Okay, it seems my pictures created quite a barrage of
questions, so this should answer most of your questions.
Some of the questions I saw:
> Do you think that the wheel offset would handle another 1" drop without
> interference up front?
> What offsets are you running f/r? How close are the rear tires to the leaf
> springs?
> Did you have the stock bumper painted or is that a custom piece? It
> looks great whatever it is
> The drop 2/4 or 3/5? Is that a bumper cover from a durango?
I'm running a set of Budnik Mercury Six polished billet wheels. The
backspacing is 5.875" on all four corners. The tires are BFG Comp T/A
ZR4's 255/50-17. This combination placed the bulge of the tire even
with the fenders (no 4x4 flares needed!).
I have yet to bottom the wheel out in the fenders, even when making a tight
turn while hitting a bump. The only contact I have had with any parts, was
when I originally lowered the truck, the stock 15" aluminum wheels hit
the stock swaybar in bump. Going to 17" cleared that up, but I redesigned
the front bar to clear the stock wheels anyway. I don't know the clearance
to the leaf springs offhand, but I've never had a problem.
The truck is running a prototype suspension made by Hotchkis Performance.
(I happen to be the project engineer). The drop as pictured is a 3/3 drop via
coils in the front and new leafs in the rear. The front should be a 2" drop, but
my springs were made too short, so I hit the bmp stops over speed bumps.
The truck also has wicked bump steer at this height. It also has our prototype
uprated sway bars. This suspension/wheel combination handles great. I
plan on competing in SCCA autocrossing in their truck class.
All of the body parts are stock except for the roll pan. I removed and painted
all of the black trim parts (i.e. handles, mirrors and frt bumper). The roll pan
is a street scene with a hidden hitch. I painted the V-6 emblems and added
a custom viper emblem on the hood. I've got a home built ram air system
w/ air intake from the passenger side grill area. The airbox parts are custom
pieces made by myself. I am using a K&N cone filter with this setup. Pics
to follow later when I dress them up.
Please email me with any other questions.
-Gary Pinkley
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:11:04 EDT