New FOX Remote Reservoir Shocks Take the Spring Out of Our Step.
After reading about the rear suspension build on our Project Desert Ranger it is time to tell you if it was worth it. All I have to say is HECK YEAH!!!
1st Run
We drove home after being at Woolworth Motorsports all day and going home we have 2 choices. We can take the paved road, or the dirt road guess which one we choose?
It was 12:30 at night and I flicked on the HIDs and hit the dirt. Previously heading down this dirt road I could do about 30 to 35 mph, this time however we hit 50mph and we were out running the HIDs (they are pencil beams, we need a new bumper to hold 2 more lights). I was so amped after that it took me 3 or 4 hours to finally go to sleep.
The next day we decided to see how the truck would perform with a little more light. We packed the camera equipment and headed behind our house to the desert. The desert behind us is made up of mostly clay. After the last rains we had and everyone else going, Mud Bogging the trail leading out was rutted like you would not believe, still we could maintain a higher speed than before. This gave us an idea of what we were in for.
Finally making it to the open land, heading down a trail we like before hitting the California border we came across a bump if you will. After driving over it I quickly stopped, and asked my friend to get out and shoot some pics. I was going to jump this bump.
I dropped my friend off and headed back to get a running start. I started slow just to test what the truck would do. It floated over easily. Time for more speed. I hit it harder now about 45mph and I felt the truck leave the ground. I turned around and hit it about 50mph and it went even higher.
One of the things I noticed from the pics is that it looks like I am barely off the ground. Well the Dixon Front kit has so much droop travel, it seems to have counter-acted the trucks ability to leave the ground completely. Yes we could have hit it at 60, but this is still my daily driver and I did not want to take a chance at getting stuck in the middle of no where.
Overall I am very happy with the results. The next step is either a conventional bed cage, or if we can work out the math, we would like to experiment with a cantilever system.
If you have been reading our magazine for a while you will know this is not the last you see of our Project Desert Ranger. As with every project, are they ever really finished?
2nd Run
