Don's 2022 Ram 3500

[Flyin6]

To compensate for the additional 1" in the rear, and because I always do this to flexy suspensions, instead of bolting the bag to the lower axle, I bolt a poly cup to the lower mount and allow the bag to float around in that cup. Should I ever flex the suspension too much, instead of tearing the bag apart (Done that) the bag will simply extend out and hang freely from its top mount. The problem is, should you have a lot of pressure in the bag, you run the risk of blowing off the bottom cap. I have never done this, but I suppose it may be possible.

[Flyin6]

To complete this evening's work, I stopped after mounting both bags to their top mounts, then packed it in for tacos.

[Flyin6]

That top mount perfectly replaces the jounce bumper with a rigid 1/4" thick steel mount which is gusseted and fits very well. The engineers were up to task on this one.

[Bigdave_185]

Clean install so far.  Looks like Tate’s group is buyin up all the high end stuff! 


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[Flyin6]

Clean install so far.  Looks like Tate’s group is buyin up all the high end stuff! 


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...And we on this site are sure helping them pay the bills! ;-)

[Flyin6]

Well, I finished early today, so I'll post up now.

First some better pics of that Carli lowering bracket.

[Flyin6]

I chose a spot on the bumper opposite the 7-pin trailer connection. There was a simple little pop-out plug which fit the Schrader valve perfectly

[Flyin6]

I routed the air lines to the bags securing them away from heat sources and harms way.

[Flyin6]

Underside view:

[Flyin6]

I connected the lines to a "T" and then to the Schrader valve

[Flyin6]

I rotated the tires cross-corners which is fine since I am still under 2,500 miles. Sitting on the ground I added 15 pounds pressure to the bags and called this project (Minus the alignment) done!

[JR]

15 psi, how much did that raise it? I only have 3 leafs on my dmax, but the springs are flat and on the overloads.

[oklawall]

Just for my taste those wheels look a little small. Will you drive these until you have to change them or replace them after the alignment?

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[Flyin6]

Just for my taste those wheels look a little small. Will you drive these until you have to change them or replace them after the alignment?

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I'm not into the big truck look with this one, so I'll run them for some time. Not in my zone of consideration at the moment. Kat and I were up at Holeman Motors earlier and she says she wants a Cougar or similar fifth wheel. Should that happen I want to be near a stock-size tire for the power.

I mentioned to her that if the farm sold, I'd give in to getting a Class C or a fifth wheel (And I don't want a Class C). If that did happen, then I would want to keep the fiver small, like no bigger than 28 feet and around 10K max GVW. Thinking about going up hills with all that, I'd want to keep the motor in the power zone so I feel it's best to just hold where I am. The truck is ready to pull or travel by itself. Those Billsteins are not as smooth as I was hoping, though. And it does seem to sit taller (A lot) than before.

I know, sad...Me not modifying everything right out of the gate, but I am thinking, "Change is good."

[stlaser]

Look at a keystone alpine or grand design solitude 

[Dustoff35]

Good job on the suspension install. The Carli requires a bit more technical fortitude than any other system I have put on, but the end result is excellent. I have Method HD wheels on order for mine…

[TexasRedNeck]

Good job Don. Looks good. If you get a fiver, My guess is you’ll be trading on a dually….


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[rpar86]

Look at a keystone alpine or grand design solitude 

I second Grand Design.

[Flyin6]

Good job Don. Looks good. If you get a fiver, My guess is you’ll be trading on a dually….


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Not at all. I plan to keep it small to medium size and that in no way necessitates anything more than what I have. We have looked at a bunch of 25–29-foot units from Cougar, keystone, and some others just to get a feel for what may work. Although the big ones beckon you with all the spacious interior accruements, practicality screams for the smaller units. And this will only occur if/when I sell the farm. If it does not sell, no fifth wheel for me.

[Flyin6]

...And, grand design is our first choice, although the dealership we visited the other day does not carry that brand

[rpar86]

And for the two of you, you don’t need huge. Smaller trailers also open you up to more campground possibilities.

[Flyin6]

And for the two of you, you don’t need huge. Smaller trailers also open you up to more campground possibilities.

My thoughts exactly. She did put a limitation on me if we go this route. She wants a washer/dryer so we can actually stay in it for more than just a few days is we choose. I seem to be finding that at around 28 feet.

[stlaser]

Ours is the alpine 3220, buddy had an almost identical layout in his grand design. So much so we kind of believe they’re built in same facility. By the 3220 I’d assume it was a 32’ unit but it measures around 37’ and is more than plenty for us. Great kitchen space & has hookups for w&d in the bedroom closet although we’ve yet to purchase a set for it. Bought in June of last year and we spent 6 weeks in it even living out of it for 3+ weeks between homes.

