Roush Suspension

[Lyfisin]

The short version for those of you with limited time.

With input from Dennis, I purchased a Roush Suspension and Install from Terry and I'm totally loving it.

Here's the long version...

First of all, I'd like to publicly thank Dennis (Sixpipes) for taking the time two weeks ago to meet up with me so I could go for a ride in his truck. I have been interested in the Roush Suspension from the moment I saw the way his truck looked. While I know there are more cost effective ways to lower these things, I was also interested in how the truck would really handle with this kit. Dennis was kind enough to offer to let me drive, but I wasn't comfortable with that so we just went for a little ride in Gorilla. :burnout:

It was enough to get me to pull the trigger so I talked to Terry about it during the dyno day at Speedworks a couple of Saturday's ago. I took my truck down there to have the Roush kit put in as well as having my exhaust tips changed. I already had the PR mild system on my truck, but he got those new tips and they just look so much nicer.

I picked up my truck on Thursday night and drove a co-worker back to Southlake and then I drove to my house in Allen.

All I can say is knana . I can't tell you what a difference I thought it made, both in turning and just generally a more smooth ride. I'm pretty sensitive about using up time on people's cell phones, but I had to call him back up on Saturday to tell him how thrilled I was. I'm still smiling even now. :)

From a customer service perspective, Terry was great. Again. My schedule that week was pretty difficult. I had a lot of work things going on and getting to his shop to pick it up during the daytime was going to be difficult. On Thursday, I ended up getting a ride after dinner near Papa's BBQ and he offered to meet me there. We had made those plans earlier in the day, but when I got there he was actually still working. While I'm glad he didn't have to make a special trip, I was :( that he was putting in extra hours. I know how happy I am at the end of my regular work day that it's over.

For some dumb reason, I'm hanging onto all of my old parts. Well not stuff like the exhaust, but so far everything else, which at this point is only my air filter, pulley and now my old suspension. Terry asked me if I wanted it and I told him ya. I had some old rags, blankets and junk in the back. Even one that I guess had gotten wet somehow and smelled. :o

My bed has hardly ever had anything in the back of it. It's white and has never had any kind of Linex / Rhino / Bed Rug or anything installed. I've just used the blankets to protect it. He didn't just wrap the stuff up in the blankets. He wrapped the big pieces up and duct taped them so they couldn't come apart and the ends were very protected so they couldn't damage the bed. All of the smaller pieces were put in a box and taped up. So while everything could still slide around, it couldn't really do any damage to the bed.

I drove down to pick up my truck with 3 friends. One of them asked why I brought my truck all the way down to Duncanville from Allen. Terry is the reason. The guy really cares about what he does and it shows in the quality of the work he does.

I know this might all sound a little over the top, but I really care for my truck. It's nice to have someone around like Terry who seems to consistently go beyond the call to make things right. I really appreciate the way he cares for my truck. :bows

Thanks again Dennis and Terry. I can't tell you how happy I am with everything.

Terry, if you make it to the meet this Thursday, please bring a PR sticker for my window. I meant to ask you for one and I forgot.

Brook

[Sixpipes]

Glad you like the new set up. :tu:

[00Bolt]

lets see some pics!!!

[Lyfisin]

My digital camera is taking some pretty blurry pictures recently and it's not me. The model I have is badmouthed all over the internet for that exact reason.

[Mark #2]

Congratulations on your new suspension. I have had the Roush for about 4 years. Now go purchase the Hotchkis sway bars if you really want it to handle.

[Tex Arcana]

Brook, that is one sweet suspension setup you've got there, and thanks for letting me take it for a spin this past Thursday at the meeting. I was very pleasantly surprised: both at the smoothness of the ride, which is on par with the stock suspension; and with the taut turn-in, which is absolutely outstanding.

Couple that with your mild mods, and I am absolutely amazed at the potential of both the suspension mods AND the "mild" engine mods.

And kudos to Terry for the fine work, and a satisfied customer. I suggested this in another thread: you need a North Dallas location, d00d. :d

Needless to say, that Roush lowering kit just hit my mod list, and damned near the top. knana

[WA 2 FST]

Brook,

Would enjoy seeing pics of the truck. I put the Roush suspension on within 500-600 miles of ownership. I agree 100% with your testimonial about it.

Wish I'd known you were going to get it. I did mine in an afternoon in my garage.

