Installed 2" Daystar and 2" rear blocks. Tips inside.
#11
02-23-2009, 07:21 PM
#12
02-23-2009, 10:23 PM
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#13
02-23-2009, 11:53 PM
No way! lol. I would'nt feel confortable with a spacer any larger then the one I put because of that upper control arm. 33" tires? Not with this V6 and rear end.
#14
02-24-2009, 04:06 PM
Congrats on getting it done. Make a world of difference, doesn't it.
You said- " the 2" blocks get close to maxing the rear shocks but they work fine"
That is very true. Too much suspension drop and the rear will bottom out the shocks.
Easy fix for that, and a much improved ride.
Bilstein F4-BE5-6682-H6
Just make sure and get the correct bushings and metal insert for the Dakotas mounting bolts.
One thing to be sure of, when at full droop in the rear, make sure you are not stretching your rear brake lines. Mine did, so I had to "adjust" the brakeline brackets.
If you feel that the rear is now a little "loose" or sloppy feeling, let me know and I will help you with some brackets/blocks to get the rear anti-roll bar back into proper alignment. Just those 2" blocks will make the bar be at an "unnatural angle".
No one has these blocks, so I designed and made my own out of billet aluminum.
I may have missed it, but did you get the alignment yet?
You said- " the 2" blocks get close to maxing the rear shocks but they work fine"
That is very true. Too much suspension drop and the rear will bottom out the shocks.
Easy fix for that, and a much improved ride.
Bilstein F4-BE5-6682-H6
Just make sure and get the correct bushings and metal insert for the Dakotas mounting bolts.
One thing to be sure of, when at full droop in the rear, make sure you are not stretching your rear brake lines. Mine did, so I had to "adjust" the brakeline brackets.
If you feel that the rear is now a little "loose" or sloppy feeling, let me know and I will help you with some brackets/blocks to get the rear anti-roll bar back into proper alignment. Just those 2" blocks will make the bar be at an "unnatural angle".
No one has these blocks, so I designed and made my own out of billet aluminum.
I may have missed it, but did you get the alignment yet?
Hey thanks. I think I will be ok as far as the sway bar goes, but I am interested in getting a set of Bilstein shocks for SURE. The shocks are for what, a ram 1500? Where can I get the proper bushing that you are talking about? Can i steal them from the stock shocks that I will be taking off?
#15
02-24-2009, 06:08 PM
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#16
02-24-2009, 06:55 PM
It took me about 5 hours in the front, and 1 hour in the rear. And took about 3 hours to figure out and fix the broken sway bar end link.
BUT, I ran into many problems, had a ton of salt and rust, I had never washed the truck the entire winter, lol. I got slowed down many times.
Thats way longer then I think most people could get it done in. In my mind I would say it was a 2 or 3 hour job tops for the front. BUT, thats if everything goes smooth.
BUT, I ran into many problems, had a ton of salt and rust, I had never washed the truck the entire winter, lol. I got slowed down many times.
Thats way longer then I think most people could get it done in. In my mind I would say it was a 2 or 3 hour job tops for the front. BUT, thats if everything goes smooth.
#17
02-24-2009, 07:30 PM
Dakolorado, just make sure you do it on a day the dealer is open. From personal experience and from talking with the guys in the parts department at a couple local dealers you've got very good odds one of the sway bar end links will snap on you, I don't know as I'd trust them much more from the bottom either but mine did snap on top so there may be something to it. Either way they seem to be made of very cheap metal, the parts guys were telling me they go through those things like hotcakes, I had to call four dealers and drive almost an hour away when I snapped mine because the three closer ones all had them on backorder.
Aside from that if you have the time to pull it in the garage the night before to take the wheels off and soak all the bolts down with PB Blaster or something similar to penetrate overnight it'll make your life easier the next day.
Aside from that if you have the time to pull it in the garage the night before to take the wheels off and soak all the bolts down with PB Blaster or something similar to penetrate overnight it'll make your life easier the next day.
#18
02-25-2009, 07:37 AM
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#19
02-25-2009, 11:23 AM
Hey everyone, alot of these kit manufacturer's don't give you alignment specs with a 2" top mounted strut spacer. Here is the recommended specs from the readylift 2" spacer for our truck:
CASTER LEFT: 2.9 RIGHT:3.4
CAMBER LEFT: 0.2 RIGHT 0.4
TOE LEFT: 1/16" RIGHT: 1/16"
Daystar told me to use the factory specs.
I did not get mine yet, but I probablly should. The tires seem to sit on the pavement right and it tracks straight, I almost am thinking about not doing it until I get new tires, mine have like 20% tread life left.
CASTER LEFT: 2.9 RIGHT:3.4
CAMBER LEFT: 0.2 RIGHT 0.4
TOE LEFT: 1/16" RIGHT: 1/16"
Daystar told me to use the factory specs.
I did not get mine yet, but I probablly should. The tires seem to sit on the pavement right and it tracks straight, I almost am thinking about not doing it until I get new tires, mine have like 20% tread life left.
Last edited by MonkeyWrench4000; 02-25-2009 at 01:36 PM.
#20
02-25-2009, 11:55 AM
One more thing, I ordered longer rear shocks. Mainly because my current shocks are pretty much done for, and since I now have the increased ride hieght, they really don't have much up travel left in them.
I know of the Bilstein options but I decided to go for the Rough Country RC9000 series shocks, they were only 34.99 each, you can't beat that (unless they wind up being complete garbage)
Rough country makes a 2.5" leveling kit for our truck, and you can get a rear option, that adds 1.5" blocks, u-bolts, and longer then stock shocks. I just called them up, got the part # for the shocks, and ordered a pair.
I figure it was the most economical way to take care of longer shocks in the rear.
http://roughcountry.com/shocks_rc9000.html
This is a link to the type of shock I bought, just so you guys know, they don't list any shock available for our truck on the site, you actually have to call them and tell them you want the longer shocks from the kit. (Maybe they are actually ram 1500 shocks with different bushing, i really don't know)
Figured this would save people some time and money.
I know of the Bilstein options but I decided to go for the Rough Country RC9000 series shocks, they were only 34.99 each, you can't beat that (unless they wind up being complete garbage)
Rough country makes a 2.5" leveling kit for our truck, and you can get a rear option, that adds 1.5" blocks, u-bolts, and longer then stock shocks. I just called them up, got the part # for the shocks, and ordered a pair.
I figure it was the most economical way to take care of longer shocks in the rear.
http://roughcountry.com/shocks_rc9000.html
This is a link to the type of shock I bought, just so you guys know, they don't list any shock available for our truck on the site, you actually have to call them and tell them you want the longer shocks from the kit. (Maybe they are actually ram 1500 shocks with different bushing, i really don't know)
Figured this would save people some time and money.