I took it down to Bozeman today to see 2 of our 3 kids and get a true break from work. Between shop builds and going to Colorado every 3 weeks on average I needed a break.

[Flyin6]

Ours is the alpine 3220, buddy had an almost identical layout in his grand design. So much so we kind of believe they’re built in same facility. By the 3220 I’d assume it was a 32’ unit but it measures around 37’ and is more than plenty for us. Great kitchen space & has hookups for w&d in the bedroom closet although we’ve yet to purchase a set for it. Bought in June of last year and we spent 6 weeks in it even living out of it for 3+ weeks between homes.

I took it down to Bozeman today to see 2 of our 3 kids and get a true break from work. Between shop builds and going to Colorado every 3 weeks on average I needed a break.

Kind of getting off-topic for the Ram 3500 thread, but I would like to know, what do you tow it with? How much does it weigh? What is it like to tow a thing so big? You see, I am nervous about towing something heavy over long distances. Not my cup of tea. I wanted to keep the GWT less than 10,000 with a surge to 11,000 for that reason.

[JR]

Plus with the laws in many states saying over 10k towing is requiring a CDL (most have reciprocity to DL state) now why would you need something bigger?

Get it without a W/D and install yourself, save you $$$$.

[stlaser]

Ours is the alpine 3220, buddy had an almost identical layout in his grand design. So much so we kind of believe they’re built in same facility. By the 3220 I’d assume it was a 32’ unit but it measures around 37’ and is more than plenty for us. Great kitchen space & has hookups for w&d in the bedroom closet although we’ve yet to purchase a set for it. Bought in June of last year and we spent 6 weeks in it even living out of it for 3+ weeks between homes.

I took it down to Bozeman today to see 2 of our 3 kids and get a true break from work. Between shop builds and going to Colorado every 3 weeks on average I needed a break.

Kind of getting off-topic for the Ram 3500 thread, but I would like to know, what do you tow it with? How much does it weigh? What is it like to tow a thing so big? You see, I am nervous about towing something heavy over long distances. Not my cup of tea. I wanted to keep the GWT less than 10,000 with a surge to 11,000 for that reason.

2018 f250 6.7l 6spd auto, this unit is around 14k and is definitely the most tongue heavy fifth I tow. It handles it just fine w/ bags inflated and the bag on the Reese gooseneck set at 50# (I converted my rv to gn) there really is no issue with these newer diesels and the built in Jake brakes. Like most things, don’t push it and take your time.

We like several things about this setup.

#1 we get our own bed
#2 lots of room inside for two small dogs and us (it will sleep 4)
#3 we don’t have to break camp to go do things as we have the truck
#4 our own shower
#5 full kitchen (although pilot isn’t lighting on the rv atm for fridge)

Not a fan of hotels, starting to become a real flip of the coin in terms of cleanliness and pricing.

[Flyin6]

Back to the Ram 3500

Post-trip report: Yesterday we went on a relatively short drive/visit to Indiana by way of I-71 and Louisville. The highway has many potholes and repairs which rival King of the hammer's competition hill climbing. Well, that Carli suspension with the Bilstein shocks is absolutely TERRIBLE! I mean it is so bad that you won't want to drive the truck anywhere there is a bridge expansion joint, or a ripple in the asphalt, or a pothole, or anything like that.

I felt several (Many??) times to have lost control as the truck felt like it slammed so hard into things that it jumped completely off the road. I know that it did because several times I had a slight heading change on touchdown and a nasty swerve as it corrected itself.

I have driven in Duane's Carli suspension-equipped truck, although not on any road that bad, and it seems to be firm, but controllable. So I am betting it is not the Carli parts, but the Bilstein shocks. In any case, some of that stuff is coming off immediately or I'll lose the use of the truck. By comparision, having driven hundreds of miles on a trip to eastern Ohio, with the stock suspension, the ride was pleasant. THe ride yesterday was amongst the worse I have ever encountered.

The thing is, I could not have the complete Carli suspension. I could not order either the super expensive 2.5" King shocks they offer or the Fox/Carli lower spec shocks. They were not available and could not be delivered for months. There is some sort of bottleneck there at Carli and they simply cannot fill orders. Same/same with FOX. They have no delivery date, and delivery dates on some products exceed one year.

So I am very unhappy. Having spent a lot of money and having ended up with a junk suspension I almost feel cheated. Cheated on the full experience of what Carli supposedly offers. Because with this Frankenstein Carli/Bilstein suspension the truck is unusable. Oh, and the alignment was good. The tire pressures are factory, and there is but 15 lbs. of air in the rear airbag.

