Suspension questions

**rollcoal9000** · 01-07-2019

My 2006 ram 2500 needs new control arms. It currently has rough country 2" leveling springs on it.

I'm thinking rough country adjustable control arms and extended shocks. Do I really need an adjustable track bar or extended sway bar links? I'm swapping the steering from another truck which has the upgraded solid tie rod. As it is the front sits kind of high, has air bags in the back and dont want to overextend those so thinking 2" blocks in the rear. It has 3 cut down leafs on the bottom of the pack like a 1" block. So if I go with 2" blocks will it just add 1" in the rear? Truck rides level if I put air in the bags but it rides like a concrete truck and heavy trailers bring the back down lower than the front so it doesnt ride the best and cuts down visibility.

Also when installing these arms I'm reading .75" or something like that longer than stock to center the axle. Will it cause problems to move it farther forward? I'm talking about removing the springs and cycling the suspension to check clearances so I can run the axle as far forward as possible, for a flatter control arm angle and possibly better ride. Is that not possible or just not necessary? I dont care if the wheel is centered in the wheel well.

Also, has anyone made a DIY ball joint press for these front axles with any success? I did both uppers heating the knuckle with a rosebud (don't have to remove anything but the wheel that way). But it's a dirty hot method and time consuming and don't like getting the knuckle that hot. Lowers are still tight but 200k miles so worried about random critical failure.

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**DIESELWRKS** · 01-08-2019

with 2 inches of lift with the 3rd gen 2500 and 3500 , you are right at the edge for adj-trac bar. a new truck with no to low miles the trac-bar would be okay at best. Likely the joints In your oem trac bar are shot and good chance it is bent, New trucks with as little as 30k miles can have bent trac-bars, this is common even on a non-lifted 2nd gen or 3rd gen truck. IMO I think it’s a good thing, the ride and turning radius is close to true on both side and with a solid stronger trac-bar there is less feed back in the steering wheel as that trac-bar is pushed or pulled during your turning and suspension cycle. Ihave always ran a good adj trac-bar but I have only used Thuren's and DTpro-Fab's. So do you need a fancy adj trac-bar? no. are there benefits yes. If your stock oem bar is shot, you can consider getting a new oem track bar or look up (lukes link) for dodge oem trac-bars.

So the extendedsway bar links. This depends on your truck and your use. You can simply take off your stock sway bar links. Drive the truck and see if you are fine with the body roll. Now if you had a big lift like 4 inches or higher. Yes I would say new bigger links should be used,
If you had a big heavy canopy, camper or had a lot of heavy weight in the bed that is always in the truck. With bad or no sway bar your body roll would be magnified and more aggressive and could make driving on any switch back roads and towing not fun.
The links are not a lot of money. You don’t need the 200$+ links that are out there. I had good results in my past full suspension lifted trucks using the sway bar links from suspensionMaxx. even with just a 2inch lift you are putting more strain on those links. So the weak oem links they really don’t last. Well its no just that they are weaker but its the style and socket/joints that are used
on OEM.

So on moving the axle as far as you can forward. 2 things. You can only move your axle forward as far as your coils/springs allow(height) and your length of control arms.
At a certain point when you lift the truck high enough the top control arms on the axle end,usually they need to be connected to an extended bracket because the oem location is not in a correct geometry with suspension anymore. A little further and then then the lower control arm changes with a bracket as well. Also realize that when a person lifts truck and pushes the front axle further forward, the front drive shaft does telescope out enough but you are making that shaft weaker anytime it has to telescope to make shaft longer.

There are many companies that make fixed or adjustable control arms. You need to look at what type of joints are they using. The quality of those joints, do they have grease fittings with their control arms. What type of adjustability do they have on the arms.

You really only need long arms for lifts of 4 inches or more. Can long arms still fit on your truck, yes and no. depends on the long arms / who makes them. Do you really need double adjustable control arms. No not with just 2 inches of lift.

Have you lookedat Thuren fabrication ? on his home website up top under tech, there is really good info for all of dodges suspension system.
If you do find a product to buy. On this forum contact
CJC OFF ROAD,clayton I believe, and contact Dudesdiesel, They will get you a better deal as a member on this forum.

RollCoal9000, I don’t know you, I don’t know your money situation and that is not my business but I can tell you I have learned this lesson many times with dodges or all my toys.
And usually I learned hard with my wallet. Do your research, be honest with what you do and your needs are with the truck, if you beat on it ( which is fine) or is it a occasional
Truck that goes on gravel roads. This will steer you to the proper parts.

Buy once. If you need to save more money then save more money. Don’t settle for less just because you need to save a little more.

If you need some help or want to ask me anything you can PM me if you want. I’m not perfect and will never say Im a know it all, Just what I know is what I have went through and learned.

Justin

0 Comment(s)

**rollcoal9000** · 01-08-2019

Looking at these control arms https://www.topguncustomz.com/i-2549...1f87784d8e65cb
I like the grease zerks but I see no way for grease to actually reach the bolt. Can just modify the sleeves to do that.
Thurens info on their short fixed arms said you can't go past 1/2" without the coil mount hitting the frame? I think I could modify it to make that work but probably more trouble than its worth, an extra inch or two is not going to make as much of a difference as good shocks and fresh bushings.