Glad you were able to get a ride to D'ville and back. It is a _long_ trip back up here to Allen.
Hope to see you around some time. I've got a DSG '04, and besides the Roush kit, the only other visual mod is my DSG rear taillight lenses (no mirror finish for this guy). ;) Soon to have some bling, bling wheels.

[my2002lightning]

Brook,

You can take a ton of pics with my Sony and post-up - every pic in my gallery was taken with it.

Just drop by some evening and maybe we can get my '02 L and Ssandman's '03 shackled L over here for some height comparison as he's right around the corner. Tex's too, maybe.

I spoke with Tex this evening and he was like a babbling idiot about your L and how it performed! :D :beer: Congrats! :tu:

PM your cell to me and we'll take it from there if interested.

Ronald



My digital camera is taking some pretty blurry pictures recently and it's not me. The model I have is badmouthed all over the internet for that exact reason.

[Tex Arcana]

I spoke with Tex this evening and he was like a babbling idiot about your L and how it performed!

:throw: :flaming: :hammer: :ron: :evil
Where's mah assault cannon??? Yer gonna PAY for that!! :tu:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/texarcana/SMiles/ED209STFU.jpg

[Lyfisin]

Wish I'd known you were going to get it. I did mine in an afternoon in my garage.

Glad you were able to get a ride to D'ville and back. It is a _long_ trip back up here to Allen.
I remember when you posted about it. I wish I had that kind of skill, but it's just not part of who I am. :(

I don't mind taking the trip to Duncanville for service. I used to work on transmitters in the mountains of Southern California and spent tons of time on the roads out there. Duncanville is really close compared to the 4 hour commutes I had there on some days.

BTW, I found out we have a mutual acquaintance. A guy named Jim who works for Verizon and has a Mustang. I'm sure you know the guy. He didn't have anything bad to say about you. :rll:

Brook

[Lyfisin]

Just drop by some evening and maybe we can get my '02 L and Ssandman's '03 shackled L over here for some height comparison as he's right around the corner. Tex's too, maybe.

I spoke with Tex this evening and he was like a babbling idiot about your L and how it performed!After I get off of my on-call duty, I may very well take you up on that. It was actually a picture of Gorilla that Dennis posted some time ago that showed exactly that and was most likely the thing that got me interested in it at all. I didn't do any comparison of other Ls at the meeting. :hammer: I just looked at the mods on other people's trucks.

The performance Tex was talking about must have been about the way it handled. My mods are very slim compared to most from an acceleration perspective.

Brook

[Nuhklz]

Even though I'm on "the list", and, trust me, it exists; I'm having one installed by Terry in the next week or so.

Can't wait! http://www.talonclub.com/forum/images/smilies/nana.gif

[Tex Arcana]

After I get off of my on-call duty, I may very well take you up on that. It was actually a picture of Gorilla that Dennis posted some time ago that showed exactly that and was most likely the thing that got me interested in it at all. I didn't do any comparison of other Ls at the meeting. :hammer: I just looked at the mods on other people's trucks.

The performance Tex was talking about must have been about the way it handled. My mods are very slim compared to most from an acceleration perspective.

Brook

Compared to stock power output, yours was quite an eye-opener. I really wasn't aware of how much one can wake up that motor with such a simple change.

DFW-SVTOA is having a dyno day Nov 20, and I think I'm gonna have some fun: gonna dyno my beast with the stock panel filter, a K&N panel filter, and Ronald's old cone filter, one after the other. :d That way, we all get to see, once and for all, how much one can get out of those changes. :evil:

[Lyfisin]

Compared to stock power output, yours was quite an eye-opener. I really wasn't aware of how much one can wake up that motor with such a simple change.
The chip/pulley/filter mod really makes a difference you can feel. :burnout:

[WA 2 FST]

The chip/pulley/filter mod really makes a difference you can feel. :burnout:
I agree. Since I've been driving a CPF Lightning since my old '99 had 800 miles on it, I honestly can say that I would not go back to driving a stock L. It just makes too big of a difference in performance.

Glad you're happy with your new mods!

[SpeedyBolt]

How much did it lower your truck?

[my2002lightning]

I knew the chip/pulley mod certainly wake up the Ls, but this is tempting.:cool:

I wouldn't mind dropping the L a bit, too.



I agree. Since I've been driving a CPF Lightning since my old '99 had 800 miles on it, I honestly can say that I would not go back to driving a stock L. It just makes too big of a difference in performance.

