djgaston

Well I can't find my stock arms anywhere, I think I might have just thrown them away. I did measure my Skyjackers. The lowers are 19.5" from center to center, and the uppers are 17" from center to center, but that could be off a little bit because I had to bend the tape a little bit to clear the inner fender. When you get time, measure yours and see how much they differ.

I am not aware of anybody that makes a kit, ready to go, but I know a guy that will make you exactly what you want. He's the one that made all of the custom stuff I have on my trucks, and is the one that will be doing the long arms on this truck once I get out to see him in California. Don Thuren at Thuren Fabrication. http://www.thurenfabrication.com He overbuilds everything and it's awesome. You might want to talk to him about his track bar and crossover steering, as well. The track bar is ten times stronger than the stock one and it is adjustable so you won't outgrow it. The crossover steering is awesome. If you look at what you have now, the drag link goes from the pitman arm to the tie rod, only the tie rod touches the knuckles. With this crossover setup, the drag link connects directly to the knuckle, eliminating the slop you get from an inverted Y steering setup. Here is a picture. You can see the track bar in there too.



The downside to the crossover steering is that you can't just bolt up a steering stabilizer shock without fabbing a bracket, but Don can do that for you too if you want to run a stabilizer.

I'll definitely look into the Smarty once I get the ATS twins in there. I'll probably drop the Edge stuff and go with the TST twins program and quite possibly the MP-8 as well, I'm going to kinda leave that up to Haisley.

D.Wiggs

Thanks for all of your help. I will definitely go measure tomorrow. I think that the whole setup sounds fantastic! I can't wait till my MP-8 is working correctly-EVEN MORE POWER!!!

You won't be dissapointed with the TST/Smarty Stack!

How long did it take you to get your RA bumpers?

Do you think the 40s will fit in the rear? If not, what should I do?

djgaston

Normally it takes about 4 weeks from the time you place your order for your bumpers to arrive. However, money talks and you can ask them to expedite your bumpers in about 3 days for $500 extra. I went that route because I wanted the truck done. After dropping 3 grand on the bumpers, another $500 seemed like a drop in the bucket at the time. However, I'm still waiting on my driving lights for the front bumper. They were supposed to ship two weeks ago and I have not seen them yet.

I think that if you can get the 40's to fit up front, they will fit in the rear just fine. And if they don't fit, you can always lift the truck some more.

I went ahead and talked to Don about what we discussed so he will be familiar with your truck when you call or email him. He can also hook you up with the best suspension you could ask for, he can have coils custom made for your truck. If you want your truck to ride like a Cadillac, Don can hook you up. He knows his stuff. There was a post on here recently about a guy that got some stuff from Don and was loving how his truck rode after installing it all. I'm still waiting to put my King 2.5 shocks on but they should make a huge difference in the ride and handling.

Just when you thought you were almost done...

PASSMORE

I have KORE's adjustable billet control arms and i will be adjusting my axle forward an inch w/them.

D.Wiggs

No I knew I wasn't! My "To-Do" list was 77 items long and I have completed 46 of them; so I am about 2/3 of the way there! I am definitely going to contact him on Monday!

I waited about 4 weeks for my bumpers too and waited even longer for the LEDs! I don't know why, but I did!

D.Wiggs

You goin' with bigger tires ?

nriver

So to get the 37 to fit, I adjusted the rear lower fender. The two lower bolts holding the fender on I opened up with a uni bit. They let me push it bad farther.

then I bent back the lower fender and cut off the plastic fender liner.

When I changed wheels, i needed to trim some lower fender material off. While in there I noticed bent over the front cab pinch weld, not sure the best term. it is the verticle line to the left of teh lower red text.



I also ended up cutting more of the lower fender off. Not noticible while looking at it from the outside.


I do like the idea of control arms to push the axle forward a bit. It does not sound like it will make a huge difference in the arch of the axle. I would like to hear your results and any alignment issues you may have. thinking there wont be any, but thought I would ask. If it all works good, I may go with that as well.

blcoonrod

Superlift makes an adjustable control arm. It is not a long arm kit, as it bolts to the factory location. It comes with there rockrunner kit. I am running there 4" rockrunner kit.

The arms are 2 pieces. To adjust, simply take one end loose and screw it in or out.

They give some lengths for what size lift on there instuctions for installing the arms.

D.Wiggs

I definitely want to do some sort of kit that pushed the front wheels forward because that would allow a 40" tire very easily.

blcoonrod

OK, here is the link that gives the lengths for the arms.
http://www.superlift.com/instructions/4645.pdf

djgaston

Have you measured your stock control arms yet? Based on that, and the link provided to Superlift, and the measurements I took, we can get some good data on what length is recommended at different heights.

I think my upper arm measurement was off, it's probably closer to 18 inches like the Superlift arm. I did that in the dark with a Maglite in one hand and the tape in the other.

D.Wiggs

I will have the time to measure tomorrow for sure. By the time I got all my other stuff done, it was dark out again.

What I wonder is whether or not there is any room to remove and REAR fender material and if I will need new dually fenders.

djgaston

There is plenty to play with on the rear fender, a good body guy can get you squared away there, if it's needed. It probably won't be.

D.Wiggs

I feel like a retard asking this questing, but is this what you (and what I should) measure ?

djgaston

Nah, don't feel stupid, everybody starts somewhere man. That part circled is the drag link and that is what goes from the pitman arm to the knuckle... controls how the knuckles turn when you steer.

What you need to measure are the control arms, which go from the frame to the axle. There are four of them total, two on each side... upper and lower. They are the red things in this pic, that say Skyjacker.



You want to measure from the center of each bolt to get the length. Center of rear bolt to center of front bolt on the lower, then center of rear bolt to center of front bolt on the upper. The upper arm is kinda hard to measure but doing it in the daylight will surely be easier than what I tried to do.