I’m a mechanic on these trucks and have worked on aftermarket suspension for 10-15 year and I’ve driven hundreds of different suspension combination on thousands of truck. The sway bar on the front of those trucks are to stiff to let the coil springs operate at 100%. The sway bar was not intended for that much travel or unsprung weight. You should disconnect one sway bar end link and tie it to the sway bar and then drive down the same road and see.🤯
What do you recommend? Is there a foot-pound torque the sway bar should be set at? I'm assuming you're talking about the Thuren sway bar, or are you referring to the stock one?
You know the seatbelt alarm trick @PDdieselpower? Belt plugged in with ignition off. Put switch to run (engine not on). Buckle unbuckle 2 times and the third time you buckle, leave it buckled. Press start switch and you will hear ding. No more seatbelt alarm
Biggest turn off to me was loosing 26% load capacity... I kept the stock coils, added a leveling spacer, Thuren track bar, and fox shocks... big difference, and I can still haul / plow.
I thought he got the carli leveling kit that does not alter your capacity. Did he get something different? Either way it seems too good to be true. Seems physics would tell you if you soften up the ride you in turn, loose capacity. Then again, suspension tuners possibly know more than I do.
Why do you think there is a 26% load reduction when the coils are on the front? When I connect the 5th wheel (3,240 pin weight) only a couple hundred pounds hits the front axle.
@@caroldavid1019 what truck do you have and does it have the factory 5th wheel prep package? i always wondered how much weight gets transferred to the front axle. sounds like its about 10%?
@@Regal2800 2016 Ram 3500 Megacab 2wd dually with OEM rear air bags and OEM trailer prep. Pull with an Anderson Ultimate hitch which places the pin about 3" being the rear axle line. With only me and full fuel the truck weights 4920(F)/4020(R). With the 5th wheel everything weights 23,300 - Truck 12,180 (5155(F)/7025(R) with 5280 on the trailer front axle and 5840 on the rear. The Trailer is 14,360 with a pin weight of 3240.
If you decide you need an adjustable truck bar, check out Carli. I think it’s a better design than Thuren. I’m running Thuren 2.25” spring and their King 2.0 shocks on my 2018 Ram 3500. Great ride and build quality, but carli has them beat on the track bar. It’s what I went with and couldn’t be happier.
nick00less - I’ve run both track bars. The carli has a nice frame joint/bearing, the Thuren uses a two piece bushing and sleeve. Currently, I run Thuren coils and king shocks, but went with the Carli track bar based on past experience.
Holy cow, what a huge improvement in ride quality. I have a 2016 3500 Mega Cab 2wd dually with OEM rear air. I keep the air bags on the ALT TRAILER HEIGHT setting (lowered) for all driving. This lowers the rear slightly and provides a soft ride. I also have Sulastic shackles on the rear which absorb small bumps and joints before they reach the air bags. I installed the 1/2" lift coils this afternoon in 45 minutes. Front on jack stands, wheels off, disconnected brake lines from trailing arms, removed bottom shock bolt, lowered axle, OEM coils out and new coils in.
If they salt the roads at all where you drive I’d strongly suggest shock boots over the shafts of those Kings and Fluid Film on the shafts. As soon as those shock shafts get a nick, they start to corrode.
I've been searching for a solution to my 2016 RAM 3500 DRW Cummins rear factory air suspension. With no load, the right leans ~.5 - .7 to the right. When i put the truck camper on, the right leans ~1.5 in. Been to three dealerships to try and get it fixed. No luck. I'm thinking about inserting a 1 in spacer under the right air bag in hopes that resolves my issue. Do you have any insight into this sympton?
Dang glad/ sad to hear this. I have a 17 3500 ram, carli leveling kit with Fox shocks and 37s. The ride quality is absolutely amazing. Night and day difference from stock. Even the wife was impressed.
I knew you wouldn’t be impressed with the 2.0 king shock they are better then stock but they suck do you want to get a 2.5 king shock or bigger I’ve tried Carli with 2.0 shock yes better then stock but with the confidence you get to think you can hit bumps and dips you will be disappointed The same bumps and dips on the road with the 2.5 shock complete different truck
I went with a Bilstein level kit on my 2500. Stock was way too soft. Bottomed out routinely on low speed larger bumps. I am completely satisfied with the Bilstein springs and 5160 shocks. No more bottoming out. Extra travel seems to really help. I do feel like the are a little harsh for the first few miles but it could just be me?
Regardless you only did a leveling kit. With basic King shocks. If you did a bigger lift with more spring and bigger bypass shock. You will know and feel the difference. Hardly on a leveling kit
What would you do different? I Have a Ram 3500 dally 2019 I drive it like a car everyday but I also tow a whole lot. I also live an a bad dirt road so that's the biggest pain. Im also thinking about putting some 34' 12 ply tires on it.
I have an 18 mega 3500 with air rear. I notice my front end seems very soft compared to other trucks, like you explained. I didn’t know 14-17s are stiffer. I heard that tuning 18s is different than 14-17s also. It seems to me 18s are almost like 5th gens in some ways. Plan to do some Fox shocks all the way around at some point, the rear is quite stiff unloaded.
I leave my truck stock & just run 🏃 it . Aftermarket crap 💩 is a waste of money . The engineers 👨🏻💻 who designed the suspension already did the homework 📚.
Lmao. Ignorance is your middle name! The factory is cheap. All about the lowest cost part. Also have to keep stiff springs to get max payload numbers. Quality After market like carli and thuren are well worth the $. If not they would be out of business considering they sell 2k to 15k suspension upgrades!
@@roadglide1142 nobody was discussing durability u dipshit. If u like the rough factory ride that is fine. Doesnt make it better than aftermarket. Just proves u r a cheap hardass.
I can agree with on engine wise but not suspension. They use really cheap shocks and there's so much room for improvement. A lot of people also think that buying offroad shocks will improve the whole truck for street but that's not the case unless you custom tune the shims for a soft plush ride.
Thanks for sharing Paul, I might be interested in that kit for my truck. I've got a hunting ranch here in Florida that we filled and graded the main road, within 2 weeks the wild hog's tore into it and now you can't physically see the bumps but they jar the heck out of the truck at crawling speeds every darn time.
I just installed the thuren and I’m not real happy. I ordered the overlander 2” softride and the damn thing just bobbles all over the place. It bounces around so much makes me car sick, feel like I’m deep sea fishing in a storm. Wishing I’d got Carli.