[RXT]

Ok heres some advice. 3" of lift on the front end is too much. There are rubber bump stops that will be touching the upper control arms with three inches of lift. That means no down travel and a terrible pogo stick ride. The torsion keys are probably not indexed correctly if the truck is now lower. If you still have the original keys, put them back in, then crank the bars no more than 2 inches max. This is the best you're going to get with that front end. If you want more lift, add a 3" body lift.

Tires, the front drivetrain isn't very heavy duty, so a larger tire is going to add stress to parts like the wheel bearings and diff housing. Max you should go is 33". Wider would be better for snow. but avoid deep dish rims. (those put more stress on the wheel bearings)

To me a bug out vehicle is better off with the quietest exhaust possible. In a SHTF situation, you don't want others to hear you coming. If the bug out thing is a theme, a cheap way to get a good exhaust note is to just pull the muffler off and straight pipe it. By law, the cat has to stay and it actually does a good job as a muffler.

I'm not a fan of roof mounted LED light bars. Don't get me wrong, I think LEDs are wonderful devices but not on the roof of a truck. The best type of lights to mount on a roof are pencil beams. They are designed to throw light a long distance and the roof mounted location helps. But those LED light bars are more like flood lights. They throw light everywhere, lighting up everything within a few feet of the truck. Much of that light will be lighting up the hood and making it really hard to see much beyond it because of the high contrast between the lit up hood and the darkness beyond. If you're gonna put a light bar on the truck, put it somewhere on the front end where it won't create a contrast.

Suggesting where to stick the tools will depend on what you plan to carry. A simple tool set can easily be carried. You can put them in an ammo can and bolt it to your roof rack.

Mounting a winch. You will need a very sturdy mount to bolt a winch to. The factory bumper is not sturdy enough. If you plan to install a bull bar, you might be able to find one with a winch mount built into it. Other than that, you're going to need a winch bumper of some type. You can find one on ebay for a modest price, or if you can weld, or know someone who can weld, you can build one.

Ed

 

[RXT]

Wow Britt, I love your Durango. I went a bit (actually a lot) overboard with my own build. But I used a Dakota platform instead'

I started with a stock Dakota and found out all the weaknesses the hard way. Eventually I upgraded everything that was weak...Except the engine. The 318 was good, but I stuck a Cummins under the hood, because Cummins, right?

Ed