Glad you're happy with your new mods!

[WA 2 FST]

http://www.wa2fst.com/7.html

Here's a link to the part of my website with the L photos. The first two are a very good comparison of "before and after". It dropped it ~2" both front and rear for a pre '03 truck. For an '03-04 truck (like mine) which sits higher in the rear than the pre-03's, it drops it more in the back. I like the rake of the truck, so I did not do any rear shackle mods.

[SpeedyBolt]

WOW!!! :eek2: That is BAD-ASS!!! I want one! Did those tail light come apart easy? I would love to put some blue-dot's in my brakes to really piss the cops off!!!!!!! :rll: :rll:

[Nuhklz]

That looks really good!http://www.talonclub.com/forum/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif

Terry: when we do my truck, should I bring the stock shackles?


http://www.wa2fst.com/7.html

Here's a link to the part of my website with the L photos. The first two are a very good comparison of "before and after". It dropped it ~2" both front and rear for a pre '03 truck. For an '03-04 truck (like mine) which sits higher in the rear than the pre-03's, it drops it more in the back. I like the rake of the truck, so I did not do any rear shackle mods.

[Lyfisin]

How much did it lower your truck?
I didn't actually take measurements. You've seen the pictures of Wes' truck so that's a great example. Being short, I can tell you it's definately easier to climb in now. :rll: Since mine's an 02, it would probably sit a little lower than his in the rear.



Glad you're happy with your new mods!
The Roush is new. The CP&F were done last year sometime. I'm extremely happy with both mods. :banana:

[WA 2 FST]

WOW!!! :eek2: That is BAD-ASS!!! I want one! Did those tail light come apart easy? I would love to put some blue-dot's in my brakes to really piss the cops off!!!!!!! :rll: :rll:
If you do a search in the General Forum, I documented the process. That might be more helpful than what I can remember here. The lenses are not easy to get apart, and mine have a few, very small nicks in them due to the process. You don't see it from 5' away, so it doesn't bother me anymore.

You need to stick them in the oven at 275^F for 15 minutes. This makes the adhesive flexible and you can pry them apart. It's still a bit of a PITA, and takes some work, but this was my first try.

Thanks for the compliments.

[WA 2 FST]

I didn't actually take measurements. You've seen the pictures of Wes' truck so that's a great example. Being short, I can tell you it's definately easier to climb in now. :rll: Since mine's an 02, it would probably sit a little lower than his in the rear.

I totally understand this! When I had my '99, I lowered it ~1.5" all the way around. I traded it in for the '04 this Spring and found myself nearly falling out of the truck when I'd get out. It was ridiculous. That's when I realized the '03-04 trucks _really_ sit a lot higher in the rear. :tongue:

The Roush suspension was ordered within a week.

It would be interesting to see if there's any difference b/w a '99-02 truck with the Roush vs. the '03-04 truck. I would think there wouldn't be, but what do I know. It seems my truck has settled a bit after I took those pics, too.

If you look at some of the later pics (ones with the painted taillights), the rear looks a tad lower than right after I installed the Roush stuff. When I took those first pics I hadn't even driven it around the block yet.

[Lyfisin]

It would be interesting to see if there's any difference b/w a '99-02 truck with the Roush vs. the '03-04 truck. I would think there wouldn't be, but what do I know. It seems my truck has settled a bit after I took those pics, too.
We both live in Allen. That would be easy to arrange.

[Tex Arcana]

I knew the chip/pulley mod certainly wake up the Ls, but this is tempting.:cool:

I wouldn't mind dropping the L a bit, too.


Those mods jsut hit my list alot higher than previously... :D

BTW, Ronald... that new avatar pic looks JUST like you!! :ron: :d

[Tex Arcana]

http://www.wa2fst.com/7.html

Here's a link to the part of my website with the L photos. The first two are a very good comparison of "before and after". It dropped it ~2" both front and rear for a pre '03 truck. For an '03-04 truck (like mine) which sits higher in the rear than the pre-03's, it drops it more in the back. I like the rake of the truck, so I did not do any rear shackle mods.


Wes, how're the painted tails holding up??

[WA 2 FST]

Not bad, but not 100% perfect, either. One of them will fog up just a tad) occassionally when I wash the truck (but goes away pretty quick). That tells me there's obviously a slight breach in the sealer I used. Oh well.

