Truckin Tech The ’0 4 Super Duty Blues
- TRUCKIN.COM [6 4 ] OCTOBER 2019 -
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- Speaking of black
wheels, we chose
a modern classic
from Fuel Off-Road
in the form of the
20x9 Vector. It has a
+1 offset to keep the
wheels mostly under
the fender lips. - The General Tire
Grabber X3 provides
just enough of the
aggressive look we
wanted with plenty
of road manners,
in the 37X13.50R20
size we needed. - We showed up to Atlas Suspension, and,
within minutes, the truck was on the lift with
the old wheels removed. We tore into the
stock suspension, beginning with the tie-rod
ends, which needed a little persuasion. - Since it was all being replaced, we removed
the steering system in one big piece. The
steering stabilizer was long gone after it got
bent to oblivion during an off-road excursion. - Next, the calipers and stock rotors
were removed. - Soon, we were reattaching the knuckles
to the axlehousing and reinstalling the axle
shafts and hubs.
- The hub was disassembled and unbolted
from the knuckle. Then the axle was slid out
behind it. - It’s tempting to skip the ball joints on these
trucks because they’re a lot of work to get
to, which is why we knocked them out first.
It took a little persuasion to break the ball
joints free. - it’s not the fastest process, but from here
it was simply a matter of pressing out the old
ball joints and pressing in the new ones. - The EBC anodized rotors were set
in place, and the factory calipers were
loaded up with EBC’s Orange Stuff brake
pads, which work great in heavy-duty
applications like this. - We assembled the entire steering
assembly on the floor, being careful to set the
lengths as close to the old stuff as possible.
This would keep the alignment close enough
to get to the tire shop the next day. First the
Moog tie rod was bolted up to the dropped
pitman arm left over from the old Icon kit. You
can also see the dropped track rod bracket we
would be reusing.