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1995 Dodge Ram 1500 Skyjacker Suspension - Four Wheeler Magazine

1995 Dodge Ram 1500 Skyjacker Suspension - Higher Rambitions

Ken Brubaker Senior Editor, Four Wheeler 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 front View Photo 17469274

When Dodge introduced the redesigned Ram in 1994, the truck was a radical departure from its competition at the time. The new pickup was a combination of unique big-rig and aerodynamic styling that set it apart in a big way. This new Ram hit the truck-buying public right between the eyes and the result was that Dodge's market share in the fullsize pickup market tripled. This second-generation Ram 1500 had an impressive run and it continued in production through 2001 before it was redesigned.

Aside from styling there were/are a lot of things to like about the four-wheel-drive Ram--its coil-sprung solid front axle being one of the big ones. This setup offered a great ride and it was durable and easy to lift. Today used Rams are in demand and there is still great aftermarket support.

1995 Dodge Ram 1500 suspension Kit Parts Photo 17469280

Here is the 5-inch Skyjacker kit prepped and ready for installation. There are a number of options for this kit, but we ordered ours with single shocks at each wheel and with the replacement rear leaf-spring packs. Since our rig was getting up in years we also opted for the Skyjacker adjustable track bar.

For this reason we wanted to illustrate how one of these rigs can be easily modified to better handle off-highway travel. We started with a bone-stock '95 Ram 1500 that had spent its entire life near our Four Wheeler Midwest Bureau doing thankless chores around the farm. Even though it has low miles, it wears the battle scars of a hard life, including dents from a jackknifed trailer incident. We wanted to improve the truck's functionality while not killing its ability to work. Hence we opted for a 5-inch Skyjacker Single Flex suspension lift that would allow us to fit a set of meaty 315/75R16 Mickey Thompson MTZ Radial tires on 10-inch-wide Mickey Thompson Classic Lock wheels.

For this story we actually got to work with a shop we've never worked with before and that was exciting. Forreston Auto Body in Forreston, Illinois, completed the install. Don't let the name fool you. The team at Forreston Auto Body has a history of installing four-wheel-drive suspensions and accessories. You can read more about them in the accompanying sidebar.

So how does the Skyjacker kit do what it does? How did the suspension of our 14-year-old Rust Belt truck react to being disassembled? What do we think of the Mickey Thompson tires and wheels? Read on.

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PhotosView Slideshow

1. Thanks to all the Midwest salty winters, the underneath of our Ram was a tad corroded. We figured every bolt would be a battle, but interestingly even though it looked scary, most everything disassembled just fine. The installation of new parts began with the new lower links, which mount at the factory lower-link locations. Here you can see the passenger-side link installed. At the frame, the links we used feature polyurethane bushings and at the axle they use spherical rod ends to improve flex.

2. New brackets are used at the axle to mount the forward ends of the new upper links. The brackets fit over the OEM mounts. As per the Skyjacker instructions, we had to enlarge one of the holes on each side of the OEM mounts for the new hardware.

3. Here's how the new passenger-side relocating bracket looked installed.

4. The upper links are similar to the lowers in that the rearward ends that mount to the frame use poly bushings, while the forward ends use a spherical rod end. Here you can see the passenger upper link installed. The instructions note that it's important when installing all of the links to make sure the grease zerks on the front of the links are pointing out the end and the zerks at the rear of the links are pointing up.

5. Our original track bar wasn't showing signs of wear, but considering its age, and since we were under the truck anyway, we decided to install a new Skyjacker adjustable track bar. The install began with the new track-bar mount. It uses four mounting points. The bolt shown installs after an existing hole in the rear of the crossmember is drilled all the way through. The other bolt on the driver side (hidden behind the installer's hand) utilizes an existing hole.

6. The new track-bar mount has two more mounting points. The mounting point on the very end uses an existing hole while the other requires a new hole to be drilled using a -inch bit. The oil pan is directly above the area being drilled, so it's important to protect the pan during drilling.

7. The factory sway-bar bracket needs to be clearanced slightly for the new Skyjacker track bar. The instructions include a template that is used as a guide. The material below the line shown in this image is removed.

8. Here is the track bar as it is being bolted into place. It is designed to fit 4- to 7-inch lift heights. Lateral adjustments to the front axle are made using the cam bolt at the frame. The track bar can also be shortened by up to 1/2 inch if need be. We had to shorten ours and you can read about that a little further in the story.

9. A pair of new coil springs are included with the kit and for our application they are specific to the driver side and passenger side of the vehicle. The stock rubber isolators are reused. In this photo you can see Forreston Auto Body technician Dave Weegens feeding the passenger-side Skyjacker Hydro shock absorber into the coil spring from underhood as general manager Marty Alich guides the shock to its lower mounting point.

PhotosView Slideshow 10. At first glance the new Skyjacker pitman arm looks just like the stock arm, but a closer inspection of the arm reveals a reverse taper. This taper allows the drag link to be mounted on the bottom of the arm instead of the top, which helps it compensate for the increased suspension lift.

10. At first glance the new Skyjacker pitman arm looks just like the stock arm, but a closer inspection of the arm reveals a reverse taper. This taper allows the drag link to be mounted on the bottom of the arm instead of the top, which helps it compensate for the increased suspension lift.

11. This photo shows the new pitman-arm bolt being tightened on the sector shaft. In the foreground the new Skyjacker steering stabilizer is visible. We opted for a single steering stabilizer but a dual is also available. Installation of the stabilizer is pretty straightforward, though it is repositioned slightly to eliminate downward stress on the drag link. A pair of front sway-bar drop-down brackets and a pair of new poly bumpstops round out the major new front suspension components.

