The Source of my Rough Ride......

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Bullitt5339

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I was playing with the truck a little this morning, trying to figure out exactly what to order so that I could get a little better ride in the rear of the truck.

What I found was that at 8" of drop in the rear, my McGaughy's helper bags which are designed for a 6" drop are nearly bottomed out at low pressures, so there's really no suspension travel. The inner insert hits and stops the movement.

So I'm shopping again and may have to make a few phone calls on Tuesday to see if there are a set of bags with the same configuration, but 2 or 3" shorter in collapsed height.
 

charonblk07

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At 8" of drop you should have custom bag perches made for the air springs so they have the proper travel range. There aren't that many quality bags available with that kind of travel and small internal bumps stops
 
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Bullitt5339

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Yeah, I'm thinking that's the best course of action since I actually want to go a bit lower, but stay static dropped is to put a smallish 8" bridge in the truck and run bags over the axles. That'll give me the towing capability I need without the drop being limited by the bags. Of course, that'll require cutting into the bed a little, but I'll just have to use my trailer more and my bed less. I need to do that anyway, this will just give me the motivation to hook up the trailer.
 
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charonblk07

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Just cut the whole bed and raise it a few inches to cover the bridge, looks way cleaner than having an arch and you still retain the full bed use, but that's just how I would do it.
 

Demon-HeMi

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do what I did, 8" notch, 12" of drop and still 99% of my bed, my only limitation is the truck touches the ground when I have a small load, but it doesn't take much to squat a truck 2" and that's all the ground clearance I have....

last car show I went to I had 4 lawn chairs, a 10x10 canopy, and an ice chest and I kept kissing the roads lol, best part was my passenger had never been in a truck that drug!
 

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Bullitt5339

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I have to keep hauling capability, so the bags must stay somewhere or somehow. I'm thinking a small 8" notch with a bridge and mount the sleeved bags over the axle would work nicely.
 

Demon-HeMi

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what about custom shock mounts and air shocks, that would let you do have a drop like mine and not have to cut as much in the bed for the bridge other than for the notch to come through, my suspension guy said he would build me a bag mount for my leaf springs so I could have "helper bags, but honestly if I was you and going through the trouble, why not just do a 2-link rear bag setup, you can keep it manually adjustable like you have if you want to keep it on a budget and get the link bars ordered already made that will go in place of your leaf springs, then all you have to do is weld a bag cup to your frame and then done!
 

usaf2006

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do you have any links to pictures of a two link set up? Would going that low, and having the different rear suspension, require a fuel cell? Just curious as to how it would be put together.

i have this dream that i bag my 4wd ram in the future... obviously it's a long shot but hey.. everyone can dream
 
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Demon-HeMi

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do you have any links to pictures of a two link set up? Would going that low, and having the different rear suspension, require a fuel cell? Just curious as to how it would be put together.

i have this dream that i bag my 4wd ram in the future... obviously it's a long shot but hey.. everyone can dream

you can keep your gas tank, if you want to lay true frame you will want to raise or replace your gas tank but, if you leave the tank you will lay control arms, crossmembers, tank and exhaust like my blue truck, all of those are level for me and that's what I hit on the ground and all of that is only 2" off the ground
 

usaf2006

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That's not too bad. Do you think that laying like you do would destroy my CV joints? Obviously I wouldn't drive it that low, but would want to bag it so at ride height it's equivalent to a 4/6 or a 3/5, but be able to drop it real low when parked.
 

Demon-HeMi

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That's not too bad. Do you think that laying like you do would destroy my CV joints? Obviously I wouldn't drive it that low, but would want to bag it so at ride height it's equivalent to a 4/6 or a 3/5, but be able to drop it real low when parked.

that will depend on your tire size and a lot of other factors, with a 5" drop in the front my control arms are 2" off the ground on a 28" +/- tire, with the CV joint in the way you don't really have any place to put a bag up front either, so you will have to fab up some really creative method to even attempt a bag setup, but just technically speaking, if you can get the suspension and obviously not drive it, the front axels should be fine, as long as there is no tension on it when you go up and down, but you run the risk of any accidental deflation whether it be a blown bag, or slip of a switch while rolling and that would probably destroy those front axels if that happens, and no telling what else
 

usaf2006

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Well i've seen pics of bagged 4wds, but they seem to be all chevys. They put a bag on top of the UCA, and connect it to a fabbed bracket that is above that coming off the frame. That seems to be the only legit place to put a bag up front... OR, maybe you could make some custom bag struts instead of coil overs... I was hoping to keep my stock 17 chrome clads, which require spacers (i think 1/2") to clear the lower ball joint.

It's all in the dream stage still, but I plan on keeping this truck for quite a while so I'll keep mullin' it over. So you have a static drop in the rear still right? How hard is it to fab up a linked rear suspension, and are the kits you can buy any good?

/rant over.. I'll start my own thread to stop running this one up lol
 
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Demon-HeMi

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Well i've seen pics of bagged 4wds, but they seem to be all chevys. They put a bag on top of the UCA, and connect it to a fabbed bracket that is above that coming off the frame. That seems to be the only legit place to put a bag up front... OR, maybe you could make some custom bag struts instead of coil overs... I was hoping to keep my stock 17 chrome clads, which require spacers (i think 1/2") to clear the lower ball joint.

It's all in the dream stage still, but I plan on keeping this truck for quite a while so I'll keep mullin' it over. So you have a static drop in the rear still right? How hard is it to fab up a linked rear suspension, and are the kits you can buy any good?

/rant over.. I'll start my own thread to stop running this one up lol

there is a big name company here where I live that is know through the custom world that sells 2 link components, and a few other big name companies that do as well, they are reliable and good quality, for me to go bags all id have to do it weld on a bag cup and remove my leaf springs and replace them with the link bars and that's that, of course plumbing up the bags too


02-05 DODGE RAM 1/2 TON KIT WITHOUT NOTCHES - NFAMUS METAL
 
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I have a 2001 1500 fully bagged lays Frame rides good for a bagged truck. Can tow an still use the bed only bad thing about riding low would be pinion angle an eating up u joints
 
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I'm new to the fourm an I don't know how to post pictures, my truck is bag on bar my bags are close to the cab to get more lift an better ride ,with a big c-notch an 4 link setup it lays out on 22" also I can raise up higher than stock ride hight
 

usaf2006

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Click on "Go Advanced" under the post box, and there's a "paperclip" icon that you can click to let you upload pictures.

Please do so! Your truck sounds badass.
 
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