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Long Term Report: Pro Comp Stage 1 Kit

15K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  9balllrook 
#1 ·
Hello fellow TitanTalk'ers! I don't often see many threads like this on here or any other forum, but while reading a recent issue of Popular Mechanics®, I noticed their 'Long Term Test Reports' on new vehicles. While I'm not here to give you a report on my Titan, I am here to provide some feedback on my ProComp 6" Stage 1 Suspension Lift Kit, which I purchased and installed myself, back in June of 2005. Since then, over five years have passed, along with four 'harsh' Pennsylvania winters, and I've put more than 60,000 additional miles on the vehicle since installing the system. I'm going to provide a run-down of my experience with the kit so far. I will not be covering installation, because that has been sliced and diced numerous times before.

The kit was installed in June 2005 as a 'pure' Stage 1 kit, meaning that I used the front strut spacers, and the provided rear shocks. That summer, I also fabricated my own set of skid plates to cover the radiator and oil pan areas. This is one nice feature of the ProComp kit which I would like to point out because it is not found on some of the ‘other’ kits. The drop brackets are designed so that skid plates can be easily mounted. There are (3) - 3/8”-16 size holes on the bottom of each bracket. I will note that although they did provide the holes for skid plate mounting, ProComp hasn’t followed up with any skid plates of their own to accommodate this. I guess you will have to do like I did and make your own.

In May 2007, a pair of Bilstein 5125 rear shocks was installed, along with a set of Total Chaos Shackles, which lowered the rear stance by 3/4".

March 2008 arrived, along with a pair of Sway-A-Way (SAW) Extended Length Coilovers from forum sponsor, and suspension expert Greg @ PRG Products. Installation required removal of the ProComp strut spacers, and I elected to remove the factory anti-sway bar, and the ProComp endlinks.

After discovering a torn lower transmission mount (a common problem on lifted Titan’s), I replaced it with a factory part, and then added a pair of traction bars, also from PRG Products. These were the ‘Street’ version, as my Titan does not see a lot of offroad usage.

After experiencing some driveline vibration issues, I elected to install some 1 degree pinion angle shims. These were a breeze to install and cured my problems. Somewhere along the way, I installed a Driveshaft Spacer, also from PRG Products. Not sure when that was exactly.

First and foremost, RELIABILITY. This kit has performed nearly flawless during the course of owning it. The steel, fabricated parts have not broken or failed prematurely and I expect that to continue. One issue which I want to address is the rear shock absorber which failed. I discovered it leaking after nearly two years of ownership. Both rear units were replaced with Bilstein 5125 replacements. It should be noted that at 76,000 miles, I am still running all original driveline components (U-Joints F/R, CV Shafts F/R, Wheel Bearing/Hub Assemblies, and Upper/Lower Ball Joints).

When it comes to QUALITY, I must say that the ProComp kit is of above average quality. About two years into things, the powdercoating was flaking off, and things were beginning to rust. I removed what parts I could, and coated them with some Duplicolor Spray-On Bedliner in a can. This stuff has held up fairly well. The parts do still work though, so I have no complaints there.

When it comes to DESIGN and PERFORMANCE, I feel that this kit accomplishes what it was intended for: to lift your vehicle about 6” and allow you to fit 35” tires. It was not intended for hard-core offraoding and four-wheeling. Will it allow you to hit the trails, play in some mud, and look good rolling down the freeway? Certainly. But it is clearly not intended for rock crawling (and neither are the other drop bracket style kits). Some things that I do like about the ProComp kit were the ease of installation (no cutting or welding involved), the cast spindles, bump stop mounting incorporated into the rear drop bracket, and cast aluminum lift blocks for the rear. There is an issue with the spindle’s steering stops contacting the lower control arms in a not so nice of way, but that can be solved by grinding these stops off, prior to installation.

Overall, this kit has met my expectations when I purchased it. I can fit 35’s, it sits higher, and I can do some light offroading when I need to. I haven’t had any surprises as a result of the kit and would say that I am nearly 100% satisfied with the purchase; however nothing is perfect, so I cannot give it a perfect score.

On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being highest….

RELIABILITY: :):):):)
QUALITY: :):):):)
DESIGN: :):):):):)
PERFORMANCE: :):):):):)
OVERALL: :):):):)

***Note that Total Chaos no longer manufactures parts for the Titan.

Sources:
Pro Comp Suspension
www.explorerprocomp.com

PRG Products
www.prgproducts.com

Total Chaos Fabrication
www.chaosfab.com

Bilstein Shock Absorbers
www.bilsteinus.com

Sway-A-Way RaceRunner Shocks
www.swayaway.com

Dupli-Color
www.duplicolor.com
 
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#3 ·
Thanks for taking the time to write a detailed report.
 
#4 ·
yup thanks for that wright up. I can say too that this kit is flawless..ive had it install since 2007 and till this day it holds up well after some what little abuse when i take out to the desert..
 
#5 ·
nice write up, i've had mine since 06 and its been great, except for a link breaking when doing things the lift wasnt designed to to handle.
 
#6 ·
To The Top
 
#7 ·
Great review and thank you for taking the time to do that I know people like me that want to lift there T will find this to be very helpful. Good job on helping the titan community
 
#8 ·
Same here. Have had mine on since 2006 with about 40k miles. No issues eventually upgraded to the PRG endlinks, PRG Offroad bars and the rear Bilstein 5100s.

The truck did tow my old 18' boat, random trailors to various hunting camps, several 500+mile road trips and she performed like a rockstar in DC's big snowstorms last year...
 
#9 ·
Nice write up!! Thanks!
 
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