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A little update:
With continued building, I've managed to let the weight of the van get out of hand. I scaled it on my way to Hillsboro and it was 9150#, all in.
I was on my way to A.J.'s for some upgrades when I weighed it. A.J.'s replaced the springs (heavier), added air bags, and replaced the radius arm mounts and track bar set-up with their new design. Art knew we were in the middle of a trip, so the crew worked through lunch and got us in and out in 5 hours.
The radius arm mounts drop the pivot point 2" for better caster adjustment. The track bar is the new F350 style, which raises the roll center and reduces bump steer.
The difference is amazing. Raised the front ride height, don't need the sway bar now, corners and tracks great. Ran through some fairly rough roads and water bars and the off-road ride and flex are greatly improved.
So, was this a repair of a bad build? Not really. I increased the weight by more than 1500# since the original build. The springs were already pretty light, and I overloaded them a bunch. The redesign on the radius arm mounts and track bar geometry came from customer feedback (I'm one of the folks that provided feedback on this).
How about business practices? Well let's start with it's been over a year since the original build. As I said, the crew worked through lunch to get us turned as quick as possible. I paid for the airbags, which were an addition, and labor for all the other part swapping. That labor charge was very reasonable.
Again, I have no sponsorship or affiliation other than as a customer. With that being said, I am content doing business with A.J.'s.
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2006 Ford E350
Linear Mode
