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Air Suspension or Coils?

Can always get an aftermarket stiffer coil, perhaps progressive, to help with the towing squat. (For non a/s owners).
Better a 2500 6.4 for payload and towing ease but it's an upgrade most don't want to do.
 
We have both a 2014 Big Horn (240,000 miles) without a/s, and a 2020 Limited (177,000 miles) with a/s, and I drive both regularly.

The Big Horn's ride is fine, but the Limited's comfort is in another league IMO. If money is no object, then I would always go with a/s (and retractable steps, but that's another discussion). Any doubts I had about longevity are long gone (probably jinxing myself here :-) . It's just that the Ram trucks with a/s have become so expensive now that would make me consider not getting it in a future truck.
 
Reverse said:
We have both a 2014 Big Horn (240,000 miles) without a/s, and a 2020 Limited (177,000 miles) with a/s, and I drive both regularly.

The Big Horn's ride is fine, but the Limited's comfort is in another league IMO. If money is no object, then I would always go with a/s (and retractable steps, but that's another discussion). Any doubts I had about longevity are long gone (probably jinxing myself here :-) . It's just that the Ram trucks with a/s have become so expensive now that would make me consider not getting it in a future truck.
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How are you putting on so many miles, the 2020 is over 40K a year. That’s some travelin’!
 
Reverse said:
We have both a 2014 Big Horn (240,000 miles) without a/s, and a 2020 Limited (177,000 miles) with a/s, and I drive both regularly.

The Big Horn's ride is fine, but the Limited's comfort is in another league IMO. If money is no object, then I would always go with a/s (and retractable steps, but that's another discussion). Any doubts I had about longevity are long gone (probably jinxing myself here :-) . It's just that the Ram trucks with a/s have become so expensive now that would make me consider not getting it in a future truck.
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Comparing the ride of a 5th gen with a 4th gen is apples and oranges.
 
dajogejr said:
I think “driving regularly” is the understatement of the year…lol.
I can only imagine the fuel bill :)
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Well, where I live everything (shops restaurants, gun range etc) is at least 10 miles away. Also, I like driving. Then there's the regular visits to family that live 700 miles away. Etc.

As far as fuel bill: anyone who feels they can afford the Limited trim should be able to afford the fuel bill. Having said that, I feel no great urge to go back and add it all up :p

I buy my vehicles new, with an extended MOPAR warranty. Then drive the snot out of them following the MOPAR maintenance schedule until warranty runs out. Works for me.
 
Reverse said:
As far as fuel bill: anyone who feels they can afford the Limited trim should be able to afford the fuel bill. Having said that, I feel no great urge to go back and add it all up :p
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If only that were true. Plenty of people buy things that they really can't afford, and then can't afford the cost of fuel afterwards on top of that.
 
There’s ride comfort / bump absorption and then there is handling / responsiveness.

I drove a Laramie (coil) and a Limited (a/s) both on 22s (as well as other Laramies on 20s) and found the Limited to have a noticeably better performance overall.

It had a slight but observable advantage in the side street potholes/ bumps etc., but what I was not expecting was the improvement in handling. That difference was significantly in favor of air suspension.

Where the rear end of the coil truck would seem to wallow and gyrate - especially in long sweeping corners - the a/s was much more planted and settled. Felt much more nimble and responsive in the tighter stuff too. I’ve driven several coil rams also and they all felt similarly “loose”, particularly in the rear.

It was backwards from my expectation going in, which was that there would be no difference in handling but the a/s would be better at ride comfort.

If onroad performance is the priority and you don’t live in the frigid north, I’d give a/s a shot.

Deleting it involves most of the same suspension parts you’d need if upgrading the coil setup anyway, plus some programming and plumbing work.

And the big name 2.5s require rebuilds every 50k miles anyway (even less if you actually use them off-road), so not like they are guaranteed maintenance free either.

But on that note, I wouldn’t go a/s if I planned any regular off roading beyond some dirt roads or slow trail work. You can’t effectively run off-road in OR2 anyway due to punishing ride and limited articulation, so it’s mostly a gimmick.
 
Reverse said:
Well, where I live everything (shops restaurants, gun range etc) is at least 10 miles away. Also, I like driving. Then there's the regular visits to family that live 700 miles away. Etc.

As far as fuel bill: anyone who feels they can afford the Limited trim should be able to afford the fuel bill. Having said that, I feel no great urge to go back and add it all up :p

I buy my vehicles new, with an extended MOPAR warranty. Then drive the snot out of them following the MOPAR maintenance schedule until warranty runs out. Works for me.
Click to expand...
Same.
Family and local don’t live that far, but going for a drive is just fun…
I also buy mine new and get the maximum available warranty for them.
Lifetime powertrain on my 08, Lifetime max care on my 15… 8/125 on my 23.
I typically pay off in 4 years, drive for a few more, then trade it in for a decent down payment on the next.
 
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