My first course of action will be to buy shock extensions and reinstall the factory shocks to try to get the thing useable again. If that doesn't do it, I am going to strip that Carli stuff back off and go back to stock. Man, what a disappointment!

[stlaser]

Call up radflo and have them build you custom shocks for it.

[Flyin6]

Call up radflo and have them build you custom shocks for it.

Sean, sounds expensive!
Look, all I wanted to do here was to level the front. Nothing more, well, that and add air bags for towing. I did not want to spend a bunch of money on the thing. Carli offered Fox/Carli shocks but when I ordered the kit, Tate let me know he could no longer get the Fox shocks and the Carli units were months out. He tried really hard to get me the right shocks. I decided to bolt in the Bilsteins, knowing they were great from past numerous experiences. If I had known it was going to be like this, especially after all that work with the Carli stuff, I would have just left it all stock. Not wanting a built truck here, Want a leveled stock truck with stock-sized tires.
Carli is just not in a place to handle their growing business. They need to either stay small or no longer offer suspension half of a suspension kit without their shocks. At this point, I really do not know if their springs might not be partially at fault. The ride is so bad it has me wondering if the shocks could be doing all that by themselves.
If I can just get some simple shock extensions and bolt back on the stock shocks, maybe that will fix it. At this point, I am not going to throw any more money after what a hard-riding suspension could be. You see, having ridden in Duane's with all their best stuff ($7,000!!!!!!!) I noted it is also pretty firm riding. Like when you hit a bump it is not a soft/supple accommodation of the bump but more of a bounce from a stiff spring. So if his is like that, then it is a combo of the Bilstein/Carli stuff and all of it will have to come back off.

[Atkinsmatt]

Wow.  Hope the extensions will help.  I had a similar experience with mine when it got a level/lift.  I dialed the torsion bars back a little and that helped. 

[stlaser]

Call up radflo and have them build you custom shocks for it.

Sean, sounds expensive!
Look, all I wanted to do here was to level the front. Nothing more, well, that and add air bags for towing. I did not want to spend a bunch of money on the thing. Carli offered Fox/Carli shocks but when I ordered the kit, Tate let me know he could no longer get the Fox shocks and the Carli units were months out. He tried really hard to get me the right shocks. I decided to bolt in the Bilsteins, knowing they were great from past numerous experiences. If I had known it was going to be like this, especially after all that work with the Carli stuff, I would have just left it all stock. Not wanting a built truck here, Want a leveled stock truck with stock-sized tires.
Carli is just not in a place to handle their growing business. They need to either stay small or no longer offer suspension half of a suspension kit without their shocks. At this point, I really do not know if their springs might not be partially at fault. The ride is so bad it has me wondering if the shocks could be doing all that by themselves.
If I can just get some simple shock extensions and bolt back on the stock shocks, maybe that will fix it. At this point, I am not going to throw any more money after what a hard-riding suspension could be. You see, having ridden in Duane's with all their best stuff ($7,000!!!!!!!) I noted it is also pretty firm riding. Like when you hit a bump it is not a soft/supple accommodation of the bump but more of a bounce from a stiff spring. So if his is like that, then it is a combo of the Bilstein/Carli stuff and all of it will have to come back off.

They’re not cheap Don but they’ll fix that issue. Imo better than a bandaid and reversing everything you just did.

Frankly, it’s a modified truck now as much as you say you wanted to keep it stock that’s just not the reality here. If so you should have done like I did and just thrown bags on it and drove it. There was no need to go this deep.  Best of luck with whatever you do

[oklawall]

Those kind of driving characteristics are no fun or safe. I hope you can find a resolution that makes the truck usable to your liking

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[JR]

So the only thing you changed was the height of the truck. You leveled it, keeping stock suspension geometry. You did however raise the front, which changed the caster angles a little.

New shocks, are they really that bad? Maybe a little to much air in the rear bags? I don't know but you want the ride back and are looking for an answer.

Could be shocks, to much air in the bags or maybe the tire PSI needs to be tweaked some? You got it aligned after, right?

Throwing stuff out (you should drive kali roads!)

[Flyin6]

So the only thing you changed was the height of the truck. You leveled it, keeping stock suspension geometry. You did however raise the front, which changed the caster angles a little.

New shocks, are they really that bad? Maybe a little to much air in the rear bags? I don't know but you want the ride back and are looking for an answer.

Could be shocks, to much air in the bags or maybe the tire PSI needs to be tweaked some? You got it aligned after, right?

Throwing stuff out (you should drive kali roads!)

Yea, all good comments.

Not too much air in the bags, less than 20 psi.

Caster was perfect, factory spec, thanks to the Carli drop brackets that are built to correct all that.

