Checking Interest (CI): *Correct* Lowering Blocks For SRT-10 trucks

Hey folks.

After finding out that ALL lowering kits for the SRT-10 are so poorly engineered with questionable (at best) materials and components, I've decided to have *CORRECT* lowering blocks machined.

The blocks are going to be SOLID 6061 T-6 billet aluminum, MACHINED (not extruded) to proper OEM specs and for a PERFECT fit.
These are also designed so that the rear suspension components align correctly and work properly (unlike every single other lowering kit out there).

These will ONLY work with SRT-10 rear ends. They will NOT work on regular Ram trucks.

And for those that require the bling-bling, the blocks will all come with "SRT-10" *machined* into each side!
If you want something custom machined into the sides, let me know and I'll see what we can do for this test run.

I will have a price estimate per pair next week, but.....the more interest I see, the more blocks I'll cut and the lower the price will get.

Size Options:
1.5"
2"
3"
4"

My plan right now is to do (1) pr. of each size except the 3".

I do not want to become a vendor, so if these get past the "one-off" status, the blocks will be offered through a SRT-C-approved vendor.

(I am NOT doing this for profit. I am doing this to help fellow SRT-10 owners that have or want to lower their rears do it correctly and so that their suspension works as it should. I only want to get costs covered and I will gladly pay for my own set of blocks.)

Please post here or send me a PM or email (kevan[at]jemfest[dot]com) with your commitment and what size block you would like.

Thanks!

 

Kevin..I have Xmetal's 1/2 lowering kit...what will your kit do for me?

 

Larry- check your PM's.

Jeez Larry.
Are you and I the only 2 SRT-10 owners here?

 

I got your PM Kevin....will give you a call tomorrow...have company here and have just been jumping in and out.............lack of response may be due to the VTCOA SE GTG....

 

hmmmm What kind of cost are we talking about? How many of the 3" will you do?

What about the longer U-bolts?

What did you use to drop the fronts?

Thanks Kevin.

 

Larry- cool. Tomorrow will be better for me as well. Right after I left you the PM, the SIM card in my phone sh!t the bed. Over 1000 contacts.....*poof*....gone. The re-build will be fun as hell.

Ron- First off, check with your awesome wife on how to spell my name.
Next, U-bolts are a pretty common item. I'll score a super high-quality source for those and give the specs as well. They're not an expensive part.
I'll pass my info along if a vendor picks up these blocks.

I honestly don't have the price yet, for any of the sizes. The machine shop is ordering the 6061 on Monday, and that will get us closer to a price.
It will be early next week (probably Tues. or Weds.).
Considering that the cheapest lowering kit out there for the SRT-10's is right at $600, this will be WAY under that. It won't include front springs, but....it will include correct gear for the rear.
If anyone is interested in checking out the machine shop I use:
www.exactmachine.com
FANTASTIC place with a very basic website. (They're too busy with my projects to make the site all fancy. LOL)

For my fronts, I took an extra set of OEM springs I had (THANKS FATJACK!!!) and broke out the die grinder. Chopped off 7/8" of height. The spring sits a little odd in it's nest upon initial installation, but eventually settles into a center position with the help of the rubber 'cup' at the top (where I put the cut end of the spring). I've got more than 50 miles on it now, and while the suspension still feels great, the truck is lower by about 1" in the front.

I did NOT remove the front bumpstops or the cups for said bumpstops. As the truck settles, this may need to change. Front bumpstops are available from pretty much any auto parts store, but I'll try to find a cool set for folks from Jeg's or Summit. They have a wide variety and great prices (right around $20-30/set). Same goes for the rear bump stops.

The one problem that I've encountered is alignment, but I'm still working on that.
The first shop did a computer alignment and after the guy set the camber (by yanking on the top of the tire!!!!!), he said it was max'd out at -0.8º (R) and -0.4º (L). Spec is 0.0º for both fronts.
I wasn't so hot on his method of setting camber, so I'm going to a different shop for a 2nd opinion. Why? Well, aside from the entire crew of the shop going from 'cool, calm, professional' to "Hurry and take my picture with the truck!" right before it came off the ramp (I f'ing *knew* that was gonna happen), and after I told the tech that I forgot to bring in the torque specs for the suspension components and he said, "I just do them as tight as I can.", I don't think he got proper movement/adjustability from the upper A-arms to set the camber properly.

On "the other site", some guys have talked about making the mount holes wider in their upper A-arms so that it could be adjusted. I do not believe that is necessary on ALL the trucks. I think it depends a lot on how it was initially built, tire/wheel sets, etc.
I'll know more once I get this 2nd opinion done this coming week.

