Sounds like a plan, only beat me by a shake down run by a year(s). 
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
97 King Cab DS-Ton build - Rock Jock 60 and shaved 14
- Thread starter r3dd0g
- Start date
I didn't make quite as much progress as I thought I would today. It took quite a bit more time than I was expecting to cut off all the old leaf spring brackets from the frame and axle housing.
I did some more measuring this morning and ended up moving a couple of the link brackets before I cut the links. Ruff Stuff was back ordered on some of the tube inserts so I've actually just got nuts welded to one end so I could get everything mocked up. Hopefully they'll have my tube inserts to me before next weekend, I'll be calling them in the morning to make sure.
I tacked together the links and got them all adjusted with the leaf springs still in so I didn't have to figure out where to position the axle.
Then I pulled the leaf springs out and cycled the suspension to make sure everything looked good.
Full droop:
Full stuff:
Left side stuff, right side droop. At this point I had to cut off the old leaf spring mounts from the frame as the lower link was hitting them.:
Right side stuff, left side droop:
Once that was all tested, I pulled the axle out. The next 4 hours was spent with the plasma cutter, angle grinder and welder cutting off all the old brackets and fully welding the new ones to the axle. I had to notch the truss to clear the new spring perches. The leaf spring mounts were cut and ground down and the frame was patched up a bit too. I managed to get the frame side uppers fully welded, but I still need to pull the crossmember out and finish welding the frame side lowers, I also need to add some gussets to those as well.
While I was working on the axle, I took a friend's recommendation and welded the tubes to the center section as well. My garage was covered with grinding dust and metal shavings by the time I finished...
I'm hoping to get the mounts on the crossmember finished up during the week, and I just remembered that I forgot to cut off all the bump stop brackets that are in the way of the upper spring perch so I guess I'll be making more of a mess in the garage
...
I did some more measuring this morning and ended up moving a couple of the link brackets before I cut the links. Ruff Stuff was back ordered on some of the tube inserts so I've actually just got nuts welded to one end so I could get everything mocked up. Hopefully they'll have my tube inserts to me before next weekend, I'll be calling them in the morning to make sure.
I tacked together the links and got them all adjusted with the leaf springs still in so I didn't have to figure out where to position the axle.
Then I pulled the leaf springs out and cycled the suspension to make sure everything looked good.
Full droop:
Full stuff:
Left side stuff, right side droop. At this point I had to cut off the old leaf spring mounts from the frame as the lower link was hitting them.:
Right side stuff, left side droop:
Once that was all tested, I pulled the axle out. The next 4 hours was spent with the plasma cutter, angle grinder and welder cutting off all the old brackets and fully welding the new ones to the axle. I had to notch the truss to clear the new spring perches. The leaf spring mounts were cut and ground down and the frame was patched up a bit too. I managed to get the frame side uppers fully welded, but I still need to pull the crossmember out and finish welding the frame side lowers, I also need to add some gussets to those as well.
While I was working on the axle, I took a friend's recommendation and welded the tubes to the center section as well. My garage was covered with grinding dust and metal shavings by the time I finished...
I'm hoping to get the mounts on the crossmember finished up during the week, and I just remembered that I forgot to cut off all the bump stop brackets that are in the way of the upper spring perch so I guess I'll be making more of a mess in the garage
...
Holy crap you work fast.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Super bad ass work!
I felt like I was taking my time this weekend. I spent at least 3 hours in front of an excel spreadsheet making sure my link locations were as optimal as possible.
So since it's been too hot (114°F yesterday) for me to drag my ass out into the garage after work this week I've been thinking about the shock situation instead. Currently I have RS9000's back there, but one is shot and needs replaced. I had to cut the lower shock mounts off anyways, so I'm thinking of switching to a different shock while I have it apart.
I was thinking of picking up a pair of 2"X14" Fox air shocks. They have a minimum operating pressure of 5psi which wouldn't add much to my spring rate, if I get the oil levels right they can be used as an air bump so that eliminates the need for a bump stop and with the large diameter shaft I wouldn't need to run limit straps either. The air shocks would also give me the ability to add pressure when I have the bed loaded up to compensate for the additional weight.
