Who has experience with DT Profab?

[GJStringert]

Hello all,

I think some of you kind of know me but since I haven't filled out my signature yet... Truck is a 1997 Dodge 2500 12 valve, with a 6" Fabtech long arm lift.

I'm in need of some input. I know this "horse" has been absolutely beaten to death on the forums, but tonight I was driving home from an antelope hunting trip (on the highway, truck stayed parked all weekend, hasn't been off road in probably a month), and while merging onto the freeway I hit a little bump, and for the first time since I bought my truck, I had some pretty gnarly death wobble. Where it got insane is when I pulled over and had a look under the truck and saw my track bar drop bracket broke off the frame, basically leaving me with no steering (a fully locked left turn of the wheel barely moves the tires out of straight, it's actually quite comical). $175 in towing later, I'm left pretty mad... I am coming to find out that these "kit" suspension systems aren't really tailored to those who actually use their trucks.

Anyway, even though it is a long arm kit, it doesn't flex that well, especially with the sway bars detached (the control arms have bushings at each end, they tend to bind). Even though this is counterintuitive, I had been toying with switching to radius arms, and I stumbled on DT Profab. They seem to make a pretty nice radius arm kit with ballistic joints that can misalign quite nicely, I'm liking the look of those. Further, now that the track bar is trashed, I'm tinkering with the idea of ordering a whole bunch of stuff from them and just killing the front end issues in this truck once and for all. I originally wanted to wait several years to do this (because it's going to hurt my wallet for sure...) but now I'm left with not much of a choice.

So here's what I'm thinking for a good bulletproof front end:

DT Track bar and bracket

DT Heavy Duty Steering (I'm STILL on the stock Y-link)

Steering box brace

Long-radius arm upgrade?? (hella expensive)

ball joints??

The final ingredient would be Dynatrac free-spin hubs, but I just can't justify spending that much right now.

I'm writing this fueled by frustration and a bit of puckered fear from earlier (I mowed down a mile marker sign on the shoulder doing about 45), so please forgive me if I sound like I've gone completely off the deep end. This is the second major repair I'll have to do in the last 3 weeks just to make my truck streetable (I just dropped $1300 on brakes and Unit bearings 2 weeks ago, good old unit bearings...)

Anyway, I guess, in conclusion, who has experience with any of the aforementioned DT-Profab parts, or DT in general? Anybody that has experience with the second gen Dodge front end feel free to chime in too!

Thanks for the help all,

Graham

 

[toddz69]

Ping crawler#976 on this board - he has some of Dave's products on his Power Wagon.

I've known Dave for nearly 3 decades now but haven't used anything more substantial than fabbed tabs from his "Tab Zone" line of products. The small items I've used have been quality products.

Todd Z.

 

[KK6OUD]

I have a buddy that has that kit on the front of his 2nd gen CTD. Spent a nice long 4 day stretch in that truck, with the weight he carries, it handles very well and has be very reliable. I will check with him and see if he has anything to add. It has been on his truck for 4 years now and it see both street and dezert use as his daily driver/off road race team chase, service truck.

 

[GJStringert]

Thanks you guys. I'm really REALLY wishing I'd have done some more research when I started building this truck because there's just parts of this lift kit that seem inherently unsafe (like how the instructions say to stack the included 2" block on top of the existing block and U-bolt the whole crazy thing together. jeez!). I will say I'm a bit disappointed, I installed a 3" Fabtech coilover kit in my brother's Tacoma and it seems like a really nice piece. I guess I just got stuck with the lower end of Fabtech?

Anyway, I've been reading a bunch of reviews online and people seem to really like DT Profab (can't believe I haven't heard of them until just a while ago), so I ordered one of their track bar kits and a steering box brace. Their HD steering sets are on backorder right now, but as soon as they're available I'm ordering one of those as well. No more front end woes for this 2nd gen owner...

I'll post some pictures or something when I get the stuff and install it, hoping maybe I can do that before the weekend.

 

[pappawheely]

I have used their tabs and am very happy with their products. I too know the owner of the company and can vouch for him being a stand up guy that is very knowledgeable and capable.

 

[Darwin]

I don't own anything by DT but I have thought about getting their control arms, I hear the bushings have lifetime replacement guarantee. I own a 2nd gen ram and that said, I would probably consider a few other manufactures for your parts. I like the DOR (Dodge Offraod) track bar and also steering gear box brace. For steering, I would look at either DOR over DT, or even Extreme Overkill Fabrication non crossover steering with EMF rod ends designed for dodge taper or drill yours out. The upgraded 99 dodge HD steering is also not a bad upgrade overstock, and easy to install. I would probably skip the radius arm unless you want to keep your 6 inch lift. I really like my Thuren soft ride springs 2 inch with 34 or 35 inch tires, but I have 3.55 gears. Dodgetrucksxtreme index forum has a lot of information also.

