Outfitting up the Dodge TC hauler
I've been recovering from the flu and have spent way too many bleary-eyed hours surfing the web. Why? It's time to throw some more cash at La Cabeza. A few things caught my eye. I would like to hear...
Forum Discussion
Update:
I have been chatting with Top Gun Customz in Tenn. about two of their items:
1. 5-leaf spring pack that replaces the thick lower overload spring. I'm waiting to hear from their engineer about the actual lift involved considering the addition of a 2600 pound dead weight white box on the rear axle. They claim 2", which would be fine as I really only need a 2-3" lift, not more load capacity.
2. The TGC upper and lower front control arms. I already have a 3" 'puck' lift on the front springs and longer shocks, so now have decided to fix the entire front end. Here's what we know: When you lift the front end 3", the track bar becomes too short and locates the axle to the driver's side by about an inch. Not much, but noticeable. There can also be some clearance and binding issues.
The way to fix that is to get a track bar relocation bracket which lowers the mount and relocates the axle, side to side, back to center (at least that's the idea). They have a GEN4 track bar upgrade which dumps the bad aspects of the GEN2 track bar. The next thing is getting the right control arms. With the 3" lift, as the control arms drop down they also move the axle rearward about 1/4" per inch of lift. This is one reason my 33x13.50R16 tires rub. And only on one side. (Track bar woe.) The axle has moved rearward. I hogged out the front part of the fender, but you can see that moving the axle back forward would give me more clearance:
To fix that, I'm getting longer control arms, actually for a 6" lift (1-1/2" longer to make up for the rearward travel of the axle). Hey, i'm only lifted 3". I'm over compensating to get the axle farther forward yet so my tires will have lots of room to roam. The tech guy says it's done all the time. I'll let you know how all this works when i get the goods installed.
regards, as always, jefe
I have been chatting with Top Gun Customz in Tenn. about two of their items:
1. 5-leaf spring pack that replaces the thick lower overload spring. I'm waiting to hear from their engineer about the actual lift involved considering the addition of a 2600 pound dead weight white box on the rear axle. They claim 2", which would be fine as I really only need a 2-3" lift, not more load capacity.
2. The TGC upper and lower front control arms. I already have a 3" 'puck' lift on the front springs and longer shocks, so now have decided to fix the entire front end. Here's what we know: When you lift the front end 3", the track bar becomes too short and locates the axle to the driver's side by about an inch. Not much, but noticeable. There can also be some clearance and binding issues.
The way to fix that is to get a track bar relocation bracket which lowers the mount and relocates the axle, side to side, back to center (at least that's the idea). They have a GEN4 track bar upgrade which dumps the bad aspects of the GEN2 track bar. The next thing is getting the right control arms. With the 3" lift, as the control arms drop down they also move the axle rearward about 1/4" per inch of lift. This is one reason my 33x13.50R16 tires rub. And only on one side. (Track bar woe.) The axle has moved rearward. I hogged out the front part of the fender, but you can see that moving the axle back forward would give me more clearance:
To fix that, I'm getting longer control arms, actually for a 6" lift (1-1/2" longer to make up for the rearward travel of the axle). Hey, i'm only lifted 3". I'm over compensating to get the axle farther forward yet so my tires will have lots of room to roam. The tech guy says it's done all the time. I'll let you know how all this works when i get the goods installed.
regards, as always, jefe