12. Skyjacker notes that it's important to cycle the steering and check clearance between the sway-bar end-link mounts at the front base of the coil springs and the drag-link tie-rod assembly. We had some contact between the drag link and the base of the passenger-side coil-spring mount.

13. A little bit of grinding provided the clearance needed for the drag link to travel unrestricted.

14. Rear lift is accomplished via new leaf-spring packs. The first step in removing the old rusty spring packs was to cut the factory U-bolts off with a grinder. The next step is to remove the spring packs, but before that can be done the fuel tank must be loosened and carefully slid toward the center of the vehicle so the forward spring-eye bolt on the driver side can be accessed. Naturally, our well-weathered truck had rusty fuel-tank straps that disintegrated when the technicians tried to remove them. This necessitated ordering a new $63 set from Chrysler.

15. We had new spring-eye bolts on hand in case any or all of our six had to be destroyed during the removal process. A word of warning: These bolts are expensive. We paid $21.70 for each bolt, but fortunately all of our bolts were removed without a problem so we could return the pricey new ones.

16. Once the old leaf springs were out of the Ram, it was just a matter of swapping the factory shackles to the new Skyjacker leaf springs. With that done, Alich installed the new springs using the factory blocks and the new Skyjacker U-bolts.

17. Here's the finished rear suspension with the new Hydro shocks. In addition to what you see here, the kit also contains a driver-side brakeline relocation bracket.

18. We chose to run a set of 315/75R16 Mickey Thompson MTZ radial tires. We chose the MTZs because we really like this mud terrain's inherent ability to bite into surfaces that would leave other tires spinning. They have what Mickey Thompson calls "Power Ply sidewalls," which have a special angled third ply that gives high-performance handling, better puncture resistance, and improved towing capability. We'll appreciate the self-cleaning, high-void tread lugs, which we expect will give us great traction in mud and snow--standard fare here in the Midwest.

19. Our Ram rolled on 15-inch wheels, but we chose to upgrade to 16-inch because we intend on installing bigger brakes. We opted for 10-inch-wide Mickey Thompson Classic Lock wheels. They're a handsome wheel and they're easy to clean. They come with valve stems, chrome center caps, and a polished ring. We're big fans of the beadlock look and these wheels are some of the most realistic beadlock-looking wheels out there. We chose to upgrade to a black ring, and we think the whole package looks great.

20. Earlier we mentioned that the new adjustable Skyjacker track bar can be shortened up by inch to facilitate the lateral adjustment of the front axle. The team at Forreston Auto Body had to remove this amount using a chop saw in order to correctly place the front axle. Here you can see the internal threads of the track bar before the bar was trimmed.

21. One of the many cool things about Forreston Auto Body is that they can do alignments in-house. One of the benefits of this is that if a problem is encountered during alignment (like a bad tie-rod end or ball joint), most often the problem can be quickly fixed in-house. They reported that our Ram aligned beautifully. With that, the installation was complete.

Before

Bottom Line
The new links and track bar definitely contributed to improved handling, and on-center feel is outstanding. Before the install, the truck had a tendency to wander, but that is now gone. Overall we're very happy with how the truck drives and we can say it has noticeably improved. The ride has stiffened a bit, but no surprise there. Traction is now dramatically improved as well, thanks to the MTZs. At the time of this install, northern Illinois roads were covered in patchy snow and ice and we've noticed absolutely no weirdness transitioning from one to the other at highway speed. We're pretty happy with how our truck looks, too.

After

As is the case with all tire size increases, the added mass and weight has us thinking about bigger brakes for when we pull trailers. We're also needing a new drop hitch. Oh, and maybe some kind of retractable steps. Before the install there were aluminum steps on the rig (they had to be removed after the lift due to front tire contact). Stock, the step-in height with the aluminum steps was 16 inches, but now is 30.5 inches, which makes for some high-steppin' to get in and out of the rig. It's a small price to pay for the great ground clearance increase though.

So what did it cost? At the time of this writing the Skyjacker kit we installed had an MSRP of $2,521 including the track-bar kit. The four MTZ tires and wheels had an MSRP of $2,018 including the black ring upgrade. Installation and alignment for our specific truck at Forreston Auto Body totaled approximately $700. Grand total: approximately $5,239.

By the Numbers
Our goals for this project included improving our Ram's overall ground clearance as well as approach and departure angles. The following chart shows that we succeeded in accomplishing those goals.

Measurement Stock Modified Change Ground to trailer hitch 16.75 in 23.5 in +40% Ground to front bumper 17.0 in 24.875 in +46% Ground to front differential 8.125 in 10.75 in +32% Ground to rear differential 7.5 in 10.25 in +37% Ground to transmission crossmember 12.75 in 20.5 in +61% Angle of approach 33 deg 43 deg +30% Angle of departure 25 deg 30 deg +20% 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 forreston Auto Body Photo 17469430

1995 Dodge Ram 1500 forreston Auto Body Photo 17469430

About Forreston Auto Body
Forreston Auto Body has been around for more than 40 years. They're situated, as their name implies, in Forreston, Illinois. Forreston is a small quaint town about 25 miles southwest of Rockford, Illinois. Like we said earlier, don't let the name lead you to believe they're only a body shop. Sure, they can handle everything from crash damage to complete restorations, but this stunningly clean family-owned business is also a one-stop shop for sales and installation of everything from work-truck equipment to trailer hitches and wiring to vinyl graphics to, obviously, suspension lift kits. General manager Marty Alich is a wheeler from way back. As a matter of fact, we photographed his '90 Chevy pickup for a feature in 1995.

Body Chassis Transmission Drivetrain Electrical Engine Suspension Brakes Wheels Tires Tech QA

1995 Dodge Ram 1500 Skyjacker Suspension - Four Wheeler Magazine

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