FOX 3.0 shocks for RAM 1500 2023

[KichoRebel]

going 4" does not net you more travel, unless you do custom coilovers.
BDS and other brands that make 4"+ kits all require cutting your UCA mounts to fit the diff drop bracket, and none of them advertise any scientific numbers. So the only logical conclusion is: they trade travel for ride height. Higher ride height = less travel, since your coilover is the same length, there's nothing added.
That is precisely why all those trophy trucks do not have tall ride heights.

Even if you manage to get yourself a set of shocks that accommodate for higher ride heights (4"), you'll be limited to the same droop because your CV axle is now your constrain (assuming you got the spindles and the UCA).

here's a fact: you do NOT need LT to "dance" with TRX or raptors in the suspension department. You need a set of properly tuned King or Fox and you'll be able to do it. (Powertrain is another department that's not part of this discussion)

Marketing and advertisement materials indicate 8112 ZC is on King or Fox level, but my real world experience tells me they are overly exaggerated. Carli setup is great, but it is not as great as most people would think. Carli works for 80% of the people whose talents and skillset are the limiting factor, so it feels like Carli works. But for the 20% of the people who have more talents and skills (aka, the OG guys of Dodge Truck Extreme - who ran deserts for the past 10+ years and are/ were involved in suspension development for Carli and Thuren), Thuren is the answer.

So, instead of messing with longer shocks and trying to chase 3.0 performance, pick up the phone, call Don Thuren at Thuren Fabrication and tell him you want a set of Kings with his most aggressive tuning. Then tell him you want the arms and end links and everything else. And when he asks what you want to do, tell him you want to dance with raptors and TRX in the suspension department. He'll get you straight with least amount of headache and thinking on your part.

Dang it!! I was already setting all my focus on the 4" BDS with Fox 2.5 coilovers. Due to this description:
"These kits feature proprietary FOX 2.5 coilover shocks designed for bolt-on performance, increased travel,"
So I assumed, if the drop bracket puts everything in place (geometry wise) then the coilover would need to be longer to provide the extra inches of lift.
Plus it says increased travel. I did think it was true because they are not the ones with a spacer, but instead, with a longer coilover. Although, no web page describes how much more travel you would get, which i did find it odd.

I do want both worlds if possible, I'd like to be at 4 inches but with the best offroad perf to take on whoops. Thuren hasn't pop in my search, so i will definitely check it out.
thanks

4" FOX 2.5 Coilover Lift Kit | Ram 1500 4WD (2019–2024)

Upgrade your 2019–2024 Ram 1500 4WD with BDS 4" FOX 2.5 Performance Elite coilovers for improved suspension travel, off-road performance, and on-road ride feel.

bds-suspension.com

 

[boogielander]

Dang it!! I was already setting all my focus on the 4" BDS with Fox 2.5 coilovers. Due to this description:
"These kits feature proprietary FOX 2.5 coilover shocks designed for bolt-on performance, increased travel,"
So I assumed, if the drop bracket puts everything in place (geometry wise) then the coilover would need to be longer to provide the extra inches of lift.
Plus it says increased travel. I did think it was true because they are not the ones with a spacer, but instead, with a longer coilover. Although, no web page describes how much more travel you would get, which i did find it odd.

I do want both worlds if possible, I'd like to be at 4 inches but with the best offroad perf to take on whoops. Thuren hasn't pop in my search, so i will definitely check it out.
thanks

4" FOX 2.5 Coilover Lift Kit | Ram 1500 4WD (2019–2024)

Upgrade your 2019–2024 Ram 1500 4WD with BDS 4" FOX 2.5 Performance Elite coilovers for improved suspension travel, off-road performance, and on-road ride feel.

bds-suspension.com

im convinced it's just the regular 2.5 coilovers with top spacers or heavier spring rates (one of the local Ram guys has the 6" kit with the Fox 2.5. he did it before he knew anything about offroad driving and high speed run, and he absolute regrets it as the performance is terrible - uncompliant in the front and buck around in the back, and overly harsh through the whoops. unfortunately for him there's nothing he can do to correct the mistake because the LCA mounts are chopped, even he talked to all the major vendors out there. and iirc his springs are heaver rated springs or something)

those 4"+ kits are not gonna add more travel. those are just marketing terms.
Assuming they use the same coilovers and I got like 8" droop with the fox factory setting, at 4" you will only get like 6" of droop at most because the stroke distance is limited.
we did a 4" kit on a Colorado once... major pain in the rear and when it came off the lift, the suspension barely compresses. there was next to 0 "travel" and ride was terrible. Same thing: Fox 2.5 kit with brackets and no top hat. felt every bump and dip on the road. yeah it LOOKS nice with how tall it sits, but it drives like absolute trash.

