Fabtech Lift Kit On A 2001 Dodge Ram - Quick Six

7.If you don't have a huge air compressor and Bertha impact gun, you may need a huge breaker bar to remove the axle nut. Either way, this nut must be removed to finish the job. It's a good idea to keep in mind the placement of the brake dustshield. Although, if you keep your left and right side components separate, it should be fairly east to remember. You can see the cut-out provides room for the calipers.

8.Removal of the shocks is next. The lower arms will need to be pried down to free the spring. The shock would prevent this; therefore it must be removed beforehand.

9.Looking down on the knuckle, rotate the spindle clockwise. This will put the knuckle against the steering stops so you can break the ball joint nuts loose. Only loosen; do not remove the ball joint nuts until you've preloaded the spring. Smacking the knuckle with a 5-pound beater (large hammer) will break the ball joint free from its seated position. You can tell by watching the gap that was made between the knuckle and ball joint from loosening the nut. When it breaks free, it closes the gap from the spring tension.

10.With a jack under the lower A-arm, the spring tension is not pushing ball joints in the A-arms. This will relieve the pressure so the upper control arm and knuckle can be removed. The upper A-arm is held in place by a link that is threaded on each end and holes drilled through it. This is called the cross-shaft. With the ball joint free from the knuckle and the cross-shaft nuts unbolted, the upper control arm comes right off.

11.By slowly removing the jack from the lower control arm, the A-arm will drop down. The use of a pry bar will provide the needed room to allow the coil spring to come out of its mounting area.

12.Break out the Sawzall. Removing the stock bumpstop was probably the most fun part of the lift kit. Measure up from the rubber bumpstop's metal mounting surface about 3-1/2 inches and cut it off.

13.The two lower control arm bolts were loosened so we could easily move the control arm up and down. With the Fabtech bumpstop placed behind the spring pocket, we pushed up on the lower control arm to ensure the control arm contacted the bumpstop in the flat portion of the A-arm, as the stock unit did.

14.After determining the optimal mounting location, the paint on the frame was removed so a clean weld could be laid down. One more check to make sure, and the bead was placed on the bumpstop to fuse it to its new home.

15.Installation
The new urethane bumpstop is molded in a shape that permits the bump to work progressively. This makes full compression on the suspension smooth all the way through until full stop.

16.Fabtech's new spring provides the proper spring weight, plus some to offset the lifted center gravity. With the lower A-arm bolts loose, it is easy to put the new Fabtech spring in the A-arm pocket.

17.A jack is used to compress the new spring and bring the lower A-arm into position for installation.

18.You may need an air hammer or hammer and chisel combination to get one side of the stock A-arm bushings out, but removing one of the two bushings is a must to get to the cross-shaft.