******j m r s n e e k p e e k ******
Record Breaker
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,084
Likes: 5
From: Las Vegas
Yea I've already told him he needs to jump on here and provide the information in his own words instead of ppl getting the grapevine. No sense in trying to sell your product if your not going to communicate with the customers
Captain
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 533
Likes: 0
From: Jackson, MO
I understand parts are not installed yet, and I am not saying this to be a jerk, but please don't tantalize this community with promises of "vids soon" JMR promised "vids soon" back in febuary...~7 months isn't soon, you can keep the community updated without telling us to expect things that aren't likley to happen.
Rookie
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 79
Likes: 1
Back on the DF!
Hey guys, what's up! I read your comments just now and it sounds like you guys are mostly happy with the kit. I didn't expect any of you to "hunt me down," the kit just wasn't finished enough to show a ton of progress. I know you guys get excited over this stuff (as do I) and like lots of info and lots of pics. Over the last few months I've been trying to finish nursing school (recently named the hardest undergraduate degree by Guinness Book of WR!!!) while trying to help start this business and complete the lift. All that, in addition to the company we used to draw the CAD files losing our first kit for 2 months slowed progress, which I am sorry. Maybe I took on too much but I got tired of waiting for another company to make a kit and I met some good people that know a lot more about this stuff than I do (and I know a lot!) so I figured "why wait."
Yes, we started off with a Rough Country kit for a Ram 1500 and after the first day of cutting, grinding, and welding learned that it was a waste of money since we ended up fabbing everything ourselves except the steering knuckles.
After we welded "junk" together and test drove it (with fingers crossed that it wouldn't fall apart) to make sure it all fit, we took the parts to be professionally drawn up in SolidWorks and had autoCAD files made so that parts could be CNC cut with the lock-and-grove assembly design. The more recent (and professional looking) pictures you've seen on this thread are of a kit where the coilover drop brackets, cross member brackets, and front diff drop brackets are all CNC cut and fit perfectly.
In summary, the kit has taken hundreds of hours of research, numerous long days of fabricating, several afternoons of measuring and making calls, and thousands of dollars in parts purchased to be tested, some of which will never be used.
To address the question of the coilover drop brackets...they are industry standard design, made of 1/4" plate steel (as are all of our brackets unlike RC and others). The coilover assembly will literally explode if enough force applied to cause the drop bracket to fail.
To address the question of build times once everything is read: most of our suppliers have a 2-3 week build time including for the CNC parts as well as shock companies like Fabtech and ICON (which is another possibility to be tested should the Dirt Logic coilovers not fit). We will try to stay ahead on the CNC parts by preordering but since we would like to offer several options for the shocks and coilovers, we will not be able to preorder these things.
To address the question of pricing: kits will have a "base" price of about $2600 and will increase as parts are upgraded including any shocks, coilovers, additional skid plates, etc.
To address the question of how the truck handles on the road:
Originally the kit was tested with rough country rear shocks, since that's what we had left over after buying the RC kit. Those shocks, in our opinion, are not suitable for the Dakotas as they are far too stiff. Recently, we have put Fabtech Dirt Logic 2.25 shocks on the rear and they feel amazing on the road. Off road, they do well also (much better than the RCs) but could probably be slightly softer. Next, we are going to test Rancho's RS9000XL series shocks with the remote adjuster. Driving the truck with the front sway bar off is not a problem whatsoever, even on the road. The truck has had over 10,000 miles put on it with the sway bar off before adding the front suspension lift, and 2000 miles driven with the sway bar off with the suspension kit on. Yes, the truck does "lean" during cornering on the street, but not to the point of being dangerous. After being used to having a sway bar on it does seem a little scary but after getting used to the truck we found that power slides are still just as possible. That being said, I would still not recommend that the truck be driven without caution or as recklessly as you would with a sway bar on as the kit raises the center of gravity and the sway bar does help.
The next step in this process is to put the front diff skid plate and skid plate that spans the front 2 cross member brackets on and test the kit off road, progressively abusing the kit more and more as we go. Following that, we need to test the front suspension using the adjustable dirt logic coilovers. Once that is tested and the results noted and video recorded, we need to test the truck with the Rancho 9000s in the rear. Also, we would like to test long travel rear leaf springs in order to offer them in our "Performance Package." We can currently offer blocks/u-bolts and add-a-leafs for those interested in that route. The final process is to find someone in the Phoenix area (or someone willing to drive to Phoenix) who has a truck that has not been modified (no cut fenders) in order to do a final test fit. For this person, we will charge our cost for parts alone and will install (free labor) whichever level of kit with whichever shocks the person likes. Following this, we will continue to fabricate and test fit products for vehicles, focusing mainly on the Dakotas. For example are looking into high angle CV joints and upper ball joints/upper control arm swaps to even further increase the potential of these trucks.
