2008 Dodge Ram 2500 Buildup - From Stock to Rock: Weekend Buildup

He figured cutting the arm off could damage the steering shaft, heating it might ruin the steering box's seal, and he broke the only puller Snap-On sells that would fit in the small gap. The solution was to use a thin cut-off wheel to grind away the top of the factory arm until there was enough room to fit the pitman arm puller.

Spriggs and Lankhorst then lowered the front axle as far as it would go and removed the original front coil springs and shocks. The new Trailmaster coil springs and front shocks were installed and the Trailmaster suspension links were bolted in one at a time.

The Trailmaster kit used two solid pieces of 6061 aluminum to lower the stock sway bar mounts (A), and the factory brake lines were reused after their attachment points were modified. The only real challenge was the top suspension link bolt (B). When Dodge assembles the suspension at the factory, there's no engine or exhaust in the truck. In order to remove the bolt, you have to cut the head off, and pull it out. Trailmaster provided a new bolt in the kit, but the 6.7L's exhaust was so large that Lankhorst couldn't fit a sawzall blade in there to make the cut. He decided to unbolt the exhaust at the turbo, lowered it out of the way, and reused the factory bolt to attach the Trailmaster suspension link.

Lifting the rear of the Dodge was much easier. The Trailmaster kit came with new, longer rear shocks, cast-iron lift-blocks, and a complete set of U-bolts. The rear leaf springs were left in place, and Spriggs lowered the axle just enough to slide the Trailmaster blocks into place. The blocks were tapered to correct the rear driveshaft angle, so Spriggs installed them with the tall end in the back.

Lankhorst tightened the new Trailmaster U-bolts with a torque wrench in three stages. You might think that's overkill, but it's the right way to do it, and ensures the U-bolts stretch evenly.

Spriggs took the new Type M4 Mamba Wheels and 305/70R18 Nitto Dura Grappler tires over to McLea's Tire & Automotive in Santa Rosa, California, to have the factory tire pressure monitors (arrow) swapped from the stock wheels into the new Mambas.