 

[Martyn]

We use DT for fabrication. They are a very solid company to deal with. All of their products are designed in Solidworks, laser cut, and computerized bent. Dave from DT has a desert racing background and he knows the Dodge trucks like the back of his hand. All of their product are well thought out and durable. I think you'll be happy with their product.

 

[Regcabguy]

DT products are held in good regard by the Dodge guys.
Regarding the dw,have your tires rebalanced and hover over the guy until they are "zero'd" out.
The Dodge's can be real sensitive to BFG's,especially 315 D range.

 

[GJStringert]

This is all good to hear, thanks all. The tire thing is a whole other story, I'm currently running 3 315/75 Toyo Open Countries and 1 315/75 Falken Rocky Mountain, all range E. I picked up a razor blade in a tire that was too large to patch, and Discount didn't carry Toyos so I just told them to put a same size/same range tire on, needed the truck for work. This was about 12K miles ago! Both FRONT tires are Toyos so I'm guessing that shouldn't contribute to the DW as badly. Doesn't look THAT haggard... I've got about 15K left on this set of tires then some 37" Kumho MTs are going (at least that's what I'm thinking).

Anyhow, yes, I'll have an alignment done once this new hardware is installed so I was planning on throwing a balance in there too. Really appreciate you guys taking time to help me out!

 

[chet6.7]

Someone mentioned DOR,I suggest you look on a couple of forums before ordering from them.I have seen a number of posts complaining about very long delivery times,"I got my Parts today 15 weeks lol"

 

[coastal616]

Did you look into Carli Suspension? I debated it with inferior slightly cheaper kits for a month or so for my ford. I bought the cheaper kit with bilsteins, I can always upgrade the shocks later, but I have the probably the best system available that is proven to be reliable and can be beat on safely.

 

[GJStringert]

Have I looked into Carli suspension?? But of course! I love the Carli stuff, but MAN it is pricey. It also seems to be taylored more towards the 3rd gen guys (at least their 6" stuff), and even though people like to hate on the high altitude rigs, I really just like having the truck 6" instead of just 3", which I think, is the only bolt on stuff Carli sells.

That said, I swant my 6" of lift to be usable, and not just for show. I never want to give the impression that my truck is a pavement princess, and like I mentioned, I'm coming to find out my Fabtech stuff doesn't like to flex too well without binding. It flexes ENOUGH, but I've caught the bug and want more. I also want it to be reliable, not more busted track bar brackets!

So on this topic, I'll give an update: I did end up going completely over board and I've decided, since I'm no longer running the Fabtech rear lift (swapped the blocks for a shackle flip and new shocks a while ago), I'm going to take all the Fabtech front stuff off and sell itto a friend, whose truck sees more street use that dirt. In addition to the DT track bar and steering box stabilizer, I ordered the DT radius arms with ballistic joints, a set of Bisltein 5100 front shocks (nice 11" travel), and some Thuren 6" coils (which they said were really for third gens but will fit mine just fine). The final ingredient will be some camburg straps, which I'm thinking are going to be around 22" long, but I'm going to get the front end all put together first and measure it at ride height/droop/bump to see what I'll need for sure. I DON'T plan on getting the truck airborne, but truthfully, if I'm building a suspension like this I figure it's probably good insurance for later when I can afford some Thuren King 2.5s or something!

My trackbar and steering box brace will be here tonight, I'm planning to have those installed by Sunday, so I can at least drive my truck again. Once all the other stuff gets here I'll take a weekend and fix my suspension for good.

 

[crawler#976]

I can highly recommend DT Profab's products and consider Dave a top notch fabricator. It can be hard to get him on the phone - he's building products, so the online store is your best bet. If you leave a message he will return the call.

 

[GJStringert]

New stuff is on!

Thanks Crawler. I'm very pleased with these parts, I just WISH I'd have put them on the first go around! You're right about him being hard to get on the phone though... Real nice fit and finish, bolts right up, I'm VERY impressed.

Here's a few pictures for those interested:

Getting the really big stud on the sector shaft. MAN that thing was tight.



And here it is almost finished. Steering brace, new track bar drop bracket and track bar (painted it copper to add a little flare, there's too much black on this truck haha!).



This is how I centered the axle. I just bungeed some 2x4s to the wheels and adjusted the track bar until the measurements to the fender were roughly the same. And I mean I got it CLOSE, about 1/16th difference between the two.



The instructions said to get it in the air and droop the axle out in order to center it, but I actually had a very easy time doing it this way. I was able to do the steering brace and trackbar without ever even removing the tires (I kind of just let the steering hold the axle in place while I was under there, notice in the first picture how the track bar is already detached.)

Anyway, thanks again for the advice guys. Thuren coils will be here tomorrow and the DT radius arms should be shortly behind, another write-up will probably follow.

Take it easy!
Graham

 

[pappawheely]

Very nice!