A lower base price and a smoother ride are a couple of the attractive benefits that the new breed of 1/2-ton pickup trucks have over their 3/4- and 1-ton cousins. Unfortunately, these lighter-duty trucks often sport less four-wheel-friendly stats. For instance, the '05 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab shortbox 4x4 has 5.4 degrees less approach angle, 2.2 degrees less departure angle, and 6.1 degrees less ramp breakover angle than the same-model Ram 2500. Further, the Ram 1500 is equipped with IFS and the Ram 2500 has a solid front axle, so this is one of the reasons why the Ram 1500 has 3.3 inches less front ground clearance.
This is where a good aftermarket suspension kit comes in. It allows you to improve your 1/2-ton's vital four-wheeling specs, while still retaining the smooth ride of your IFS rig. To illustrate this, we trucked on over to Attitude Performance in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and installed Fabtech Motorsports' new 6-inch performance suspension system under an '05 Ram 1500. The result of our seven hours of labor is a Ram that's ready for the trail with better approach, departure, and breakover angles than a comparable stock Ram 2500.
 1. These are the contents...  1. These are the contents of the Fabtech 6-inch performance suspension system. Fabtech says that this kit will allow you to fit a minimum of 315/70R17 tires on a 17x8 wheel with 4.5-inch backspacing. |  2. New differential-mount...  2. New differential-mount bracketry extends the differential assembly from the stock location. |  3. A special tool is required...  3. A special tool is required to press the two factory lower control-arm bushings out of the frame. This tool (shown) is available from Miller Tool Company and costs approximately $180. These bushings can be removed without the tool, but it can add a significant amount of time to the installation. These factory bushings are replaced with aluminum frame inserts, which allow the new rear Fabtech crossmember to attach to the stock mounting locations. |
 4. The kit requires some cutting...  4. The kit requires some cutting of the frame and some grinding of the front lower control-arm pockets. Directions for these steps are outlined in the instructions. Here you can see the new front crossmember installed in the vehicle. Immediately below it you can see the new rear crossmember with its preinstalled vulcanized rubber lower control-arm bushings. |  5. Extended-length cast-iron...  5. Extended-length cast-iron steering knuckles are standard with the kit, and they're offset to allow use of the stock tires and wheels. The stock hub bearings are simply transferred from the stock aluminum steering knuckles to the Fabtech units before installation. The long Fabtech knuckle design means that only the lower control arms are relocated-the upper control arms remain in the factory location in the factory mounts. |  6. The kit comes with new...  6. The kit comes with new tie-rod ends to compensate for the change in steering knuckles. The Fabtech kit requires no rack-and-pinion relocation. |