May 2017 - When I took over the project
So anyways, with some freedom to proceed how I choose I began to mock up some things. First and foremost I put some shock simulators in place to mimick full compression of the 5.2" travel ridetech coilovers. Then I placed some wheel simulators in place mimicking 26" tall tires. I know this is probably less than what some may run but I plan to run 18x12 wheels all the way around with a 315/30/18 Falken tire which is 25.5".
Here is a pic with the frame at full compression.
The frame under the front cab mount is 5" off the ground.
Something that has been lingering in the back of my head is the original upper shock mounts we made for the front end. The engineers ditched this design early on because the truck sat too low. Basically the inner fender had to be raised with them so they felt our kit wouldn't go this route. Anyways, we still have a couple of the original design mounts sitting in a box. There is roughly 2.5" difference in height between these.
The rear axle sits above the frame but it does clear the bed.
So, I will try to keep this thread updated a little more often. It will be slow though since it will only be an hour or so at a time.
June 2017
With the power this thing is going to make, we're going to need a strong foundation. I'll work on the back half next week.
July 2017
Worked on the rear boxing plates. I removed the standard bolt-on frame plate that comes with the Torque Arm kit and placed it on top of the rail. I don't need to step the rails that far to get the desired ride height but it was a good starting point.
The frame is countoured in this area so I will have to put two bends in the new boxing plate to match the frame. R&D is really busy right now so I might not wait for them to draw these up and cut them on the plasma table. I might just trace and cut them out with the hand held plasma. Sure it's dirty but I am trying to get this thing back to a roller by the Brothers Truck Show.
Sending the frame rails out to get sand blasted. I've got a lot of work to do before the Brothers Truck Show.