Desert-style travel truck.
With the suspension lifted 4 inches, but still in stock form, there were definitely visible travel limitations, and though the tires could stuff completely into the fenderwells with no rubbing, the downtravel was just not there. We were still getting about 8-9 inches of front wheel travel, which was good for a factory-style solid-axle front suspension, but we wanted more. More! Out came the cutting torch and off went the stock suspension. Hopefully we will be able to get the driveshaft to adhere to the new front-end droop when everything is said and done.
Like many of you, some of us at 4-Wheel & Off-Road have more than one 4x4 at home. So when we thought up this story, we set out with a mission to show an easily buildable prerunner suspension that you could drive on every day, go out and shoot through the desert in, carry toys with, and cruise comfortably across the state in. In other words, build ourselves a work truck (our definition of work truck might be different than yours). Instead, we got a lesson in reality. And though this truck has earned its name, it's not really the truck's fault. We tend to be a bit abusive to it, and three engines, seven trannies, and four rear axles later, this truck was in need of some new suspension (for the third time). But do not feel bad for our 86,000-mile Dodge. It has been loved dearly and will be rebuilt again and again, no matter how badly we break it.
The parameters we wanted to go by were going to make this suspension buildup a bit more difficult than a purpose-built truck. Plus, for reader duplication purposes we wanted to use nothing more than the average fabricating tools any semi-skilled welder has. Keeping our Dodge in a multi-use configuration turned into much more of a hassle than originally intended and we started to wish that we had just left that bolt-on lift kit alone. But when all is said and done, life will be sweet, and so will this truck. This month we'll cover the concerns we had and the first part of the suspension buildup. Next month, we'll cover the installation of the front coilovers, the airbumps, an antisway bar, and a new track bar to coincide with the crossover steering.