We are hoping (key word "hoping") to have the site up and running with all the tests done by the end of 2011. If you guys would like to help in any of these steps please send a private message to me. For other questions about the kit please continue to post here and I will answer them when I get the chance.
Sorry for the long post. Hopefully I covered everything and hopefully this post helps you guys to understand current progress as well as expected completion.
Keep checking our photobucket page for pictures and our YouTube channel for videos.
http://s1188.photobucket.com/home/JackMyRide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XHrWSgIxtM
Yes, we started off with a Rough Country kit for a Ram 1500 and after the first day of cutting, grinding, and welding learned that it was a waste of money since we ended up fabbing everything ourselves except the steering knuckles.
After we welded "junk" together and test drove it (with fingers crossed that it wouldn't fall apart) to make sure it all fit, we took the parts to be professionally drawn up in SolidWorks and had autoCAD files made so that parts could be CNC cut with the lock-and-grove assembly design. The more recent (and professional looking) pictures you've seen on this thread are of a kit where the coilover drop brackets, cross member brackets, and front diff drop brackets are all CNC cut and fit perfectly.
In summary, the kit has taken hundreds of hours of research, numerous long days of fabricating, several afternoons of measuring and making calls, and thousands of dollars in parts purchased to be tested, some of which will never be used.
To address the question of the coilover drop brackets...they are industry standard design, made of 1/4" plate steel (as are all of our brackets unlike RC and others). The coilover assembly will literally explode if enough force applied to cause the drop bracket to fail.
To address the question of build times once everything is read: most of our suppliers have a 2-3 week build time including for the CNC parts as well as shock companies like Fabtech and ICON (which is another possibility to be tested should the Dirt Logic coilovers not fit). We will try to stay ahead on the CNC parts by preordering but since we would like to offer several options for the shocks and coilovers, we will not be able to preorder these things.
To address the question of pricing: kits will have a "base" price of about $2600 and will increase as parts are upgraded including any shocks, coilovers, additional skid plates, etc.
To address the question of how the truck handles on the road:
Originally the kit was tested with rough country rear shocks, since that's what we had left over after buying the RC kit. Those shocks, in our opinion, are not suitable for the Dakotas as they are far too stiff. Recently, we have put Fabtech Dirt Logic 2.25 shocks on the rear and they feel amazing on the road. Off road, they do well also (much better than the RCs) but could probably be slightly softer. Next, we are going to test Rancho's RS9000XL series shocks with the remote adjuster. Driving the truck with the front sway bar off is not a problem whatsoever, even on the road. The truck has had over 10,000 miles put on it with the sway bar off before adding the front suspension lift, and 2000 miles driven with the sway bar off with the suspension kit on. Yes, the truck does "lean" during cornering on the street, but not to the point of being dangerous. After being used to having a sway bar on it does seem a little scary but after getting used to the truck we found that power slides are still just as possible. That being said, I would still not recommend that the truck be driven without caution or as recklessly as you would with a sway bar on as the kit raises the center of gravity and the sway bar does help.
The next step in this process is to put the front diff skid plate and skid plate that spans the front 2 cross member brackets on and test the kit off road, progressively abusing the kit more and more as we go. Following that, we need to test the front suspension using the adjustable dirt logic coilovers. Once that is tested and the results noted and video recorded, we need to test the truck with the Rancho 9000s in the rear. Also, we would like to test long travel rear leaf springs in order to offer them in our "Performance Package." We can currently offer blocks/u-bolts and add-a-leafs for those interested in that route. The final process is to find someone in the Phoenix area (or someone willing to drive to Phoenix) who has a truck that has not been modified (no cut fenders) in order to do a final test fit. For this person, we will charge our cost for parts alone and will install (free labor) whichever level of kit with whichever shocks the person likes. Following this, we will continue to fabricate and test fit products for vehicles, focusing mainly on the Dakotas. For example are looking into high angle CV joints and upper ball joints/upper control arm swaps to even further increase the potential of these trucks.
We are hoping (key word "hoping") to have the site up and running with all the tests done by the end of 2011. If you guys would like to help in any of these steps please send a private message to me. For other questions about the kit please continue to post here and I will answer them when I get the chance.
Sorry for the long post. Hopefully I covered everything and hopefully this post helps you guys to understand current progress as well as expected completion.
Keep checking our photobucket page for pictures and our YouTube channel for videos.
http://s1188.photobucket.com/home/JackMyRide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XHrWSgIxtM
Professional
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 204
Likes: 0
just noticed something else... on page one of this thread in one of the pics it looks like the coil is almost fully compressed. why is that? the spacer? also i will just be running a stock front bumper so i probably wouldnt need a spacer?