New shocks are super stiff, I think. But those Carli front springs could be stiffer too.

Yea, so all I did was to level the front with a well-engineered Carli kit. Two springs, a Carli track bar, the drop brackets for the control arms and two Bilstein shocks...That's it! Rear got a Carli 1" block, firestone bags and two Bilstein shocks, that's it.

It SHOULD NOT be this way. About the mildest mod I have ever done on a suspension but a world different than the great ride the stock setup gave me.

[JR]

Do you run full pressure in the tires? Unless towing I never do.

20- in the bags empty? Correct me if wrong but the stock springs did OK, so 20psi sounds high unloaded.

[stlaser]

Agreed, I run less than 5 in bags non towing

[rpar86]

X3 on the airbags - 5psi when running around empty.

[stlaser]

With that stated, I often times if only a couple days between towing I’ll leave them aired up. Rides like a log wagon and does handle worse going over bridges etc at speed.

[Flyin6]

OK, good suggestion, I'll air them down to 5 psi and see what that does.

[Flyin6]

Bad news...Air bags were at zero psi!

Must have a leak somewhere.

So, I'm not fooling around with this. In my view, it's a bunch of bullcrap, buying supposedly great shocks and they turn out to be junk.

I searched everywhere and found a set of FOX 2.0 and ordered them.

Maybe I can sell the Bilstein shocks for half price or something.

But this kit was supposed to come with FOX 2.0 albeit with Carli tuning. I have FOX 2.0's on my Suburban and that truck rides great. I could drive it to the communist state of Kalifornia, and if not arrested for being a conservative, Christian, old white guy, then drive it back to the tuck without any misgivings. Those FOX shocks ride great!

Did I mention I like FOX shocks?

Edit: I meant to add, non-woke, not good with inclusion or LBGTaeiou bull crap, rewriting our history or worshiping criminals because we did that to them nonsense...

[JR]

if you make it out here you can holdout with me.

[TexasRedNeck]

Gotta give “any two-some Newsome” credit for appearing on Hannity last night. 

Gutsy but stupid.


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[JR]

I will have to watch that. Hannity will be nice, but won't pull the punches either.

[Sammconn]

Did you get the bags with jounce bumpers inside?
At zero psi the ones I have hammer like a freight train.
Might explain some of the harsh. But don’t think all of it.

Thais is a really unfortunate situation for you.

[EL TATE]

After speaking with the boys at Carli, I should not have sold you the individual components without the shocks, as they are all engineered to work around each other like one big happy family. If you found fox 2.0 try them out before throwing in the towel on the system. as they are not carli tuned they may not be as ideal as they were intended but are likely to solve 90% of your issues. He's hard to get on the phone since it's just him, but Tyler over at Carli is a wealth of knowledge. Tyler@carlisusupension.com. just let him know you're working with me on this project.

[Bigdave_185]

and yet again ol Tate to save the day with the “I know a guy”. Thanks for being you bud.


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[EL TATE]

well... I kinda, started the 'ol fire there... he,he. thought I'd better help put her out best i could before we lost the barn.

[Flyin6]

After speaking with the boys at Carli, I should not have sold you the individual components without the shocks, as they are all engineered to work around each other like one big happy family. If you found fox 2.0 try them out before throwing in the towel on the system. as they are not carli tuned they may not be as ideal as they were intended but are likely to solve 90% of your issues. He's hard to get on the phone since it's just him, but Tyler over at Carli is a wealth of knowledge. Tyler@carlisusupension.com. just let him know you're working with me on this project.

I'll bet the shocks I just purchased are very close in spec to the Carli ones. Doing some more reading on the matter, I found the stock springs are pretty stiff on the ram HD, so the stock shocks are purposely soft-valved. But the new Carli springs are not likely to be stiffer. I'd bet the same rate or slightly softer since the big complaint from Ram owners is the harsh ride.
If I had to bet, I'd wager that the new FOX 2.0's will do the trick.

And, Sam, no my bags do not have the internal jounct bumper. Just a bag of air.

[Flyin6]

well... I kinda, started the 'ol fire there... he,he. thought I'd better help put her out best i could before we lost the barn.

We are still well within the "Margin of error" on this one, and the story has not been completely written yet.

[Flyin6]

The FOX 2.0 shocks have arrived. I plan to install them tomorrow.

Today, Duane gave the suspension install the once over. He claims I have the driver's side spring in upside down, and the passenger spring rubber top mount indexed incorrectly. He may be correct, so I'll likely inspect that tomorrow as well, and if it is wrong, then I'll fix all that.

I expect to see good results from FOX 2.0 over the hard-riding Bilstein units.