Truck Build- Phase 1, Suspension

As everyone knows, the roads are not the greatest south of the border.  Also as some may know, driving a stock dodge 3/4 ton truck is not the greatest either.  The combination of the two = a bone jarring, rear end dancing, white knuckle and frustrating ride, for months on end.  Since we knew they weren’t going to re-pave the roads for us, we decided to upgrade the suspension.

Over the course of the last year, we slowly purchased a collection of parts that are specifically designed, valved and manufactured for our truck.  When picking suspension you can spend anywhere from $500 for a basic package to $10,000 plus for a top of the line daily driver package.  We decided we weren’t planning on doing 80mph on the Baja1000 race course, but 40mph on washboard roads wouldn’t be unrealistic.  So we went somewhere close to the lower third of the price range.

There were two companies that are at the top of the game for Dodge 2500 quality, innovation and performance: Thuren Fabrication and Carli suspension.  For no reason in particular we went with Thuren. When raising the front of the truck it pulls the front axle forward so longer control arms are needed.  We could not find exactly what we wanted for quality, length and price so I asked Danny from Dodge Off Road to make a set for us.  We ended up with a set of control arms 1/2″ longer than stock with heavy duty bushings made from .250 DOM tubing.  Exactly what we wanted!  I still need to do a rear shackle flip for the rear springs, but overall I am very happy with the ride.  It seems the faster you go, or the bigger bump you hit, the smoother the ride gets!

The list of parts purchased are as follows:

Thuren 2″ soft rate coils

Thuren valved FOX 2.0 remote reservoir shocks

Thuren Track Bar

Stolid Steel track bar mount

Dodge Off Road 1/2″ control arms

Instead of giving  a play by play of the work I am just going to post up the pictures.  We need to give a HUGE thanks to Sarah’s dad for the help, and letting us invade the garage for a couple of days!  Many bolts were cut, and all needed a torch to remove.  Thank you State of Maine DOT/salt spreading crew!