Complete Suspension rebuild

[Bullitt5339]

I bought a 2004 Ram 1500 with 121k miles on it last month and decided that I was going to lower it and did my homework and it looked as though I wanted a 5/7 drop, so I began ordering the parts. I had the plan to gather all the parts to do a complete rebuild at one time before I started anything. Well, the McGaughy's 4/6 kit came in last week and I could only stand to stare at it in my office for 2 days before I decided to go ahead and put it in.

Of course, I found out that pretty much everything was shot in the suspension while installing the spindles and springs which I expected. Since this isn't a vehicle that I have to drive, it's no big deal to do it in phases. I have ordered the upper and lower control arms, wheel hubs and shorter front bump stops already, but I'm out of money to spend on the truck until payday, so that'll have to do for a couple weeks.

I still have to put in the C-Notch, but my body is pretty beat up from installing the kit by myself, so that'll have to wait until next week sometime. So far, I'm loving the ride height, I took a 1/2 a coil off the front springs to give me the 5" drop I was looking for, but I haven't added the shackles in the back yet, I'm waiting to do the C-Notch first.

Here's the before:



Here's how she sits right now:



Plenty of work left to do, but she should look great and ride like a dream when finished.

 

[usaf2006]

Nice! Very nice stance as she sits. What other stuff do you plan on doing?

 

[Bullitt5339]

Nice! Very nice stance as she sits. What other stuff do you plan on doing?

Once I replace every ball joint and bushing in the suspension, I'm going to put helper bags in the back, front and rear swaybars and of course a different set of wheels and tires. After that, I'm doing a tonneau cover, shaved tailgate, roll pan with hidden hitch, etc.

It'll be a long-term project, which is what I bought it for.

 

[ST-8]

Looks good. An familiar lol

 

[usaf2006]

Do those rims not have issues when lowering, with the lower ball joints? Looks pretty legit to me.

 

[Bullitt5339]

You have to cut the lower ball joint down to the bottom of the castle part of the nut and they clear. I was a bit nervous about cutting that much off, but after doing the research and running into people who have had it done for 200k miles, it eased my mind a bit. I will admit that I used Loctite very liberally on that nut though.

Once I get my 22's, I will replace the ball joints again anyway.

 

[usaf2006]

Gotcha, that's what I've heard. I just wanted to make sure those rims weren't special haha. I do like the look of those ones though, and I'd assume they'd weigh less than my stock 17 steel chrome covered. I want to lower my 4wd at least 2/4, but want to keep stock looking 17's or stock 20's.. but those are hard to find for a decent price. Where are you located? Not close to georgia i asssume.

 

[ST-8]

I dropped close to 11lbs per corner going from steelies w/ stock tires to my wheellset now. I used oem Durango 17s but the offset on them is no good for the Rams when lowered

 

[Bullitt5339]

Gotcha, that's what I've heard. I just wanted to make sure those rims weren't special haha. I do like the look of those ones though, and I'd assume they'd weigh less than my stock 17 steel chrome covered. I want to lower my 4wd at least 2/4, but want to keep stock looking 17's or stock 20's.. but those are hard to find for a decent price. Where are you located? Not close to georgia i asssume.

I had to do some research to even figure out what wheels they were, since I had never seen them on a Ram before. Turns out they're from an offroad package.

I'm actually at the border of NC and SC, right on I-95.

 

[usaf2006]

Are they similar to the stock 17 steels, offset etc wise? I like the look of them, and I think dipped in black or gunmetal would look pretty nice. I'd be interested in picking them up from you if you're going to sell them when you get your 22's. We could meet in like.... Columbia maybe? that's about an hour / hour and a half for me.
Depending on price that is lol.