{"product_id":"extended-control-arms-carli-ram-2nd-gen-mild-steel-14mm-16mm-1998-5-02","title":"Extended Control Arms Carli Ram, 2nd Gen, Mild Steel 14mm\/16mm, 1998.5-02","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 1994-2012 Ram 2500\/3500 features a 5-Link front suspension.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis link system comprises upper and lower control arms to hold the axle fore\/aft while the track bar serves as the lateral link to minimize lateral shift.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen lifting the front end of a straight axle truck, you’re essentially pushing the axle further away from the frame at ride-height.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the travel is not perfectly linear, the new ride height will set the front axle off-center unless the proper linkages are addressed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe systems designed for these trucks range from 2.5″-3″ of front lift.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThree inches of front lift equates to an axle shifted toward the driver’s side ¾” and back toward the cab ½”.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlthough this is perfectly operable when the factory control arms and track bar are in good condition, the purchase of an adjustable track bar is recommended to shift the axle back toward the passenger side and provide a stronger link with less deflection for the lifted application, along with a set of extended control arms to shift the axle forward to its new center of travel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe construction of these arms starts with 0.120″ Box Steel mated to in-house machined joint-cups.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe mild-steel center sections are welded inboard of center to offset the link as far from the tire as possible for optimal tire clearance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe joints are a point of pride.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a market abundant with hat-bushing and crush sleeve equipped arms, the spherical bearing arms are leaps ahead of the competition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs described above, the travel of the ram’s front axle is non-linear.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt travels up and down and back and forth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a non-issue for a standard 3-piece hat bushing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe problem lies in the substantial lateral shift of the axle due to the track-bar design.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis side-to-side movement falls outside the operating range of hat bushings meant for a linear load, effectively hot-spotting and egging out the bushing hole as they bind when the axle articulates.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe answer is a spherical joint design allowing far more lateral misalignment in addition to the up and down\/fore \u0026amp; aft movement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the heart of the joint assembly, you’ll find an in-house machined 17-4 Stainless ball center.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is surrounded by Proprietary Bushings \u0026amp; Joint Washers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe assembly is preloaded into the cup and retained with a snap-ring.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA zerk fitting is added for ease of servicing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver the years, a lot has been learned about bushings.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally, Currie Johnny Joints were used.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlthough they were high-quality joints and better than anything on the market at the time, there was room for improvement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll Ball Centers are machined in-house from 17-4 Stainless bar-stock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a much more corrosion-resistant material in addition to being higher strength.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhere stress fractures were seen in the Currie joints at the Ram torque specs, the Stainless ball center took without issue.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile designing them, the opportunity was taken to oversize the mating surfaces for the most contact area to the control arm frame\/axle mounts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey’re substantially larger than the Currie and 0.050″ oversized from even a factory control arm.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNext, a project was undertaken with Energy Suspension to design new bushings for the ball centers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Currie were great quality but often difficult to grease.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt wasn’t uncommon to need to articulate the truck to line the zerk fitting port with the split in the bushings.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe new, RED bushings have grease channels engineered into all surfaces to ensure easy greasing and proper grease migration.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFurther, they’re not interlocked like the old bushings, allowing more room for grease and easier joint articulation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Carli Suspension","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51722028122394,"sku":"CLICS-CA-MS16-94","price":923.21,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/8942\/8506\/files\/51zZX1OGeiL_58b3c715-111e-43da-a36e-3a48bfc9f81d.jpg?v=1771614892","url":"https:\/\/trybeepbeep.com\/products\/extended-control-arms-carli-ram-2nd-gen-mild-steel-14mm-16mm-1998-5-02","provider":"TryBeepbeep","version":"1.0","type":"link"}