My 95 Cummins Expedition project

[chilliwak]

Good looking new springs Mike! They must make for a HUGE:Wow1: difference without those stock blocks.....:ylsmoke:

 

[CumminAlong]

what came in the rough country kit?

i bought a partial kit(from a guy in TO actually) on craigslist he had taken the front springs and shocks.
i have the 4 control arms, all the hardware and the sway bar drop bracket.

I only have a 2" leveling spacer in the front, but i mainly wanted the arms so i could center the front axle in the wheel wells.

did you get a whole new trac bar? or just a lowering bracket? how did the install go? did you align it yourself? id like to put the control arms on, but these dodge front ends can be tricky. mine drives fine right now, i'm a little nervous that changing the arms will open a can of worms.

oh yea, and PICS!!

If memory serves right I got:
2 coil springs
4 shocks
4 control arms
bushings & inserts for the control arms
rear helper springs with mounting hardware
swaybar drop brackets with hardware
track bar relocation bracket with hardware (takes a good amount of modding to fit)
Track bar is original, just a relocation bracket. The install of everything went pretty well but a couple things to note: the front bolts on the lower control arms with the adjustment cams in them were both bent and stripped when I removed them. I had to special order new ones from the dealer and they cost $37 each! Ouch! Other thing is the track bar relocation bracket's instructions are incorrect and you must drill a couple additional holes in the original bracket. Yes, I aligned it myself and it tracks a little worse than before, but not by much. I have only put about 300 miles on the truck since the install, time will tell how everything holds out.

Might want to look into Alcan's reputation, I personally had a bad experience in the past.
I'd give National spring a call if I were you,and yes lets see some pics!

Really... I haven't heard of anything bad about Alcan...yet. I also got a quote from National per your suggestion and will see how competitive the pricing is. Alcan wanted $770 for the springs, and they also recommend a set of overloads for an additional $250.

Great truck there because its a Cummins you can get away w/taller gears with all that torque that is available down low. As for your injectors I suggest running 2 stroke oil in your diesel at a 2oz to 1gal ratio and see if you really need injector service. The low sulfur diesel is not the best in older diesels so the 2 stroke which is normally a 1oz to 1gal ratio. An HX40 is another good mod for that diesel.

Good luck with it!

I did something similar and ran a quart of ATF in the fuel (full tank) and noticed no difference. I personally don't like the HX40 as I had one on another 97 12v I used to have and found the turbo to be much less responsive. On a truck making more power than mine it would be useful though. And thanks!

I have been very happy with my National Springs. Getting rid of the factory lift blocks took care of the wheel hop in soft/sand conditions and on the road it rides like a Caddy.

Be gone lift blocks!!!

Nice setup. What overall lift did you get on the springs, and how does it sit compared to stock?

 

[CumminAlong]

Well guys, my 37s are here! Here is some pics with them installed:

After putting a few miles on these tires I have a couple notes:
These are very heavy and there is a very noticeable drop in acceleration as well as raised EGTs. I need to regear to 4:10s sooner rather than later. My braking, however, is relatively unchanged, which is nice.

I also would like to get my speedometer accurate again. How do I go about doing this?

 

[CumminAlong]

 

[ExpoMike]

Actually I had them built to basically sit me at stock hight fully loaded though. Any higher and it would have to use a step stool to undo the latches on the camper and it would raise my CG more. Two things I didn't want. They could have built in any lift I wanted. Loaded up I am at about 8,600 lbs. with about a 50/50 front to rear weight split.

For me, it was about rid quality, flex and getting rid of the blocks and factory overload secondary springs. Second was getting it back to stock height when loaded up. Camper lives on the truck full time.

 

[CumminAlong]

Gotcha. I'd like mine to be about 2" higher than stock loaded, just to be level with the front end.

 

[ExpoMike]

I also would like to get my speedometer accurate again. How do I go about doing this?

Nice!!!

To fix this, you have to change out the gear drive on the transfer case speed sensor. You should see a wire and plug on the output of the transfer case. One bolt holds a clamp that you remove and pull out the assembly. The gear/shaft just pulls out of the assembly and you push in the new gear/shaft. The speed sensor has some arrow marks and numbers. You line up the mark with one on the case, to match the number on the gear/shaft assembly you put in. It is really cake, about 10 minutes but you have to get the gear first.

Here is a site that gives you the breakdown of what you need. I wouldn't change anything until you regear as some of these can be in the $40-$50 range and you don't want to do it twice.

http://www.high-impact.net/transmission_and_gear/DodgeSpeedoGears.htm

Good luck.

 

[ExpoMike]

Gotcha. I'd like mine to be about 2" higher than stock loaded, just to be level with the front end.