 

lol Oops. Sowwy Kev"A"n. haha

I would rather change out the spindles. Wonder if there are spindles for our trucks?

Get some pics up of the stance Kevan. Pleeeeeeeeeease.

Thanks for the write up.

 

Nope.
Due to the caliper/rotor size and low production numbers.

Will do.

 

I may be interested.

 

Cool.
What size blocks?

 

Stock front...so I want to level it out some...what size? 2 or 3 inch?

 

PM me with a price for the 2'' and the 3''.

 

500- check your PMs.

Ron- are you on the list for a pair of the 3"? Let me know.

If no one wants any 4", I may not have them done.

 

Hey Kevan............:grin: Ron is a Peckerhead.....:ban: What inspired this I wonder :flowers: You mean to tell me hollow is no good:smart: BTW why post it here and not the SRT-10 section :blush: We have one you know :dumb:

 

The poor quality (and plain "does not work") of the other available lowering kits on the market today.

Hollow is fine, if you work at Hooters.

Because not all SRT-10 owners check the SRT-10 section. This section gets 1073904x the views.
And I hate it when someone posts, "I never saw the thread!!!!!".


I think we're done with all that.
On to the quote from the machine shop....

Of course it all comes down to quantity: the more ordered, the cheaper the individual sets will be.
Here is the basic breakdown for the 1.5" or 2" blocks:

Code:

QUANTITY---DESCRIPTION----UNIT PRICE------AMOUNT------PER VEHICLE
2............ea............$255............$510............[B]$510[/B]
4............ea............$154............$616............[B]$308[/B]
6............ea............$122............$732............[B]$244[/B]
8............ea............$105............$840............[B]$210[/B]
10...........ea............$95.50..........$955............[B]$191[/B]
16...........ea............$81.............$1296...........[B]$162[/B]
20...........ea............$75.75..........$1515...........[B]$151.50[/B]

Now, 3" and 4" blocks are slightly more expensive, but again....quantity rules the road.
Example: Single pr. of 3" blocks would be $522, and a single pr. of 4" blocks would be $546.
Like the chart above, the more we get cut, the cheaper they become per unit.
I would be happy to post the PDF quote from the machine shop if anyone would like to see it. Let me know.

In addition to the blocks, you will probably need U-bolts (unless you already have longer ones from a previous lowering kit).
I'm still working on a good source for those and will get it posted soon.

There's also a threaded stud and a set screw for each block that I'm sourcing over the weekend. It won't be much....just a couple of bucks (or less).

Everything will be Grade 8 or higher if available.
I'm not screwing around with this stuff. There is no "cheaper' version of this.

These can be cut, packaged, and shipped VERY quickly (within a week, or whenever the check clears...heh heh). There is NO WAITING and NO BACKORDER BS.

I will get a CAD drawing up here ASAFP.

If it helps, these are 100% Made In The USA. Machined by guys named Bill and Rob and Derrick who live here in Ohio.
The aluminum is also from the US.

I'm not sure quite how to do the orders for this initial run.
I need a list of COMMITTED people, and the sizes they desire.
I might do some type of a deposit too....just to make sure I don't end up with 10 pr. of 4" blocks.

PM me the quantity and sizes that you want. We'll work it out from there.

THANKS EVERYONE!

 

UPDATED:
We have (2) confirmed pair (Kevan-1.5, Greg-2) so the price is starting to come down.

Code:

QUANTITY---DESCRIPTION----UNIT PRICE------AMOUNT------PER VEHICLE
6............ea............$122............$732............[B]$244[/B]
8............ea............$105............$840............[B]$210[/B]
10...........ea............$95.50..........$955............[B]$191[/B]
16...........ea............$81.............$1296...........[B]$162[/B]
20...........ea............$75.75..........$1515...........[B]$151.50[/B]

THANKS!

 

Well, I got slapped across the face (again) over at the Jack & Tony Show....oops....I mean, the VTCOA for offering these blocks.

It looks like the members here get the exclusive.

 

Looks like there needs to be 10 people buying (me beeing the tenth) so I can afford to get a set...

 

Fair enough.
I will update this thread the minute more information is available.
It *WILL* be sometime this week.

 

If anyone wants to buy these blocks but does not have a truck to put them on.......... I can offer a great deal on a stock '04 silver Reg Cab with 22,000 miles and 9 months left on the factory 3/36 warranty. $20K in s.e. Michigan. It has just under 14,000 miles on it. [email protected]