06CTDforAU

This is pretty long; if you don't feel like reading, the pics are at the bottom. They speak for themself.

I've had the shocks installed for a little over a month now and just thought I'd give a little review of them. My "review" is probably not quite as thorough as others because I don't really have the desert type terrain to test them on, but I do know how they act/react during daily driving road conditions and that is what matters the most to me. I just got the 5" muffler put on this morning and figured I'd give a review of both in one post and knock out two birds with one stone.

King 2.5 Shocks:

First of all, I want to thank Don @ Thuren Fab for knowing his stuff. I told him exactly what I wanted, we talked for a pretty good while on the phone, and a couple days later the shocks were on order. He is a real stand up guy and seems to be willing to help in any way possible. At first, you may think spending $1700+ on a set of shocks is just plain insane but after you recieve these things you will understand. They are massive and beautiful. Not to mention they work EXTREMELY well. I had a set of Bilstein 5100's on this truck and there is no comparison between those and the King's. I had Don valve them for a soft street ride and that is exactly what I got. Keep in mind, these are 3/4 and 1 ton trucks so they aren't going to ride like a caddy, but you wouldn't believe how much better they work than factory crap. Bone-jarring bumps that would make me skip all over the road are now my least concern. I actually TRY to find bumps sometimes just to put a grin on myself. Like Don says, these shocks make the suspension on these trucks work like magic. The expansion joints are also much less noticeable now. You still know they are there, but you don't get the wave action when going through a bunch of them like on a bridge. The truck is much more controlled going across them than before. In the end, do I hate the fact that I spent $1700+ on shocks? Sure. Would I do it again? Most likely. The only problem I have at this point is a little "clunk" when turning at low speeds every now and then. I tightened up the shocks but that didn't solve the problem. I have a feeling the upper track bar bolt has loosened up just a little. That thing takes a ton of torque to tighten and it's hard to get to. I'm betting thats the problem though.

5" Donaldson M090535

I put this thing on this morning and I really like the way it sounds. The muffler I had made the truck sound closer to a gas burner; this one sounds like a diesel should. I ran around for a few miles and all the drone seems to be gone. It's still deep and loud when you get on it, but quiets down when cruising. That's what I was looking for so I guess you can say I'm pretty happy with it. And at only $70, you can't beat it. My only issues with it is the "fluttering" sound at idle that most Donaldson owners talk about. It is a lot more pronounced in reality than on videos. I can deal with it though. I also now have a little vibration and I think it is because of the muffler. I took a second look at it's resting on the crossmember ever so slightly and it's causing a little vibration. I'll add another hanger tomorrow and that should solve the problem.

All in all, I'm pretty stoked about my new mods. I've actually got someone looking at buying the truck but if something happens and we don't make a deal I guess I'll just keep it and build the trans and maybe put a turbo in down the road. That will be the extent of the mods though. I've attached a couple pics for all to see.

ModManiac

very very sweet bradley

06CTDforAU

Thanks. How are those Dune Grappler's treatin you?

tristan21

I assume you went with the 2.5's over the 3's becouse you dont plan to launch it often?

06CTDforAU

Never plan to launch it.

In all honesty, I really didn't even think about going with the 3 inchers over the 2.5's for two reasons. The main reason was that I didn't want to have to cut the coil buckets out. The other reason was that I will probably never use the 2.5's to their fullest extent so the 3's would have been a waste. Now if I planned on jumping it....... well that's another story.

tristan21

Whole bucket has to be cut out or "trimmed"?

06CTDforAU

Well I say "cut out" but I really mean just trimmed. I can't remember the exact dimension you have to take out. If I remember correctly, it wasn't all the way around either. I'm not totally sure though cause it's been a long time since I talked to someone about that.

tristan21

Hey man the first self inflicted damage is the hardest. Luckily a deer did that for me and a Honda got me prepared to beat it. Now im like Michael Jackson. Ow!

wingrider

What muffler were you running before you put the Donaldson on? I'm contemplating throwing a Donaldson on my truck as well....

06CTDforAU

I ran a Banks muffler that I had from a previous exhaust system. It sounded pretty good with the 5" exhaust, but I didn't like that I had a 5" exhaust with a 4" muffler. The Donaldson sounds like a muffled 5" straight pipe to me. It's kind of got the same tone -- a little deeper -- just without the drone.

jgiachino

Nice looking truck....dont sell it and then get the trans done!

rip 112

Looking good!!! Looks like it rides comfortable!!!

53 willys

It's hard to beat the 51"er IMHO PRICE and Sound..it's a great deal!!
I love mine I dont think I could have a 7" stack with out it I have not noticed any "fluttering" sound with mine?????
trucks looking sharp man

abc4yew

The 51" sounds great unless you are towing....I didn't want mine to hit the crossmember so I cut the muffler down to 36" and rewelded the end back on with SS wire....sounds a little louder and no flutter but towing it wails against the trailer but I have it going out the side in front of the front tire....53Willys, what do you think is causing the low speed noise on Bradley's truck? I always wonder how things all mesh up when you put on a new suspension Kit and bolt them to stock designed mounts. KS

06CTDforAU

Thanks 53. I would imaging having a 7" stack without it would be pretty rough! It may not really be a "flutter" type noise. It's the same sound that Don Thuren was talking about in the video he made of the muffler. It almost sounds like a lot of air coming out of the exhaust instead of exhaust if you get my drift. It's been there on every muffler I have had it's just that this one is a little more pronounced. I don't have the tailpipe extension pipe on -- and I don't think Don did either -- so that may be what's making the noise more noticeable. I'm gonna throw it on this afternoon and see what it does. Maybe that'll solve the problem. I just like the clean look of the rear-end without the pipe and tip.

Kerry..... I'm almost 100% positive the noise is coming from the track bar. When I had the lift installed to begin with, I used the factory track bar for a while. The shop didn't get it tight enough and it ended up working it's way loose just a little bit. It made the same noise as it is now. When I turned, I would hear one clunk and it was the track bar moving a tiny bit. I put the new track bar on and I guess it's just worked it's way loose a little again. I guess I didn't get it tight enough. Last time I had to take the driver's side tire off to tighten it up really good. I guess I'll have to this time as well. With the Defiant dual stabilizer on there I can't really get in a good position to put a lot of torque on the bolt. Therefore I have to take the tire off. Kinda stinks, but oh well. I plan to work on that and get the exhaust right this afternoon. I guess you could say I'm a perfectionist and I despise little things like these.