During the early stages DJM found that developing these I-Beams was going to be tough. The first few they made did not pass their own quality specs and it was back to the drawing board. Looking at the stock I-Beam, DJM was trying to figure out a way to get it as close to a forged piece without the cost of forging parts.
"The Ford beam is forged," said Ullmann. DJM then quickly realized that to work correctly, the beam must be rigid at the spindle for the vehicle to stay in alignment and drive properly.
"We found the simple answer back at the drawing board," says Ullmann, "tubing. We found that it won't twist like the old I-Beam and, with the right size and thickness it proved to be plenty strong along its entire length. However, we questioned whether we could hold good enough tolerance for our ultimate goal, a part that fits every time.
"Our first part through the manufacturing process with the new design," continues Ullmann happily, "fit our inspection fixture perfectly. So did every subsequent part we manufactured from then on. Over time, we have continued development on our tubular beam to make it even more accurate and stronger. It has proven to truly be a 'Dream' Beam. We've had our Dream Beams in service for seven years now and we're proud to report that those who know the product -- technicians, engineers, installers, consumers, and the auto press -- love it. They have proven to be strong, accurate, dependable and relatively easy to install."
 Another view of how the part fits. |
 This is how the part looks after welding. |
Below are photos of a completed installation on a 2000 Ford F350 Super Duty. This installation is fairly simple; it basically involves removing the factory beam and installing the Dream Beam. All factory parts are reused. DJM recommends the use of the factory coils on all their beams in order to maintain factory ride and alignment. Installers should inspect the ball joints for wear and replace if necessary. After installation, have the front end aligned to factory specs. Our Ford F350 was very close, only one degree negative on the driver side and 1.5 degrees on the passenger side. The alignment shop replaced the factory eccentrics in the upper ball joint receiver to correct the alignment. |
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 Factory spindles bolt to the Dream Beams just like stock. The alignment bushings from the factory beams are used until the alignment is done. |
 Factory spring, sway bar and radius arms are used and attached with the factory hardware. |
 Radius arms pictured from the rear. |
 Passenger side spindle. |
 Passenger side sway bar, coil and radius arm. |
 Rear view of passenger side radius arm. |
 The inner pivot mounts. This uses factory mounting hardware. |
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