First drive with modified suspension

Ram From Hell

Ram From Hell

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Bremerton, WA
I had a whole bunch of stuff just waiting to be installed on the truck, and decided I'd have a shop do some work for a change. While the roll cage, seat, and harness were being installed, I had this gear installed:

DTS axle, 4.56 gears
Caltracs
Stinker's drop kit (2/3 ?) ...had X-Vendor 1/2 drop
JMB QA1 shocks and adjustable end links
Hellwig rear anti sway bar

There is absolutely no comparison between how it was and how it is now. I took it through some of the twistiest roads in an isolated area of the county, and gave it hell. The body roll has been almost completely eliminated, and it tracks corners with some real precision (especially for a truck!). Plus, the ride is firm but seldom harsh. The detroit locker rear end didn't seem to interfere with cornering at all, and has made very little noise. It was like an entirely different truck!:rock:

Unfortunately the ride ended when I pulled over to check out a ticking noise under the hood. The serp belt was throwing bits of itself everywhere, and my catch can had puked all over the engine bay. I managed to get home on about half a belt though! Things went from bad to worse when I sprayed a cleaner I thought was fairly mild under the hood, and it instantly oxidized all of the polished pieces. So much for the Zoops Seal I spent all those hours prepping and applying. Looks like its time for some powder coating.

So, I've torn the front off of the truck and the top off of the engine. It was just that bad. There were pulleys that had been damaged and the belt needed to be replaced. I'd also wanted to devise a mechanism for putting more tension on the belt. Hopefully I'll have it back together in time to make it back to the track after another round of dyno tuning.;)
 
sounds good and bad...but its still progress to the end goal
 
Tell us more about the anti-sway bar.I presume it is bigger and/or stiffer than stock ? ( no c_ck jokes please :D )

Did you use new end links front and rear ?
 
Almost the same setup I have and I'm still impressed every time I drive it. The only difference on mine is rear aibags. I'm sorry to hear about the damage to the polished items.
 
blackviper said:
Almost the same setup I have and I'm still impressed every time I drive it. The only difference on mine is rear aibags. I'm sorry to hear about the damage to the polished items.
Click to expand...


I have Stinkers 3" lowering blocks ,front 20% stiffer :eek: springs,shortened (threaded and adjustable) rear sway bar links,CalTracs,and Toxic shocks (rear)

I want a much stiffer anti-sway bar for the rear


As it is now,it takes corners really well,but I am always looking for improvement
 
Prof said:
Why so much oil in the catch can?
Click to expand...
im running two catch can roy and still getting some slobber, would love to see what you might have came up with.
 
With my new build with less than 1000 miles and no hard runs...maybe a half ounce. My theory is that if you are getting lots of blow-by there are cracks in the piston lands...eventually those cracks will throw a chunk and that will be the end. All ten of my pistons had land cracks. None were missing pieces...but when the pistons were removed from the sleeves, chucks fell out. When I got the pistons, I could lift pieces of the land wall out of every piston with finger pressure. The reason I did my rebuild was due to excessive blow-by...there has to be a reason that the oil is getting past the oil and compression rings. My rings were fine, it was the cracks in the sides of the pistons where the oil was being forced into the valve covers.
 
Here you go: DTS rear end with CalTracs

Picture001.jpg


Picture002.jpg


Picture006.jpg


Picture051.jpg


Picture050.jpg


Picture049.jpg


But lowering by X-Metal not Stinker...
 
eddie102870 said:
im running two catch can roy and still getting some slobber, would love to see what you might have came up with.
Click to expand...


Been running my catch can for three months and it is bone dry.Mine is an 04 and NA.Is that normal or .................?
 
HOT RAM said:
Tell us more about the anti-sway bar.I presume it is bigger and/or stiffer than stock ? ( no c_ck jokes please :D )

Did you use new end links front and rear ?
Click to expand...

It is substantially larger and subsequently has more torsional resistance. The tail of the truck doesn't wag at all like it did from the factory!

Prof said:
Why so much oil in the catch can?
Click to expand...

I'm using the X-Vendor tall billet valve covers (much smaller oil baffles), which come with a breather for each side. The passenger side breather wouldn't fit, so I ran a line between it and a port on the intake elbow between the air filter and supercharger. That may just be a bad combo of high vacuum and valve covers that weren't designed for positive ventilation. I don't think I'm getting excessive blow-by (shouldn't be anyway, with 1000 miles on the rebuild).

Whatever the case, I'm not planning on putting that system back on. We'll see how things work just venting both valve covers to atmosphere.

;)
 
Prof said:
With my new build with less than 1000 miles and no hard runs...maybe a half ounce. My theory is that if you are getting lots of blow-by there are cracks in the piston lands...eventually those cracks will throw a chunk and that will be the end. All ten of my pistons had land cracks. None were missing pieces...but when the pistons were removed from the sleeves, chucks fell out. When I got the pistons, I could lift pieces of the land wall out of every piston with finger pressure. The reason I did my rebuild was due to excessive blow-by...there has to be a reason that the oil is getting past the oil and compression rings. My rings were fine, it was the cracks in the sides of the pistons where the oil was being forced into the valve covers.
Click to expand...
i oiled the filters, what i may do is clean and dry them and see if it dows the same thing so i will know if its the k&n oil or the crankcase oil
 
Ram From Hell said:
It is substantially larger and subsequently has more torsional resistance. The tail of the truck doesn't wag at all like it did from the factory!





;)
Click to expand...




Where can I get one ? :dontknow: :dontknow:
 
HOT RAM said:
Been running my catch can for three months and it is bone dry.Mine is an 04 and NA.Is that normal or .................?
Click to expand...


In my opinion it is a strong statement about the soundness of your engine. I bet if you did a compression check you would find no difference from the new engine.
 
Ram From Hell said:
I'm using the X-Vendor tall billet valve covers (much smaller oil baffles), which come with a breather for each side. The passenger side breather wouldn't fit, so I ran a line between it and a port on the intake elbow between the air filter and supercharger. That may just be a bad combo of high vacuum and valve covers that weren't designed for positive ventilation. I don't think I'm getting excessive blow-by (shouldn't be anyway, with 1000 miles on the rebuild).

Whatever the case, I'm not planning on putting that system back on. We'll see how things work just venting both valve covers to atmosphere.

;)
Click to expand...

I see! There is a freeze plug on the top front of the engine. I have often wondered if that would make a great re-entry point for the valve cover vents...
 
Prof said:
In my opinion it is a strong statement about the soundness of your engine. I bet if you did a compression check you would find no difference from the new engine.
Click to expand...


Thats good to know.I don't run it hard very often.I hardly ever even get near 6,000 rpms.Might last me a long time.
 
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