For years, Ram truck owners have been haunted with poor suspension and steering issues which have resulted in a sub-par driving experience. Most of the Ram truck owners and other brand owners know about the most common steering issue called death wobble where the steering violently shakes and inevitably tears up components and not to mention causes danger to yourself and others on the roadway. BD Diesel Performance has a full line of front end replacement components that will fix these common issues.
BD Diesel Performance wanted to show how well these parts worked and what quality they obtained and they reached out to us looking for a truck that could use some serious tender loving care. A local truck owner has a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 with over 200,000-miles and with what he is doing with the truck, it’s really going to want a safe and sturdy front end.
This Cummins-powered Ram isn’t just your ordinary Ram truck. This truck features gobs of aftermarket parts including a 6.7-liter Cummins engine from a newer generation and a beautiful set of triple turbos. That’s right, he skipped the large single, he skipped the compound turbo system, and he went for gold with a trio of Borg Warner turbochargers.
With the amount of torque, this powerful combination is capable of well north of 1,000-horsepower and the still factory front end will not like this new power. Luckily for him, BD Diesel is hooking it up with plenty of parts that will rejuvenate this truck’s front end for years to come. So, what’s in the box?
BD sent us a few boxes which included everything we needed to install these upgrades. These upgrades included heavy-duty upper and lower control arms, heavy-duty sway bar end links, a steering box stabilizer bar, and a new set of BD’s traction bars.
BD Dodge Steering Box Stabilizer Bar
Many features are included with your purchase of the BD steering box stabilizer bar included the guarantee to end the fear of death wobble. This part has been dubbed “The Wobble Stopper” and has continued to prove that for some time now. The stabilizer bar eliminates steering wander and wobble caused by excessive shaft play in the steering box.
With its sturdy construction, it virtually eliminates frame flex at the steering box mounting point and is designed for easy, bolt-in installation. This greasable, high-strength stabilizer is corrosion resistant and will surely give you a more positive steering feel.
BD Heavy-Duty Upper And Lower Control Arms
With the weight of these trucks, and with the abuse they encounter during everyday tasks, these Dodge Ram controls arm known to be a weak point. Stock control arms are known for bending and the bushings to prematurely deteriorate which will inevitably cause a less than desired ride. With BD’s heavy-duty control arms, this truck will be up for anything.
The control arms we’re using feature forged end links that are built Super Tuff to resist bending. These are proven by BD to be three times stronger than the factory units. As you can see, they are much, much larger than the OE bars and feature powder coated bodies to provide a long lasting great look.
These fully adjustable control arms make it easy to dial in perfect alignment and ride with the zinc-plated threads and ultra-polyurethane bushings. On the upper control arms, they only require one bolt to be removed for adjustments to be made. On the lower arms, are fully adjustable on both ends for correcting the caster angle of your truck.
In the chance these bushings wear out, BD also offers replacement bushings for both top and bottom control arms giving you a lifetime of heavy-duty control arms. These arms come with a 12-month or 24,000-mile warranty.
BD Dodge Sway Bar End Link Kit
Also featured with a 12-month and 24,000-mile warranty are the BD sway bar end links. The OE sway bar end links take a beating over time and never last as long as we wish they would. Luckily for us, these new BD links are so good, that BD says this could virtually be the last time they need to be replaced. You can tell that these are built to last when you set them next to the factory ones.
These dual-pivot designed links offer a greater amount of articulation and less stress and feature long-life polyurethane bushings that allow them to flex instead of break. Designed to be installed in less than an hour, these sway bar end links are fully serviceable and will not pound out or seize due to the outdoor elements.
BD Dodge Traction Bar Kit
With a truck that makes this much power, axle wrap is inevitable. Axle wrap is no joke and BD’s fix for it is their extremely high-strength traction bars. These no-welding-required traction bars are two-inch diameter tubes with QA1 3/4-inch heavy-duty 28,000-pound rod ends. These will prevent wheel hop, axle wrap, and high angles on the universal joints.
Once these bars are set into place, no adjustments are required. These bars are designed to work on all trucks with any suspension up to a six-inch lift down to a two-inch drop. Like all other BD steering and suspension parts, these bars feature high-strength, serviceable, polyurethane bushings that provide direct loading without excessive movement, unlike spring-loaded designs.
These 54-inch from eye-to-eye bars are optimized to arc in the same path the axle travels during suspension movement which makes for a smoother ride and the ability to tow without making any adjustments. Our truck owner wants a do-all truck so these bars fit perfectly in his plethora of goodies. All of the necessary hardware and the rivet-nut specific drill bit are included in the packaging.
All of our new upgrades minus the traction bars allowed us to install the bushings into the ends, but the traction bars required more help from a standard press. One thing to note when you’re installing the bushings, especially on the control arms, make 100-percent sure that you have the right bushings in the right holes. When you apply the sticky lubricant to the bushings for installation, it isn’t that hard to remove the wrong bushings but you will make a mess.
After getting everything installed, it was a relief. Everything went very smooth and didn’t require anything special to replace, but one of the control arms was a bear. This is one of many sets I myself have replaced and the control arm bolts tend to weld themselves in there over time and we were forced to break out the big guns. No impact, air hammer, or heat could remove the bolt, so we ended up sawing the bolt off and replacing it with a new one. Honestly, since you’re replacing the arms, what’s a few more dollars to know you have brand new hardware?
We can’t thank BD Diesel Performance enough in getting involved with this build as its definitely lengthen the life of the Ram’s front end by plenty of years. For more information about these parts and to get your set coming, be sure and check out their website. Stay tuned to Diesel Army for the latest and greatest in diesel performance.
