I am wanting to lift my '94 Ranger and put slightly bigger tires on it. I am learning all it’s quirks and it’s in need of some basic repairs. I recently discovered that my left front wheel bearing is going out and that my right front hub is broken to where it won’t disengage the axle. yes, the hub is in the “free” position. my left front hub and axle is okay. i had a friend of mine help me with some diagnosis and i had some questions about fuel mileage. he asked what my last tank was and i said 21mpg. alot of combined city/hwy driving and not so mannerable driving. he said i could be getting better if that hub wasn’t broken. (it’s a 5 spd 4.0 by the way).
This leads into my question. I am looking into a 4 or 6" lift for the Ranger. I am also wanting to run 31" tires. Since I am restoring it to be a daily driver to replace a '96 Taurus, what kind of real world fuel mileage am i looking at? The guy at the offroad place says i will notice a slight drop in mileage, and the more you lift and the bigger tires you run, it will diminish accordingly. I want to walk a fine line between fun and practical. my brother suggested a chat forum for this kinda thing, but i couldn’t really find any and i have an unmeasreable faith in this one.
If it looks okay, i am thinking 6" lift with 31" tires. granted, a good tune-up is in the workings. it was my father-in-laws’ Ranger and it runs extremely good. a nice, although older, upgrade from the Taurus.
If you know of a better place to obtain this info or know of a chat forum best suited for what I am asking, it would be greatly appreciated if it came my way.
Also, give me some feedback or opinions or personal experience with All-Terrain tires. I am considering BFG’s All-Terrain tires because of the reviews i read and that it had a long hwy life, many drivers getting 60-70K out of a set.
A stock 94 Ranger like yours should get 23-25 on the HWY. Lift it and put on 31;s. I think you will get 15-16 at best. A good lift kit all done will cost you $2000-$3000. Oh and tires will wear fast. 30-40K max. Been there done that. Oh you wont get right the first time, so take it easy on the test drives.
First, get the wheel bearings and hubs straightened out…Then think twice about the lift kit…Is this a “never-never” truck?? (never off the road, never in 4WD)
Fuel mileage will most certainly take a bad hit if the truck is lifted and oversize wheels/tires installed. Handling, acceleration and braking will also take a terrible hit. Such modifications are suited only for weekend toys and not daily drivers. I have brought several trucks back to original for owners who scrapped the hardware after learning the hard way that the modifications were a money pit.
31’s will look small with a 4 or 6 inch lift. Go go for 33’s. If you want 31’s stick with a small leveling lift (2 inch)
If you don’t regear expect to take a significant hit in performance and mileage. I would go with 4.30 or 4.56 gears. Expect to spend about $600 per axle to have this done
Don’t buy the cheapest lift you can. You get what you pay for.
You won’t get 60k-70k out of a set of BFG’s if you even got half that, you’d be doing very well.
Real work fuel mileage will be around 12-14 MPG overall if you don’t regear, around 15-18 if you do.
I had a lifted full sized Bronco years ago. It had a four inch lift, 33 inch tires and 4.56 gears (4.10’s would put it effectively back to stock, but 4.56’s yielded better acceleration). When it was bone stock it got 12 MPG around town and around 16 MPG on the highway, after the lift and regearing it got around 10 MPG around town and 13 MPG on the highway.
I have had an opportunity to see 4wd Rangers in off road conditions. They tend to need constant repair and were structurally ill suited for the task. If you are doing this for looks, it’s an awfully expensive way to doll up a 94 Ranger. If you in deed want to make a ligitimate off road vehicle, start with something better equip for the task. If you think the truck had poor handling haracteristics now, wait till you finish. Your truck IMO, will have no practical use that justifys the investment you plan to make. An off roader, it isn’t !