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rear suspension for hotrod towing capabilities

2K views 1 reply 1 participant last post by  matt167 
#1 ·
My old pickup is starting to deteriorate. It's not a rusted out heap yet but it is getting there, the frame will need some patches to go farther.the brakes don't function 100% because of an issue in the old K-H ABS system. It went from Anti lock brakes to almost Anti Stop brakes so it's parked for the time being unless I need something hauled... This is a problem because it was to be my tow vehicle for my boat, which is a 1961 Custom Craft Sea Ray. 15'9" outboard runabout powered by a 1964 Mercury 650 4cyl on the original Holesclaw trailer ( sadly it's missing the original Crosley rims ) and it is currently being restored ( by me ).. I bought a 1999 Subaru for a DD so a 4x4 pickup is not necessary anymore as only 4x4 was needed for winter.. The Subaru gave me an idea that I could buy a 'cool' pickup to tow the old boat with..
It dawned on me.. My Rat Rod probably needs less $$$ than any 'cool' pickup I'm going to find.. Soo with that, I'm thinking the rat rod can be a cool hauler for the boat, and it would also handle a 4x8 landscape trailer to haul whatever I need for supplies of any kind...

What I need is a balanced suspension for towing. Front suspension is run of the mill 1994 Ford Ranger twin I beam. I have Jegster adjustable ladder bars and coil overs installed on the rear quickly to make a roller ( tacked ) but they need to be reset as I did them too quickly and they are not right. I actually was not paying attention and welded the coil over brackets on upside down so they are way too short for anything
I want to keep the ladders, but ditch the coil overs in favor of coil springs with external shocks... I have no clue what spring rate the coil overs are as I bought them because they were new and cheap back before I knew any better... I have an Explorer 8.8" which has a 3 1/4" axle tube and I know most coil spring perches are for 3" tube.. Can the coil spring perches be trimmed like the ladder bar brackets to make them fit?

Pics of what I'm working with. I don't remember the wheelbase, but it is shorter than a Shortbed single cab Ranger. The front frame is from an Extended cab Ranger, it terminates into 2x3 rails just behind the cab




And the boat which will need to be towed. I will stay on paved concrete launches or keep the wheels dry and just back the trailer in to the keel roller and crank it.. Also going to need mirrors or a backup cam
 
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