SRT 10 Boomer Install
Aloha. My friend Patrick owns this awesome truck, a Dodge SRT-10. I've worked on all manner of cars for, well, about a hundred years now. I helped him install this Boomer kit and thought I would post a few thoughts and photo's for anyone who might want a little information on the install. Nothing fancy.
* Overall *
Great results, the truck looks very good with this reduced and balanced stance. Faster quarter mile times? Don't know yet. Drag races are next weekend. :-)
This is not a hard install, but it is not easy either. You will need a few special tools. You will need to allow 5 - 7 hours if you do this in your garage or driveway without a lift.
It took us two Saturdays to do the install. Both of us are careful individuals and wanted to make sure the install was done correctly. The truck is worth it! The first Saturday, we finished, but without cutting off the old front bumpers and installing the new ones. And we had installed one of the front springs "upside down", so a second day was in order.
Rear Drop Kit
We started off doing the rear first. We used two jacks and two pieces of four by ten pieces of lumber to help us and to keep things safe. Block the front wheels and jack up the car up on to jack stands so that the rear wheels come off of the ground. There are four nuts and two u-bolt per wheel that secure the axle to the leaf springs. We went ahead and removed all eight nuts. I would suggest/guess that you only do one wheel at a time. Once these U bolts are removed the axle can and will move in all three axis of rotations AND the leaf springs will drop down at least six inches, so be prepared! We had to use a crow bar, wedged between the axle and leaf springs to get the springs to drop down. And drop down it did, in a hurry. Frankly, it surprised me.
The procedure that worked for us was to tie up the Boomer aluminum spacer up to the axle. There is a "knob" on the spacer and a hole where it is aligned in to the axle holder. We then jacked up the leaf springs slowly. One person pushed on the wheel, which we did not remove, with their feet as the other jack the spring in to place. It took a few tries to get it to "pop" in to place with quite a bit of huffing and puffing. This is what the right rear wheel looked like after the install. If you look closely, you can see the remnants of the yellow string we used to tie up the spacer.
It takes time to get everything lined up straight, so take your time! We placed the spacers in so you could read the "Viper" engraving. :-) We torqued the four nuts to 28 foot pounds. You can get by without a torque wrench, but be careful here. Even though these u-bolts are of excellent quality and strength, you can over tighten them - this would cause the bolts to twist - not a good thing. Here is a shot of the left rear after the install.
* Summary Of Rear Install *
Be careful, the leaf springs fall down fast. Make sure you have a deep socket for the u-bolt nuts. The replacement u-bolts are a bit longer than the original. Borrow a torque wrench and don't over tighten the nuts.
Front Drop Kit
The front will take you longer than the rear and like the rear, take your time and do it right! The front drop is harder than the rear and takes more care. You will need two jacks. Jack up the car and place jack stands on the frame, remove the two front tires. Be sure and block the rear wheels for safety. The front involves removing the old coil spring. Remove the shock absorber first. One nut on the top and two on the bottom. It drops out from below. Take note of the rubber piece on the top of the shock, there is a top and a bottom to it. Place one of your jacks under the a-arm assembly.
Removing the nut for the sway bar is next. The lower a-arm assembly will not drop down far enough to remove the coil spring unless you remove this nut.
Marking the alignment of your upper a-arms is next. You want to reinstall everything as close as you can to the original so your front-end alignment remains sane. You will have to get your front-end aligned after this install. To mark the placement of the two bolts and nuts that hold on the upper-arm, we used a white paint brushed on. We also measured the distances from the bolt heads to the edge of the mounting plates as a double check of these measurements. The paint we used worked fine, but it was nice to be able to double check it with these measurements.
The Spring
Remove the two upper a-arm nuts, leaving the bolts in. Get your new spring near by, ready to be placed in after the old one is removed. As we found out later, the new ones have a top and a bottom. The old ones do not. The flattened end of the new coil spring should be placed UP . There is a round rubber piece that covers the top of the spring. On the bottom plate where the coil sits there is an indentation where the round end of the coil needs to rest.
This takes two people. I sat on a stool, removed the two bolts that hold on the upper a-arm. The brake rotor is heavy and will cause the a-arm to swing down. Be prepared. You don't want the rotor falling away and ripping your brake line - not a good thing. As one person supports the a-arm brake rotor assembly, the other person lowers the jack until there is enough room to pull out the old spring. It comes out quite easily once you lower the arm enough. The second person puts the top rubber piece on the coil, making sure that the flat end of the coil is aligned correctly in the rubber piece. Place the new coil assembly back in place. The first person, while still balancing the rotor, makes sure that the coil is aligned correctly as the second person raises the jack under the lower a-arm. This will start to compress the new coil spring in to place. Again, take your time and be sure it is solidly in place. Below is the right front unit complete. Ignore the red bumper for now. :-)
Finishing Up
With the new coil in place, reattach the upper a-arm with your bolts. The person holding the rotor can now relax. Place the nuts on these bolts and retighten them in place using your paint marks. This will take two people also. The a-arm will move around and backwards as you tighten it. Take your time and get these a-arms to align as close a s you can to original settings. We torqued these to 30 foot pounds.
Slide your shock back in to place and retighten the three attachment nuts. Lastly, reattach the sway bar by lifting up on the jack, which is still under the a-arm and tighten the nut. One last thing to do and this job is done.
The Bumper
The last thing to do is to remove the old bumper from the upper coil assembly. The truck comes with a metal cup piece that is welded in two spots with a rubber piece in the middle. This is what it looks like after you remove it.
Your chore here is to cut through these two welds. This is not hard to do with the right tools, but it is not easy. It takes time to do, these are good quality welds. Once removed, there is a mounting hole for the new red rubber piece. Luckily, I have an air compressor and this grinder tool from a previous car modification (my 1984 Corvette if you must know!). This is what it looks like, I bought it at Sears.
The key is to get the cut as close to the frame as can. We used this grinder cutter, screw drivers, hacksaws, a large claw hammer and pry bars to do the job. Again, not hard, but not easy. Once it was out and after a few high five's, we sprayed the frame area with a black bumper paint from Napa on the bare metal areas to help prevent early rusting. The new red rubber bumper install easily with a nut.
The End
Make sure everything you touched is tight and in place. Obviously, you need to repeat the procedure for your other side, remount your tires and away you go. And as stated above, a front end alignment check is certainly in order.
Hope this helps you!