BDS 4" Install party

[WiSH2oo0]

The party is starting now! BDS 4" lift kit, BDS braided brake lines, Spohn adjustable track bar and Superlift rear coils.

 

[808ram1500]

Sweet! Post pics of the after party too.

 

[WilliamS]

looks like a lonely party.

 

[Ricks Ram]

I installed my 6" BDS lift a few months ago. The kit is well made and fit perfectly but the instructions were pretty vague. We got it all figured out after aittke head scratching lol! Have fun you will love it when it's done! Only complaint I have on the lift was I opted for the Fox 2.0 rear shocks. The valving was terrible. It was like I had to rear shocks at all. I took them off and sent them back. The shop I bought the lift from Said they have had complaints in the past and refunded my money.

 

[WiSH2oo0]

Starting day number two. So far everything has gone smoothly. I recommend having a thread chaser for the differential 12mm mounting bolts to clean out the OE red loctite.

 

[WiSH2oo0]

Quick question about step #54 for preload spacer installation.

So I pull the top mounting plate off the strut and add the preload spacer, I then turn the top mounting bracket 180 degrees(red arrow) and reassemble the strut?

 

[808ram1500]

When you took off the 7 bolts to drop the diff, did you impact any of them off. I know the 2 on the to are the hardest to get too. I will be doing a 6" when I get the time.

 

[WiSH2oo0]

Happy Easter All

Okay, I have one last question. My front hub to fender measurement before was 21.5" and now I'm at 27.25". So why is my truck just shy of a full 6" lift? My front strut spacers measure in at 4" plus 5/8" for preload spacer would put me at 4 5/8" lift up front.

 

[Ricks Ram]

Part of your lift is accomplished from your new steering knuckles. If you look at them you will notice that the spindle is mounted lower in the knuckle. If I remember correctly my strut spacers were around 4" on my 6" BDS lift. The 4" and 6" lift have different size strut spacers but Im not sure what the size difference is. I have the Bilstiens so I decided not to run the preload spacer and instead just set my shocks up one notch instead which is about 5/8". I ended up with a touch over 6" in the front. I went with the 3" coil springs in the rear. The truck is almost level. It's about 1/4" higher in the rear.

 

[808ram1500]

Pics of the after party?

 

[BogsRam14]

Quick question about step #54 for preload spacer installation.

So I pull the top mounting plate off the strut and add the preload spacer, I then turn the top mounting bracket 180 degrees(red arrow) and reassemble the strut?

I don't think you even need the preload spacer on 4". #46 on Zone instructions states "skip to #49, the preload is not required" on the 4inch. It is only used if not running Bils on the 6".

 

[WiSH2oo0]

Hey Rick,

If you get a minute would you mind grabbing a tape measure and getting me a ball park measurement on your front strut spacer?

 

[Ricks Ram]

It's raining outside so I just took a quick measurement and it is around 27.25"

 

[Drummin4jc]

Looks like a fun party!

Adam

 

[Ricks Ram]

Hey Rick,

If you get a minute would you mind grabbing a tape measure and getting me a ball park measurement on your front strut spacer?

Sorry we had a house full yesterday and I miss read your post. The 27.25" is from my hub center to the top edge of the wheel well. I will see if I can measure the spacer today.

 

[WiSH2oo0]

The 27.25" is from my hub center to the top edge of the wheel well.

Thanks Rick.

Well the instructions state that the install is 8-10 hrs, that wasn't the case for me. The before fender measurements from the hub are as follows front 21.5" and rear 23.5". After the BDS 670H install the hub to fender measurements are as follows front 26.5" and rear 27". I used the front strut 5/8" preload coil spacers.

I cut the 3/8" from the tie rods but the alignment guy had to cut another 1/4" off to get the vehicle into specifications. The rear pinion brackets ask for you to drill out 7/16" holes for mounting but I had to only drill out 2 holes since the OE axle had them drilled out already. Also on the rear pinion bracket passenger side I drilled out the OE parking brake mounting nut to 7/16" to make it easier to drill out the other side of the pinion bracket. The cut out template wasn't accurate for that bracket. When cutting the cross-member there's a little room for error on the bottom where the two OE mounting holes are. If I had more time I would've cut the other side as well and boxed it in. I didn't install Spohn adjustable panhard bar since the truck was spot on with the OE panhard bar.

All in all it wasn't to bad but you need a extra person for sure.

 

[Mikeshemi]

Looks great! I did the same with the line x


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[808ram1500]

Why is there little room for error with cutting the rear cross member? Isn't the cut to make room so the diff can clear that part?

 

[WiSH2oo0]

Why is there little room for error with cutting the rear cross member? Isn't the cut to make room so the diff can clear that part?

If you look at step #39 in the BDS instructions they leave part of the OE cross-member mounting hole. If you watch the Rough Country install video at 2:08 you can see they cut both holes out of the cross-member. The important cut IMO is the top line(horizontal) cut. By cutting a straight line like the BDS kit states it makes it hard to cut straight through in one pass with a reciprocating saw. I used a reciprocating saw for the vertical cuts. I then had to cut the top line with a die grinder because the angle would have cut to much off the top portion of the horizontal cut. If you cut the vertical lines at a slight angle like in the Rough Country video it would be a lot easier to make the whole cut in one pass with the reciprocating saw or you can just use a die grinder and be done with it. If I had more time I would've just cut both sides, grabbed the welder a piece of scrap metal and box both sides in.

In my last post I was referring to rear install step #12 about drill for the upper control arm relocation brackets. I had to only drill out two holes for those brackets since my axle had them pre drilled out already.

If you look at the rear install step number #20 you'll see figure 6A and 6B pictures. Now look at the BDS panhard relocation bracket in the two pictures, they're mounted differently. In figure 6A the BDS panhard bracket is towards the rear of the vehicle and in 6B the bracket is mounted towards the front of the vehicle. In this link below you can see they mounted the panhard bracket as pictured in figure 6B.

Lift Your Ram Tough: BDS Suspension’s 4-Inch Suspension Lift For Ram 1500

Also in the rear install do step #21 before step #20, it my be a little easier to tighten the bump stop bolts before the panhard bar bracket is installed.

That is all I can think of for now. I hope that helps someone because I'm by no means a mechanic but I did stay at a Holiday Express last night.

 

[WiSH2oo0]

Looks great! I did the same with the Line-X

Yeah, I really like the Line-X. I wish I would've taken them up on the offer for doing the whole truck for $4,000 and to attend one truck show for there company.


Well I have some good and bad news about my BDS lift. The good news is that my rear differential fluid level didn't change, so I don't have to add any fluid. The bad news is that I'm now getting rear driveshaft vibrations between 30-35 mph while hold the gas pedal down to maintain those speeds. Once I let off of the gas pedal I don't feel or hear the rumble between those speeds any more.

I now know why Superlift told me they don't recommend there lift kits for a RCSB truck without buying adjustable rear upper control arms.