To level or not??

[DJennings]

Ryan,



I'll bet the pitman arm is out there... Its just a matter of matching them up. I'll also bet you could take a Skyjacker (or other manufacturer's) track bar drop bracket and modify (redrill and trim) it for only 2" of lift.



This is a project I was going to take on once it warms up a little more. If the parts both work, this would be a very simple mod.

 

[rbattelle]

I did some research tonight after stumbling on some parts. I've collected some part numbers and sources from which a person could construct a custom 2" lift with stock geometries (except the pitman arm).



Springs - Skyjacker D25 coils:

Summit Racing, $157 P/N D25



Control arms - DT Profab 1/2" longer arms

$325 (ouch), P/N DTP-02008



Bump Stops - Desert Racing Concepts

$50, P/N HDB9405



Sway bar drop brackets - Desert Racing Concepts

$100, P/N BDB0305



Adjustable track bar - Solid Steel Industries

Unknown price, unknown part number



Might as well forget the DT trackbar. I'm not the only one who asked them about it and it's been over a year since they said "a couple months". Someone in another thread pointed out the Solid Steel option. No idea what the price is, but I assume it's around $300.



Total price is $632 plus the trackbar. That's pricey for a 2" kit, plus you have to buy shocks. Makes the KORE setup seem a little more affordable. Of course, KORE doesn't include an adjustable track bar or sway bar drops.



Another option would be to buy the Skyjacker 2" kit for around $400, then add the sway bar drops ($100) and the adjustable track bar; use the skyjacker bump stops and lower control arms that come with the kit. That puts you at $500 plus the track bar plus shocks. Probably slightly cheaper.



To be honest, the KORE sway bar drops are just a couple pieces of solid aluminum bar (probably the usual general purpose 6061-T6). It would probably be very easy to buy a 1' length of 2" square bar 6061 from somewhere like Onlinemetals.com ($22. 46) and cut it down with a hacksaw to make your own drops. Hmmm... maybe I'll do that.



I hold absolutely no loyalty or financial ties to any of the above sources. If I wasn't supposed to post prices, then I apologize and a moderator may delete them. I just went out on the web and searched for these parts and wanted to bring them all together in 1 thread since I think there's some desire for them.



-Ryan

 

[hasselbach]

I think your guy is right and wrong. I did a 2" spring kit and it drove fine right after. You still need to do an alignment, as the toe and camber are affected whenever you lift a Dodge CTD. Mine was off a fair amount and would have worn the tires prematurely. If you want to get it right, get the alignment done.



.

Absolutely not true. Maybe for the 1500, but not for the solid axle 2500 and 3500. Camber is fixed and not adjustable on the solid axle. The toe does not change either since it is not affected with a lift. Now if you were talking about the 1500 with separate tie rods, then yes, the toe does change.

 

[Bertram65]

I did some research tonight after stumbling on some parts. I've collected some part numbers and sources from which a person could construct a custom 2" lift with stock geometries (except the pitman arm).



Springs - Skyjacker D25 coils:

Summit Racing, $157 P/N D25



Control arms - DT Profab 1/2" longer arms

$325 (ouch), P/N DTP-02008



Bump Stops - Desert Racing Concepts

$50, P/N HDB9405



Sway bar drop brackets - Desert Racing Concepts

$100, P/N BDB0305



Adjustable track bar - Solid Steel Industries

Unknown price, unknown part number



Might as well forget the DT trackbar. I'm not the only one who asked them about it and it's been over a year since they said "a couple months". Someone in another thread pointed out the Solid Steel option. No idea what the price is, but I assume it's around $300.



Total price is $632 plus the trackbar. That's pricey for a 2" kit, plus you have to buy shocks. Makes the KORE setup seem a little more affordable. Of course, KORE doesn't include an adjustable track bar or sway bar drops.



Another option would be to buy the Skyjacker 2" kit for around $400, then add the sway bar drops ($100) and the adjustable track bar; use the skyjacker bump stops and lower control arms that come with the kit. That puts you at $500 plus the track bar plus shocks. Probably slightly cheaper.



To be honest, the KORE sway bar drops are just a couple pieces of solid aluminum bar (probably the usual general purpose 6061-T6). It would probably be very easy to buy a 1' length of 2" square bar 6061 from somewhere like Onlinemetals.com ($22. 46) and cut it down with a hacksaw to make your own drops. Hmmm... maybe I'll do that.



I hold absolutely no loyalty or financial ties to any of the above sources. If I wasn't supposed to post prices, then I apologize and a moderator may delete them. I just went out on the web and searched for these parts and wanted to bring them all together in 1 thread since I think there's some desire for them.



-Ryan

Do you really need the longer control arms? I did not think the Kore setup came with those, just springs and shocks.

 

[rbattelle]

Do you really need the longer control arms? I did not think the Kore setup came with those, just springs and shocks.

The KORE setup does not, but the Skyjacker setup does. It's a matter of personal preference which one you agree with.



-Ryan

 

[JMelcher]

I installed a Rancho leveling kit on my truck, brand new with only 18 miles on, now has over 45K. The Rancho kit came with new lower control arms, which I have yet to get around to installing since the truck seems to track and steer just fine.



I did have the truck aligned at about 20K miles because the truck started pulling to the right. I rotate my tires every 5K or so, and so far, the truck tracks straight, and the tire wear fine.



I went the cheap route to solve the rear end sag associated with the leveling kit. On the rear, I installed 1" blocks from ProComp. Now the truck has less rake than factory, more rake than a leveling kit, and does not sag bad when loaded.

 

[jrobinson2]

The toe does not change either since it is not affected with a lift. Now if you were talking about the 1500 with separate tie rods, then yes, the toe does change.

The only trucks the toe does not change on are the '98 & '99 solid tie rod trucks, the earlier 2nd gens, the '00 to '02 and all the 3rd gen trucks I have looked under use a "Y" type tie rod arrangement, on these trucks a lift causes the angle of the "Y" to be steeper and increases toe.



Jared

 

[Cigar John]

Absolutely not true. Maybe for the 1500, but not for the solid axle 2500 and 3500. Camber is fixed and not adjustable on the solid axle. The toe does not change either since it is not affected with a lift. Now if you were talking about the 1500 with separate tie rods, then yes, the toe does change.

Caster will change slightly,

which is why some kits have different control arms.

 

[jrobinson2]

Caster will change slightly,

which is why some kits have different control arms.

Yes, caster changes but it doesnt decrease as is commonly assumed, it actually increases slightly because the upper control arms are shorter than the lower arms



Jared