2025 Ram 1500 Limited w/factory air suspension 2/4 or 3/5 drop in process

[ram h.o.]

After reading through several others posts here and on facebook I decided to see if I could lower mine by just simply making new sensor rods, this led me down the path of chopping my bumpstops, installing QA1 adjustable rear shocks and ultimately buying the IHC cut kit and timber grove 4" crm bag kit. I was very disappointed to find that the factory bags have a massive internal bumpstop in their design which only allows about 1.25" of rear drop without bottoming out on every pothole and dip in the road. This was less than the 2" I wanted to lower it for that level look. Once I started looking at a solution I realized how good these trucks look with either a 2/4 or 3/5 drop so I decided to dive in and see what I can make happen. Once I get the rear set to the ride height I want somewhere in the 3.5-5" range and riding smooth (lot of potholes where I live) then I will tackle the front.

Front issues seem to be that no one makes an upper control arm that also has the sensor rod attachment point so I believe for now I'll only be able to lower my factory bags to about 1.5" drop to keep alignment somewhat close to spec. Will update this thread as I learn more and tackle each piece.

Rear axle pulled for IHC cut kit and timber grove bags are installed.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Looking forward to watching the progress.

 

[ram h.o.]

Got everything done for now. Measurements from ground to fender are 34.5" rear and 34.75" front in aero mode (original aero measurements were 38" rear and 36" front.

Next step is figure out how to lower it another 1" all the way around if possible and still retain the front factory air bag setup.

Second pic is in OFFROAD 2 mode

 

[Rock Crawler]

Looks great!

 

[ram h.o.]

Ride quality in rear is crap!!! Spent all day yesterday trying to figure out the issue. My bags are set to 6" top to bottom of bag as recommended. My shocks are QA1 adjustable and set to 18.75" ride height per QA1 website. Overall ride height of truck fender is same as rock crawlers and he has the same 4" crm kit and is happy with his so I know its possible. Finally this morning I went back through his post, read the instructions for ridetech's, maxtrac's and ihc's 4" drop kits, I then realized that the bumpstops on my 2025 are a full 2" lower overall than the pictures from rock crawlers build thread and from the pictures from each of the manufacturers instructions. See below pics...rock crawlers bumpstop is about equal with frame...mine is approx 2" lower. Both have the ring cut off and I even shaved the belltech bump stop down more trying to keep from bottoming out. Not sure if the difference is in the 2022 to 2025 year model or the fact that mine had factory air ride. Oh well... gonna go chop these off to match his and see what happens.

First two pics are rock crawlers 2022 2wd with coils from factory, last pic is mine 2025 4x4 with factory air.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Wow, that bump stop bracket is definitely longer. You have got to be bottoming out constantly. Basically riding on the frame. Strange. Looks like they need to be cut down shorter and welded back on so you have a place to mount the bump stop.

 

[ram h.o.]

Wow, that bump stop bracket is definitely longer. You have got to be bottoming out constantly. Basically riding on the frame. Strange. Looks like they need to be cut down shorter and welded back on so you have a place to mount the bump stop.

Yeah, I chopped it completely off and not bottoming out now.

But unfortunately this thing rides TERRIBLE!!! I've tried every setting on my QA1 shocks, I put the factory shocks back in, loosened all the control arms and re-torqued to make sure nothing was binding. I'm at a loss of what to try next. My Jeep rides 10x better than this thing. Feeling frustrated and my body is tired, lol. If I dial down the QA1's it rides like a 1985 cadillac with blown out shocks (very squishy and bouncy), but if I start tightening the shocks it rides like a 1985 dually unloaded...can feel every crack and orifice in the damn road (stiff as can be).

@Rock Crawler what pressure do you run in your bags at ride height?

 

[Rock Crawler]

Yeah, I chopped it completely off and not bottoming out now.