The paint looks good, though.

[Tex Arcana]

Not bad, but not 100% perfect, either. One of them will fog up just a tad) occassionally when I wash the truck (but goes away pretty quick). That tells me there's obviously a slight breach in the sealer I used. Oh well.

The paint looks good, though.
You still willing to do another set, or are you out of it?

[WA 2 FST]

I'd be willing to try it. I just don't want you to be disappointed. I have plenty of clearcoat left, and the adhesive to glue them back together worked fine. I am not going to be too keen on sanding plastic, though. Cleaning it with alcohol and letting it dry is about all I want to try.

You would just need to purchase the colored paint. I don't have a problem loaning you my red lenses to run around on for a week or so.

One thing is that it will need to be warm to paint. I just did it outside on a day when it wasn't windy.

My only concern is that if you weren't happy with them, then you're SOL.

[Tex Arcana]

I'd be willing to try it. I just don't want you to be disappointed. I have plenty of clearcoat left, and the adhesive to glue them back together worked fine. I am not going to be too keen on sanding plastic, though. Cleaning it with alcohol and letting it dry is about all I want to try.

You would just need to purchase the colored paint. I don't have a problem loaning you my red lenses to run around on for a week or so.

One thing is that it will need to be warm to paint. I just did it outside on a day when it wasn't windy.

My only concern is that if you weren't happy with them, then you're SOL.

Well, that would be my fault in the first place, for shoosing to do them, regardless of who did the actual work. I'm not one of those "I'M GONNA SUE YOU BECAUSE I ASKED YOU TO SPIT IN MY FACE" types: I'm reasonable and I understand that if it screws up, it's more my fault, simply becasue I chose to do it.

Besides, they're replaceable, so it's not like we're painting a set of original unduplicatable Deusenverg tails. ;)

[WA 2 FST]

Oh, I know you wouldn't blame me. I'd just feel bad about it is all. We can certainly give it a shot. You just need to see mine before taking the plunge.

[Tex Arcana]

Oh, I know you wouldn't blame me. I'd just feel bad about it is all. We can certainly give it a shot. You just need to see mine before taking the plunge.

works for me.. where do you work during the week; mebbe we can hook up for lunch. Do'nt you live in Allen or McKinney?

[WA 2 FST]

I live in Allen and work in Allen. I can meet you up in Frisco, though. You can take a look at the lights up close, and then if you want to go ahead with it, you'd just need to order the paint. Or, I can order it and you can pay me back. I don't care.

Honestly, I will not get them done before the T-giving holidays, and I have both my kids' b'days in December (yes, what planning...actually they are courtesy of FFW Houston trips which always occurred in April... I remind my wife of this often, so she understands _something_ good came out of my competitive years of drag racing!). So, as it is with everyone I'm sure, its a busy time of year for me and my family.

But once I get the paint, I will do my best to find time to knock them out for you. Isn't your truck white? I think that would be interesting to see. The clear lense cover does sort of darken the shade of paint that's behind it. You'll see 'em up close before taking the plunge.

[Tex Arcana]

I live in Allen and work in Allen. I can meet you up in Frisco, though. You can take a look at the lights up close, and then if you want to go ahead with it, you'd just need to order the paint. Or, I can order it and you can pay me back. I don't care.

Honestly, I will not get them done before the T-giving holidays, and I have both my kids' b'days in December (yes, what planning...actually they are courtesy of FFW Houston trips which always occurred in April... I remind my wife of this often, so she understands _something_ good came out of my competitive years of drag racing!). So, as it is with everyone I'm sure, its a busy time of year for me and my family.

But once I get the paint, I will do my best to find time to knock them out for you. Isn't your truck white? I think that would be interesting to see. The clear lense cover does sort of darken the shade of paint that's behind it. You'll see 'em up close before taking the plunge.


What're you doing Monday? I'll be working my wife's bookstore in downtown McKinney then, and I can either meet you in Allen, or you can come into McKinney, and we can hit one of the restaurants downtown.

Time isn't an issue, I'm patient as a rock (witness my willingness to find a decent job here, instead of working for WalMart or relocating), and I'd rather wait for 'em, and get something good, than otherwise. I'm also willing to lend a hand, if that's cool with you. It might be easier for you to order the paint, because you already know what to get and how, and I can reimburse you.

And, when it's all over and done with, and my shop gets built, you can use the lift or the crane anytime! :tu: