It has been a long time coming, but Carrick Customs has become an official business with a website. We are very excited to start providing high quality upgrade/performance parts for many different applications. As of lately our main focus has been "OBS" Ford trucks (1986-1997 F250 & F350's), but we will expand our offerings as different opportunities present themselves. We are also offering services such as Cummins conversions and other specialized jobs that are not offered on the website, but please email us with any potential business inquiries.
Right now we have a really awesome Heavy Duty Steering Kit for sale for OBS Ford, Dana 60 equipped trucks that has many benefits. We came up with this kit when the steering on the company truck became so loose it was a hazard to drive. We went down to the local parts house and asked for a quote for all new (Moog brand) steering for the front of the 1997 F-350 (I.E. drag link ends and adjuster, tie rod ends and adjuster). The total came to a whopping $485!! This seemed ridiculous and motivated us to start looking at better options. From here we sourced some GM 1-ton tie rod ends, 1.5" x.25" DOM tubing, a Y-link adapter and went to town. We tested out which options worked and which options did not work; in the end, we came up with a steering kit that is stronger, more reliable and cheaper to maintain. We also integrated a Delrin bushing at the joint where the drag link connects to the tie rod. This bushing replaces the original grease boot on the TRE and takes away the drag link roll that causes that sloppy dead spot when turning the steering wheel. The only modification required to install this kit is reaming out the knuckles and pitman arm to accept the larger/stronger GM 1-Ton TRE's (Reamers are for sale on website). This kit being stronger, longer lasting and easier to maintain than stock parts is fantastic, but what really sold us on going this route was that it turned out to be cheaper than the factory stock parts! All this being said, we are able to provide this kit for $435; that's $50 cheaper than OEM! Not only is the Heavy Duty Steering Kit cheaper as a whole, it will be much cheaper to replace worn out ends in the future. Instead of having to replace nearly the whole tie rod or drag link ($150-$160 each) when the end goes bad (like you would have to do with the factory setup), you can replace just the rod ends for $35-$45 each.
We are very excited for the future of Carrick Customs and the future products and services we will be able to provide! We are in the process of developing a coilover kit for 1986-1997 Dana 60 equipped Ford trucks that will provide a much better ride and tighter turning radius without having to convert to Super Duty axles, change wheels, etc. We hope to have this kit available for everyone at the end of May. Stay tuned to see the development and testing of the coilover kit and other new products! You can easily see all that we have going on via Instagram, Facebook and this Blog.
Everyone from Carrick Customs thanks you all for checking out our new website and we can't wait to see happy customers with some nicer, more reliable tucks!
-Jon Carrick
Owner
jon@carrickcustoms.com
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