and keys make sure I’m doing it right now buy yourself new upper control arms with a camber bolts and it will help but if u crank max on the keys u will have issues with camber your tires will lean in and put heavy Bend on your upper ball joint and it could snap and it will be costly

I’m doing new upper control arms installing my new 3” keys but only going to crank 1” to 1 1/2” max so with just the spindles + keys I’ll have 5 to 5 1/2” of lift plus using a tire calculators so u can check size from your factory size tires to the new bigger size every 2” of tire over your stock size u will gain 1” of ground Clarence that will add to your lift so I have right now 5” with spindles and factory keys cranked to 1” plus I’m running 31” tires right now that gave me 1” to my lift that gives me 6” of lift with 13” of ground clearance but don’t forget the rear end I went with a 2” rear shackles and a 2” add a leaf I’m off 1” in the rear but u can’t really tell by looking View attachment 1893

 

[W Webb]

I have an 08 sport trac and saw your post, I looked for ranger lift spindles but it said would not fit. I have the 2.5 front and 2 in rear lift spacers and have the problem with tires tilting in at top like most people do. I am running 33x10.5/r15 BFGs and looking for any kind of fix.

 

[Wade J]

W

I have an 08 sport trac and saw your post, I looked for ranger lift spindles but it said would not fit. I have the 2.5 front and 2 in rear lift spacers and have the problem with tires tilting in at top like most people do. I am running 33x10.5/r15 BFGs and looking for any kind of fix.

The spindles they are using is for 1st gen Sport Tracs (2001-2005). Yours is a second gen. You got an alignment after doing the lift correct?

 

[W Webb]

W

The spindles they are using is for 1st gen Sport Tracs (2001-2005). Yours is a second gen. You got an alignment after doing the lift correct?

I finally figured that out and yes I did get an alignment, 2 actually because I did not know if I trusted the first guy. I had a shop replace the struts and add the lift spacers, the struts were monroe's and the shop said they were a little longer then stock . Do you think that could be a problem as the lift did look more then i expected. unfortunately I had a stroke a while back due to A Fib and could do the work myself its just harder so I am having the lift removed. Thank You for the response and confirming the 1st gen vs 2nd gen.

The spindles they are using is for 1st gen Sport Tracs (2001-2005). Yours is a second gen. You got an alignment after doing the lift correct?