'06 HD Straight Axle Conversion Build Pics...

[Doug_J]

If you dont mind me asking how much do you have in that frontend?

[Solego]

I love Chevy trucks. But this is why I bought a Jeep. I don't have the talent to do that.

[47thriftmaster]

Work looks great, should be a lot of fun when finished. I did my '06 a few years back, but did coil overs in all 4 corners rather then leafs. It's a blast and he won't have to worry about replacing the CV shafts all the time. Here's a quick pic.

[ChiefRocka]

Originally Posted by 47thriftmaster

Work looks great, should be a lot of fun when finished. I did my '06 a few years back, but did coil overs in all 4 corners rather then leafs. It's a blast and he won't have to worry about replacing the CV shafts all the time. Here's a quick pic.

Looks good man, what axle you running ??

[ChiefRocka]

Hey guys !!!

I have been really busy lately as far as updates go ... but I did finish her up last week !!

Came out really nice ... with ZERO bump steer on the steering.

Finnally....here are some more pics....

[ChiefRocka]

OK, when left off...we were working on the steering.

My buddy wanted to try our old skool way of Z's the draglink like we used to do back in the day on Samurais...

I insisted that it was a ghetto way of doing it, considering the amount of lift and how heavy this vehicle was...so here goes... Had to prove it the hard way !!
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He quickly realized I was right ... ... but at least we were able to steer the truck, take it outside for some air, and test it with the forklift....
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The truck was flexing a lot better than I thought...I could of lift the forks alot higher without lifting a rear tire, but the tire was starting to slip on the forks. I need to build a tire cradle to slip onto the forks for safety.

[ChiefRocka]

With the truck flexing, we were able to measure for shocks. After a little massaging of the factory upper a-arms mounts for the shock mounts....then moe clearanceing of the mounts themselves, we were able to get his shocks in....
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[ChiefRocka]

Extended brake lines and custom ABS wires were made:
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[ChiefRocka]

OK.....now we had to get back to the STEERING !!

Since no one makes a HI-STEER for the Dodge AXLE...we had to design something !!

Came out so well....I think we might start production....

We cut up what was left of the Z bar () and used the ends in some tubing...plans are to replace with HD rod ends, as well move the crossover up high as well...

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[ChiefRocka]

Next what the track bar ... the supplied tabs were too small to get the bar parallel with the drag link, so news pieces had to be made....
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The supplied tabs were then used to locate the steering shock...
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We utilized the existing hole in the crossover link to locate the steering shock...worked out great.
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My buddy is not going to be rock-crawling, so for now this lower steering arm and shock will be fine.

In the future, we will be make new links to go 'over' the springs.

[ChiefRocka]

A simple crossmember was welded in place of the stock low slung one (NOTE: the stock crossmember does not need to be removed for this converison)...we just wanted to clean things up.

Capped, and sanded to look 'one' with the chassis:
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[ChiefRocka]

The previous, custom made front hitch/generator mount was re-worked and reinstalled:
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This front end ended up being roughly an 8-10" lift. After lifting the rear truck on the lift...we were almost 4-5 inched high than before in order to get it level.

However, a jack lifting from the rear ballmount will give us a better reading.

A full 8" spring pack will be next for the truck, along with modifing the rear airbag mounts.

During the summer, this truck hauls a massive cab-over and tows a boat..



I TOLD HIM SHOLD OF GOT A DURAMAX !!!

[Vintage Windmills]

Amazing work man!

By the way, for you guys razzin on the 6.0 you can buy the truck then really wake them up with cam, tune, exhaust, throttle body, etc and get about 475hp for less $$ than if you bought a stock dmax... just sayin

[kevinwcmo]

hey ya got any info on the tire/wheel combo? ie, wheel style, size and backspacing? they look like pro comp tires. size? great build, got an 05 dmax that would look good under