Unlike Alcan, National will want weights of your front and rear axles, loaded. This is the only true way of getting the correct lift for a given weight. Keep in mind, if you alter your weight (i.e. unloaded), you will end up with a different height and ride quality. This is the one area that air bags really come into play. You can adjust to match your load. Springs will be for a given weight.

 

[CumminAlong]

Nice!!!

To fix this, you have to change out the gear drive on the transfer case speed sensor. You should see a wire and plug on the output of the transfer case. One bolt holds a clamp that you remove and pull out the assembly. The gear/shaft just pulls out of the assembly and you push in the new gear/shaft. The speed sensor has some arrow marks and numbers. You line up the mark with one on the case, to match the number on the gear/shaft assembly you put in. It is really cake, about 10 minutes but you have to get the gear first.

Here is a site that gives you the breakdown of what you need. I wouldn't change anything until you regear as some of these can be in the $40-$50 range and you don't want to do it twice.

http://www.high-impact.net/transmission_and_gear/DodgeSpeedoGears.htm

Good luck.

Excellent thank you!

Unlike Alcan, National will want weights of your front and rear axles, loaded. This is the only true way of getting the correct lift for a given weight. Keep in mind, if you alter your weight (i.e. unloaded), you will end up with a different height and ride quality. This is the one area that air bags really come into play. You can adjust to match your load. Springs will be for a given weight.

True. I'm not too fond of bags as I've torn a couple on my BJ60 from just a little too much flex.

 

[CumminAlong]

Question for you guys: which mfg's of R&Ps do you guys prefer? I'm looking at Yukons in the rear and Motives in the front. I can only find the rear gears I need (4:10s for a 3.73 & down carrier) made by Yukon. Thoughts?

 

[blakeape]

Truck looks great! How well did the re-centered H1's balance for you and I assume those are Treadwrights? Exactly what Expomike said about the t-case regear its real simple just wait till you regear. I have a set of National Springs in my truck that I bought used, I have a heavy flatbed and tow alot pretty heavy and they were designed for a friend's Shortbed for more off road capability than weight capacity. I rely on my airbags a lot. However I contacted National Spring and they said for approximately $300 they will rebuild the pack with additional leaves and a couple more inches of lift. Remember these are used springs that I didn't even order. National Spring get 2 thumbs up in my book! Here's a shot from today with the bags at about 100 psi. My bags float also so I can flex the truck out, check out my thread for pics of how I did it.

 

[bloodyWEST]

Other thing is the track bar relocation bracket's instructions are incorrect and you must drill a couple additional holes in the original bracket.

thanks for the heads up on the LCA adjusters.

pics of the new drop bracket? the factory bracket is welded to the frame right?

 

[ExpoMike]

Question for you guys: which mfg's of R&Ps do you guys prefer? I'm looking at Yukons in the rear and Motives in the front. I can only find the rear gears I need (4:10s for a 3.73 & down carrier) made by Yukon. Thoughts?

I have read good things about both of these brands in the Jeep world. I would not hesitate to purchase either one.

 

[CumminAlong]

Truck looks great! How well did the re-centered H1's balance for you and I assume those are Treadwrights? Exactly what Expomike said about the t-case regear its real simple just wait till you regear. I have a set of National Springs in my truck that I bought used, I have a heavy flatbed and tow alot pretty heavy and they were designed for a friend's Shortbed for more off road capability than weight capacity. I rely on my airbags a lot. However I contacted National Spring and they said for approximately $300 they will rebuild the pack with additional leaves and a couple more inches of lift. Remember these are used springs that I didn't even order. National Spring get 2 thumbs up in my book! Here's a shot from today with the bags at about 100 psi. My bags float also so I can flex the truck out, check out my thread for pics of how I did it.
View attachment 124410

Thanks! The balance is not all that great, I will put in some balance beads like Metcalf did in his Dodge and see where that gets me. They are not Treadwrights, they are the older non-kevlar MT/Rs. I think, after the regear, my speedo should be about dead on, because in stock form it was a couple MPH higher than I was actually going, I notice this with a lot of dodges. Great to hear about the National springs. I will go that route if their price is less than $900 or so. I will definitely check your thread about those bags, I'm going to be running onboard air so bags would be easy to adapt.

thanks for the heads up on the LCA adjusters.

pics of the new drop bracket? the factory bracket is welded to the frame right?

No problem. I will go snap a couple. The factory bracket is sort of "integrated" into the axle, hopefully my pics will describe this better.

I have read good things about both of these brands in the Jeep world. I would not hesitate to purchase either one.

Good to hear. I'll be ordering new gears this coming weekend.

 

[CumminAlong]

thanks for the heads up on the LCA adjusters.

pics of the new drop bracket? the factory bracket is welded to the frame right?