Is there anything I'm missing here? Is there any real difference between a 2" Fox shock and a 2" Fox air shock other than the shaft size? I want something with better dampening abilities than the 9000's, but it seems like if I go with the air shock rather than the standard shock it gives me more for almost the same price.
Let me know what you think.
I was thinking of picking up a pair of 2"X14" Fox air shocks. They have a minimum operating pressure of 5psi which wouldn't add much to my spring rate, if I get the oil levels right they can be used as an air bump so that eliminates the need for a bump stop and with the large diameter shaft I wouldn't need to run limit straps either. The air shocks would also give me the ability to add pressure when I have the bed loaded up to compensate for the additional weight.
Is there anything I'm missing here? Is there any real difference between a 2" Fox shock and a 2" Fox air shock other than the shaft size? I want something with better dampening abilities than the 9000's, but it seems like if I go with the air shock rather than the standard shock it gives me more for almost the same price.
Let me know what you think.
We made some good progress this weekend, but my back ordered parts didn't make it here so I didn't get as far as I wanted to. I finished up the crossmember link mounts and the gas tank crossmember. Once those were done I tacked my coil mounts in place and installed the springs.
We put the bed back on and loaded it up with all the tools/spare tire etc. that normally sit back there. The rear was sitting about 3" taller than what I wanted. I modified the spring mounts to lose an inch of height and finished welding everything in place.
After everything cooled down I cleaned and painted.
Then we put it all back together again.
We put all the tools/spare parts etc. back in the toolboxes and now the rear is only sitting about 1.5" taller than I was hoping for.
Hopefully the springs settle out a bit.
I should get my parts tomorrow or Tuesday, then I can finish up the links. After that I need to get some shocks mounted up (the lower link needs to be rebuilt) and I need to re-make the exhaust so that it fits around the new suspension. I'll definitely be taking it out for a shakedown run next Sunday.
We put the bed back on and loaded it up with all the tools/spare tire etc. that normally sit back there. The rear was sitting about 3" taller than what I wanted. I modified the spring mounts to lose an inch of height and finished welding everything in place.
After everything cooled down I cleaned and painted.
Then we put it all back together again.
We put all the tools/spare parts etc. back in the toolboxes and now the rear is only sitting about 1.5" taller than I was hoping for.
Hopefully the springs settle out a bit.
I should get my parts tomorrow or Tuesday, then I can finish up the links. After that I need to get some shocks mounted up (the lower link needs to be rebuilt) and I need to re-make the exhaust so that it fits around the new suspension. I'll definitely be taking it out for a shakedown run next Sunday.
Looking good, and making installing a 4 link look easy. 
All the links are welded. I ended up sleeving the uppers so they are 1.75x.120" DOM sleeved with 2x.120" DOM. The lowers are 2x.250" 4130 Chromoly.
All painted and pretty.
I'll reinstall the links tomorrow. Saturday I'll start with re-routing the exhaust then I'm going to make some new lower shock tabs, flex it out and figure out where I want to weld the tabs.
Sunday I plan on doing a shakedown run, but I should have some time Saturday and Sunday morning to check a few more things off my list.
All painted and pretty.
I'll reinstall the links tomorrow. Saturday I'll start with re-routing the exhaust then I'm going to make some new lower shock tabs, flex it out and figure out where I want to weld the tabs.
Sunday I plan on doing a shakedown run, but I should have some time Saturday and Sunday morning to check a few more things off my list.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Looks good! Should work pretty good for ya!
We made a ton of progress in the last two days!
Friday after work I reinstalled the finished links.
Then I went and picked up something I found on Craigslist, a brand new still in the box pair of 2" Fox Shox, 14" travel, 7/8" shaft remote reservoir, $350.
Saturday morning I started out with making the new exhaust. I opted to dump it over the frame and out the passenger side, hopefully this leaves me enough room to put my horns back under the bed, but I'm not sure.
With the exhaust done, I ran up to SDHQ and picked up some hardware for mounting the shocks (spacers, lower mounting bracket, bolts etc.). I let the nitrogen out of the shocks, fully compressed them and used my trailer as an RTI ramp so I could set the maximum up-travel. The first shot is with just the drivers side lower mount tacked in place. Unfortunately the tires will still rub on the shocks a bit at full stuff, but it was either that or they were going to hit the frame.
Passenger side tacked in place. I may have to put a limit strap in to prevent damage to the parking brake cables, but it flexes really well.
I used a hole saw to cut holes in the fender wells to pass the reservoirs through so I could mount them to the roll bar. I finished welding everything up, bolted it all back together and re-charged the shocks with nitrogen.
We took the truck out on a road test drive last night, we put about 50 miles of highway and residential driving on it (including a couple high speed roundabouts). It handles great on the road. The rear end is still sitting pretty high, hopefully it settles out a bit, but if not I'll just cut down the coil springs to get the ride height I want.
Friday after work I reinstalled the finished links.
Then I went and picked up something I found on Craigslist, a brand new still in the box pair of 2" Fox Shox, 14" travel, 7/8" shaft remote reservoir, $350.
Saturday morning I started out with making the new exhaust. I opted to dump it over the frame and out the passenger side, hopefully this leaves me enough room to put my horns back under the bed, but I'm not sure.
With the exhaust done, I ran up to SDHQ and picked up some hardware for mounting the shocks (spacers, lower mounting bracket, bolts etc.). I let the nitrogen out of the shocks, fully compressed them and used my trailer as an RTI ramp so I could set the maximum up-travel. The first shot is with just the drivers side lower mount tacked in place. Unfortunately the tires will still rub on the shocks a bit at full stuff, but it was either that or they were going to hit the frame.
Passenger side tacked in place. I may have to put a limit strap in to prevent damage to the parking brake cables, but it flexes really well.
I used a hole saw to cut holes in the fender wells to pass the reservoirs through so I could mount them to the roll bar. I finished welding everything up, bolted it all back together and re-charged the shocks with nitrogen.
We took the truck out on a road test drive last night, we put about 50 miles of highway and residential driving on it (including a couple high speed roundabouts). It handles great on the road. The rear end is still sitting pretty high, hopefully it settles out a bit, but if not I'll just cut down the coil springs to get the ride height I want.
Last edited:
How's it feel compared to the leafs?
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Very nice work.
The most noticeable thing is that the rear end barely squats when you hit the throttle. It's sitting quite a bit higher than planned, I haven't done the math yet but I'm guessing my anti-squat is pretty close to 100%.
The ride is nice, the pro-comp springs I had in there were very soft so they had a pretty nice ride quality as well, but this seems a bit softer.
I'm taking it out for a shakedown run this afternoon so I'll be able to tell more after that. The shocks are a big step up from the Rancho 9000's I was running before.
The shakedown run went well. The truck flexed well, handled well on and off road and soaked up the bumps better than expected.
Mandatory poser shots:
Of course we had to snap a shot sitting on the beach.
On the way back to asphalt we hit some whoops at speed that I thought were going to hurt. The truck soaked them up like they weren't even there. I'm pretty happy with how everything worked out.
Mandatory poser shots:
Of course we had to snap a shot sitting on the beach.
On the way back to asphalt we hit some whoops at speed that I thought were going to hurt. The truck soaked them up like they weren't even there. I'm pretty happy with how everything worked out.
Reading this thread is like reading an old thread that has been around for a few years.
Martin
Martin
y5mgisi
1 ton status
You mean because of how much work is actually completed? Lol
Very awesome. How noisy are those heims?
They aren't too bad, but it's definitely noticeable. I'll be swapping at least 4 of them out for some Johnny/Ballistic/Summit Machine Joints, but these will be fine for now.
I still have a few things to get done before Blazer Bash, but the list is getting shorter.
