As much as I wanted my truck to be done and ready to drive three months ago, I'm really glad we took the time and finished this truck the right way. I've owned Jinxy for thirteen years, and after waiting this long, it would be dumb to rush to complete the build. This is the end-the final build for this '94 Dodge! Sure, I may try a different tire or something in the future, but this truck for the most part is going to be a driver and play toy from here on out. Jinxy's ongoing project truck status is quickly coming to an end.
But before it's over, I still have to get some spiffy new red paint thrown on it, finish up some miscellaneous wiring, test the suspension to make sure the shock valving is correct, and give the truck a good shakedown run. New exhaust has to be made as well since the upper suspension links in Off Road Evolution's front four-link were going to get into the old exhaust routing when the suspension compresses. It sounds pretty good with open headers actually, but I'm not sure I'd last more than a day before the fuzz nailed me for a noise violation.
This month Off Road Evolution finished up all the final welds and last little pieces on the suspension, sent out all the suspension links and bumpers to be powderocated a textured anthracite, and we added some neat goodies to make off-roading trips just that much better.
Off-Road Evolution has done an incredible job (and had incredible patience) with Jinxy's build, and I'd just like to say thanks again for finishing up the red truck that was never quite done. I can't wait to hop in it and spend a bunch of hours behind the wheel driving north towards Canada.
In a couple months, I'll touch back on this truck after it's been on a couple off-roading trips, and we'll let you know how it's working out....
 When everything was finally...  When everything was finally buttoned up on the suspension, it came out beautifully. The final driver side upper link mount was bridged from axle tube to axle tube over the centersection. Most axle centersections are cast units that are generally a bad idea to weld to...... |  ......Off Road Evolution added...  ......Off Road Evolution added a bump pad to the bridge for the driver side Fox 2.5-inch hydraulic bumpstop to tap out on. The passenger side bump pad stands by itself off the axle tube...... |  ......We ordered bumpstop...  ......We ordered bumpstop cans from McKenzie's Performance Products and cut the boxed frame to weld the bumpstop cans directly in the frame. Off Road Evolution cycled the suspension with and without the coilovers in place to make sure to get the correct height of the McKenzie's bumpstop cans before burning them in place...... |
 ......You want the hydraulic...  ......You want the hydraulic bumpstops to max out before the shocks do, and the best way to do this is to put them in place, release the nitrogen out of the shocks and bumpstops, and compress the suspension to make sure everything lines up correctly. |  If we had stuck with a separate...  If we had stuck with a separate coil and shock, we might have been able to get away without running a sway bar. But with a dual rate coilover setup, a front suspension can lean over to one side and stay compressed on the lighter coil spring. Therefore, a high-quality sway bar like this Speedway Engineering 1.25-inch sway bar is necessary to keep the truck stable and level when cornering...... |  ......I ordered a 36-inch,...  ......I ordered a 36-inch, 1.25-inch hollow bar with a 0.188-inch wall. Length, thickness, and overall diameter affect a sway bar's rate. Since a sway bar's rate is much more affected by the overall diameter than the thickness of the metal, this hollow 1.25-inch bar has almost double the rate of a solid 1-inch bar.
Off Road Evolution put nut inserts into the front frame rails so the sway bar's bronze bushing-equipped pillow blocks could be bolted directly on the frame..... |
 .......We ordered straight,...  .......We ordered straight, unbent arms for the 48-spline Speedway sway bar. These steel arms can be welded to, drilled, or even cut down or bent if necessary for fitment. The arms of the sway bar have to be long enough to not let the sway bar axle links fold backwards when the suspension is drooped out. |  For the rear-mounted winch,...  For the rear-mounted winch, I had borrowed a friend's Warn XD9000 winch to mock up the bumper, so I naturally ordered the same XD9000 to fit up under the bed. Warn does not recommend mounting a winch upside down, but if you have to do so for fitment reasons, be sure to run the winch after getting it wet to dry out the motor...... |  ......To keep weight to a...  ......To keep weight to a minimum behind the rear axle, I added Master Pull's Superline winch rope instead of the XD9000's standard cable. Not only does this drop around 40 pounds, it also is a much safer way to winch. I had a winch cable pass near my torso at about 200 mph recently, so I'm a big believer in winch line safety now...... |
 ......The Superline rope we...  ......The Superline rope we got from Master Pull is a 5/16-inch rope with a 21,000-pound load rating-obviously more than enough for our 9,000-pound capacity Warn winch. The Superline has sheathing around it near the hook for protection against sharp edges and the fairlead,..... |  ......but it also has the...  ......but it also has the same sheathing at the opposite end so the first full wind of the rope against the spool has sheathing around it. Winches spools get extremely hot, plus they can be slightly abrasive, so protecting this first wind of the rope around the spool is a great idea. | |