But unfortunately this thing rides TERRIBLE!!! I've tried every setting on my QA1 shocks, I put the factory shocks back in, loosened all the control arms and re-torqued to make sure nothing was binding. I'm at a loss of what to try next. My Jeep rides 10x better than this thing. Feeling frustrated and my body is tired, lol. If I dial down the QA1's it rides like a 1985 cadillac with blown out shocks (very squishy and bouncy), but if I start tightening the shocks it rides like a 1985 dually unloaded...can feel every crack and orifice in the damn road (stiff as can be).

@Rock Crawler what pressure do you run in your bags at ride height?

So you have no bumpstops?

When you loosened everything and then tightened it all back down, the entire load of the vehicle was on the suspension, right?

I don’t have a pressure gauge. I just keep them adjusted at 34” ground to fender. When I add weight in the bed, I just air the bags up enough to keep the truck level.

You might contact QA1 and see if they have any advice. There should be a middle ground.

 

[ram h.o.]

So you have no bumpstops?

When you loosened everything and then tightened it all back down, the entire load of the vehicle was on the suspension, right?

I don’t have a pressure gauge. I just keep them adjusted at 34” ground to fender. When I add weight in the bed, I just air the bags up enough to keep the truck level.

You might contact QA1 and see if they have any advice. There should be a middle ground.

No bumpstops for now, will fab new ones once I figure out exact ride height and where I want them.

I did have all loose, tightened once on ground and jumped on it a few times to make sure. Used to that from Jeep suspension lifts.

Dang, was really hoping to match your pressure, I have tried anywhere from 33.5" to 35" ride height.

I'm gonna call QA1 and timber grove tomorrow. The shocks go from 1-18...on setting 5 they match the amount of force the stocks took to compress by hand so I used that as a base line and went in each direction a few clicks.

Been a long couple days, hopefully make some progress on it soon. My projects always seem to be way more complicated than they should be.

 

[ram h.o.]

New day, got a good nights sleep (makes a difference when you're old, lol).

Decided to go higher on QA1 shock setting just to see what would happen. Setting 1 is softest with 18 being stiffest. Previously was going anywhere from 2-5 based on their videos and instruction manual as this is the best setting for most general use vehicles.

I turned the dial up to 8 and it seems to be noticeably better. I was having a lot of bounce before, was easy to identify at night as headlights were constantly bouncing.

Pressure on drivers side is at 48 psi with 32 gallons of fuel and me 265 lbs. Passenger side is 28 psi.

Ride height floor to fender is 34.25" and can put 4 fingers in between tire and fender. Yes, I am copying Rock Crawlers setup because he has been happy with his ride quality, it looks damn good at that height and it seemed logical to utilize measurements that are known to work well for him.

RockCrawler...do you happen to recall what setting youre ridetech shocks are set to and how many settings do they have? No big deal if not, just curious

 

[Rock Crawler]

I'm gonna call QA1 and timber grove tomorrow. The shocks go from 1-18...on setting 5 they match the amount of force the stocks took to compress by hand so I used that as a base line and went in each direction a few clicks.

Do your shocks have compression and rebound settings (2 knobs)? If it is only one knob, it is probably just rebound. This only adjusts the speed at which the shock expands, not compresses. You might need to go to 10-12.

 

[Rock Crawler]

RockCrawler...do you happen to recall what setting youre ridetech shocks are set to and how many settings do they have? No big deal if not, just curious

The RideTech shocks have rebound settings from 1 to 24. The compression is not adjustable. I have mine set at 12 (medium) which was their recommendation for common street use. I have been happy with it so far, so I have not tried any other settings. Setting rebound too soft will cause a bouncy feel because the shock is expanding too fast as opposed to slow and smooth. You have to play with it and find what feels best. It is a lowered truck, so it won’t ride like the original Cadillac feel of the stock suspension, but I actually like a firmer, more responsive feel when it comes to suspension. Definitely firmer, but feels good to me. It’s nowhere close to the lowered trucks of the past where they beat the crap out of you.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Any updates?