Project Jinxy, Part 1

Up front we definitely wanted longer-than-factory control arms to locate our axle. This way the axle would not move back as much as the suspension drooped. But we could not decide what type of joint to use on the end. Also, it takes a fair amount of patience and time to find the correct way to mount the arms to take the axle through the correct arc as it travels. If you goof this up, you can get squatting or jacking, too much angle on the pinion, or just plain bad, incongruently mounted arms that like to bind. We decided to call Extreme Suspensions, the current producers of Dick Cepek Suspensions. We remembered that Cepek had offered a 6-inch suspension kit for Dodges that gave relocation brackets to mount control arms at the center of the frame. It also came with 48-inch-long control arms, more than enough for the travel we needed. In the picture you can see the size of them compared to the factory control arm (above the four long arms). By using the control arm kit we would not only have the correct geometry in the front end, but also have polyurethane bushings which is all this truck really needs. It will not see any hard-core rock duty and it isn't a racing truck, so it does not need extreme articulation or top-dollar parts. The bushings will not transmit vibrations through the body like rigid spherical bearing rod ends would. Best of all, it was bolt-on.

Well, not completely bolt-on. Not for us, at least. The control arm frame bracket connects at a point where the front boxing on the frame stops and the rest is C-section. This made for a nasty 1/8-inch lip that would necessitate using washers to even out the spacing, but instead, we used 1/8-inch steel plate to make a flat mounting point for the bracket. We drilled the holes and bolted on the brackets using 1/2-inch hardware.

With the Cepek brackets mounted it was time to get some clearance for the control arms to travel up. The major problem we ran into is the body-mounting bracket off the frame. This got in the way of the upper control arm and is the reason why no one but Dick Cepek has come out with a complete long arm kit for the '94-'01 Dodges. Luckily, Dick Cepek found a way around that by supplying reinforcements that are supposed to bolt into the body-mount bracket after it has a 3-inch circular hole cut in it for arm clearance. Both Van Gaale and Bishop each decided to use their own method of removal (See following image as well).

Instead of bolting it in using the Grade 8 bolt holes on the reinforcement brackets like we were supposed to, we again broke out the welder and MIG-welded them in after Van Gaale and Bishop were done removing the parts of the brackets that had to be removed (See following image as well).

The brackets were on and the body mounts were cut. It was time to remove the original control arms and cut the factory mounting locations off the frame. When we tried to remove the lower passenger-side control arm we found that the bolt had rusted itself on. The only thing to do: torch it out and continue on. It's always a bit scary to see pieces of your frame torched off. Now there is no going back. The frame was smoothed and painted over to protect it.

The new Cepek extended control arms bolted right into place with ease. They allow the axle to droop fully the way we want, but they do inhibit upper travel when the control arms get close to the body mount. We will need to have the airbumps max out 3 inches below the factory bumpstop design. Though this did not make us happy, it was deemed acceptable considering we're gaining another 6 inches of travel. Next month we will finish up the suspension. Front hoops, coilovers, a track bar, an antisway bar, and airbumps all the way around are slated for the second half of Project Jinxy.