Bilstein shocks for the front, 3" blocks for the rear will take out the 3 stacked short leafs on the bottom for 2" lift. If axle wrap is a problem I'll build a traction bar. Don't want to spend hours making a jig to make arms or I would do them myself too. Going to do control arms and blocks first after I get both axleshafts rebuilt and new wheel bearings put on, rotors, pads, brake lines. I put poly bushings in the track bar and it ate them in a short time, possibly because of the rolled sleeve in the bushing, from what I've read it can tear up bushings pretty quick.

0 Comment(s)

**Polaraco** · 01-08-2019

Originally Posted by DIESELWRKS

with 2 inches of lift with the 3rd gen 2500 and 3500 , you are right at the edge for adj-trac bar. a new truck with no to low miles the trac-bar would be okay at best. Likely the joints In your oem trac bar are shot and good chance it is bent, New trucks with as little as 30k miles can have bent trac-bars, this is common even on a non-lifted 2nd gen or 3rd gen truck. IMO I think it’s a good thing, the ride and turning radius is close to true on both side and with a solid stronger trac-bar there is less feed back in the steering wheel as that trac-bar is pushed or pulled during your turning and suspension cycle. Ihave always ran a good adj trac-bar but I have only used Thuren's and DTpro-Fab's. So do you need a fancy adj trac-bar? no. are there benefits yes. If your stock oem bar is shot, you can consider getting a new oem track bar or look up (lukes link) for dodge oem trac-bars.

So the extendedsway bar links. This depends on your truck and your use. You can simply take off your stock sway bar links. Drive the truck and see if you are fine with the body roll. Now if you had a big lift like 4 inches or higher. Yes I would say new bigger links should be used,
If you had a big heavy canopy, camper or had a lot of heavy weight in the bed that is always in the truck. With bad or no sway bar your body roll would be magnified and more aggressive and could make driving on any switch back roads and towing not fun.
The links are not a lot of money. You don’t need the 200$+ links that are out there. I had good results in my past full suspension lifted trucks using the sway bar links from suspensionMaxx. even with just a 2inch lift you are putting more strain on those links. So the weak oem links they really don’t last. Well its no just that they are weaker but its the style and socket/joints that are used
on OEM.

So on moving the axle as far as you can forward. 2 things. You can only move your axle forward as far as your coils/springs allow(height) and your length of control arms.
At a certain point when you lift the truck high enough the top control arms on the axle end,usually they need to be connected to an extended bracket because the oem location is not in a correct geometry with suspension anymore. A little further and then then the lower control arm changes with a bracket as well. Also realize that when a person lifts truck and pushes the front axle further forward, the front drive shaft does telescope out enough but you are making that shaft weaker anytime it has to telescope to make shaft longer.

There are many companies that make fixed or adjustable control arms. You need to look at what type of joints are they using. The quality of those joints, do they have grease fittings with their control arms. What type of adjustability do they have on the arms.

You really only need long arms for lifts of 4 inches or more. Can long arms still fit on your truck, yes and no. depends on the long arms / who makes them. Do you really need double adjustable control arms. No not with just 2 inches of lift.

Have you lookedat Thuren fabrication ? on his home website up top under tech, there is really good info for all of dodges suspension system.
If you do find a product to buy. On this forum contact
CJC OFF ROAD,clayton I believe, and contact Dudesdiesel, They will get you a better deal as a member on this forum.

RollCoal9000, I don’t know you, I don’t know your money situation and that is not my business but I can tell you I have learned this lesson many times with dodges or all my toys.
And usually I learned hard with my wallet. Do your research, be honest with what you do and your needs are with the truck, if you beat on it ( which is fine) or is it a occasional
Truck that goes on gravel roads. This will steer you to the proper parts.

Buy once. If you need to save more money then save more money. Don’t settle for less just because you need to save a little more.

If you need some help or want to ask me anything you can PM me if you want. I’m not perfect and will never say Im a know it all, Just what I know is what I have went through and learned.

Justin

YOU KNOW ME. THE BEST LIFT IS ONE NOT DONE. Yeah they make some really nice kits, but they still give you tell tail issues.
Very good write up.

Originally Posted by rollcoal9000

Looking at these control arms https://www.topguncustomz.com/i-2549...1f87784d8e65cb
I like the grease zerks but I see no way for grease to actually reach the bolt. Can just modify the sleeves to do that.
Thurens info on their short fixed arms said you can't go past 1/2" without the coil mount hitting the frame? I think I could modify it to make that work but probably more trouble than its worth, an extra inch or two is not going to make as much of a difference as good shocks and fresh bushings.

Bilstein shocks for the front, 3" blocks for the rear will take out the 3 stacked short leafs on the bottom for 2" lift. If axle wrap is a problem I'll build a traction bar. Don't want to spend hours making a jig to make arms or I would do them myself too. Going to do control arms and blocks first after I get both axleshafts rebuilt and new wheel bearings put on, rotors, pads, brake lines. I put poly bushings in the track bar and it ate them in a short time, possibly because of the rolled sleeve in the bushing, from what I've read it can tear up bushings pretty quick.

0 Comment(s)

**rollcoal9000** · 01-16-2019

Ordered top gunz customs fixed length arms, 3" blocks, carli shocks up front with a bilstein stabilizer. Already rebuilt both axle shafts, new hubs, pads, rotors.

0 Comment(s)

**DIESELWRKS** · 01-17-2019

awesome, sounds like your plan is coming together. Hope install goes without issues.

0 Comment(s)

**rollcoal9000** · 01-25-2019

Everything installed today, should be went with poly bushing in track bar at least can feel it when turning, put rubber ones back in. Bumpsteer isn't too bad drives so much better now, rides like a half ton.

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