GERST Review:
If you can work an aftermarket modern front suspension into your budget I strongly recommend it. My experience is limited to first hand GERST and second had via friends with RMS and Magnum Force. All appear to be superior to the factory system. I will eat crow if down the road experience proves me wrong, but so far my impressions are that GERST is lighter, stronger, safer, more adjustable, and increases header clearance. Not to mention the trials and tribulations I went through as a young man with local alignment shops and Chrysler threaded ball joints. I may have actually found religion after removing my battle worn factory suspension and comparing it to this nice modern system!

My roadblocks:
• Lower control arm clearance was tight. So much so that the kit did not include enough smaller spacers to install the lower control arms. The instructions mention powder coating thickness variations are the issue. To resolve I first attempted to remove the powder coating from the inside of the k-frame brackets. Eventually I had to reduce (sand) the size of a couple of the “larger” spacers included in the kit.
• Upper control arm, passenger side clearance was also tight. The instructions state to use the cone spacers on either side of the heim joint. The passenger side on my k-member was ~1/8in too tight. My options were to sand the spacer, replace the spacer with a smaller cone spacer (not included), remove the powder coating (didn’t work), or spread the bracket. After removing the powder coating and still needing more clearance; I installed a smaller cone spacer I had from another project. I may revisit this later, but the shock doesn’t rub through the entire range of motion.

Experience with GERST:
• He answers the phone day and night. Don’t hesitate to call with your questions.
• GERST comes with the Steering column bushing while other kits don’t include or charge extra.
• GERST is tubular and provides more header room than other kits.
• Track width is adjustable. My kit came with extenders for the Rack and Pinion. My friends with Magnum and RMS did not. I suspect this is to allow the track width to be adjusted without being limited by adjustment on the Rack.

For the average Joe:
• I’ve spent 30+ years using reconditioned/used factory parts; be it a factory block or early 80’s Magnum Disc brake spindles in this case. This was my first experience with entirely NEW stuff. I had to use emery cloth on the spindles to allow the outer bearings to slide in place. Polish, clean, grease, test fit, repeat…
• New brakes are awesome!!!!! You’ll just have to compare for yourself, but factory stuff is HEAVY and hard to work with compared to the stuff that came in this kit.