having established that 4" kits do NOT add more travel but actually REDUCE travel, going 4" is a very illogical choice.

then theres also the skid plates issue. No legit skid plate manufacturer makes anything for 4" plus. That BDS skid plate is a joke lol it doesn't cover everything that needs to be covered. If you want real off road ready skid plates, RCI is the only good choice on the RAM 1500 platform.

also, you do know that going 4" does NOT increase your ground clearance right? because of the drop bracket, your ground clearance is back to where it is supposed to be. Your ground clearance is dictated by your tire size, not lift size.

bottom line:
Ditch the whole 4" idea. It is not practical and offers 0 performance benefit. why are you so fixated on 4"?
Go with no more than 3" and just get Thuren stage 6. Stage 6 tune is more than what average people's skills and experience can handle. Even I can't fully handle stage 6 - it goes beyond my talent and skills are comfortable with.

 

[boogielander]

I've never tried thuren or carli, but I had accutune custom valve a set of fox 2.5's on an old 2011 silverado and that was an incredible experience. With the sway bar disconnected on that truck, the ride was excellent and I could not find any negatives. If carli or thuren are as good as their reputation, then they are an excellent option.

On my '24 ram I started with off the shelf King 2.5(accutune wouldn't valve them for our trucks because they have never done one). They fell short in a couple departments, but they definitely increased wheel travel. I'm currently running the 8112's up front with kings on the rear and it is very good, but still not perfect like my 2011 silvy. The 8112's do have less travel than the kings, but they definitely perform better in almost every way. From the driver's seat, they make it feel as though there is 10-11"of travel instead of 8-9", in my opinion.

Question for Boogie: have you had any issues with your front cv axles on your current setup? That was something I was concerned with on the King's. Also, do you ever run with a disconnected sway bar? I assume not since you run around with a load typically, but I find the ride far superior with both disconnected in an unladen truck.

In conclusion, if you want an easy quick buy option, 8112's are excellent, but I have no doubt that custom valving could ultimately be the best option. In addition, if ground clearance is high on the priority list, 8112's are not going to keep up with Fox and King. Just my 2 cents...

accutune is the easiest "tuner" out there but i will never ever run their stuff. Have a friend in my group got his accutune kings and they REFUSE to do their most aggressive tune for him, saying the mid tier tune is more than enough. Friend pushed for it 3 times and they said "no mid tier is fine and if you want more we can change it for you"
Guess what happened... that mid tier tune that they insisted on selling to my friend is complete useless. well at least for my group... we do half of mojave in one day, including stopping for lunch and sightseeing. Buck around too much and uncompliant in the front.
When we opened it to swap the reservoir to run Fox DSC resi, we discovered the shim stacks are the same as the off-the-shelf king's shims. There was no tuning done, only spring rate change.
then some of my customers got theirs on their broncos... same thing. can't keep up with my fox 2.5. Swapped rig to confirm it's not driver issue and... he likes how mine drives more and definitely went faster lol.

no issue with the CV at the moment at 54k miles but with the miles being piled on i may swap them out early. CV at this point is just consumables for me lol it's bound to happen, just don't know when. I also don't disconnect sway bar. Makes no sense for me to disconnect it at air down and then reconnect it when airing up especially when I haven't run into issues, and i also go up and down the mountain with this truck as well.

 

[justinv13]

accutune is the easiest "tuner" out there but i will never ever run their stuff. Have a friend in my group got his accutune kings and they REFUSE to do their most aggressive tune for him, saying the mid tier tune is more than enough. Friend pushed for it 3 times and they said "no mid tier is fine and if you want more we can change it for you"
Guess what happened... that mid tier tune that they insisted on selling to my friend is complete useless. well at least for my group... we do half of mojave in one day, including stopping for lunch and sightseeing. Buck around too much and uncompliant in the front.
When we opened it to swap the reservoir to run Fox DSC resi, we discovered the shim stacks are the same as the off-the-shelf king's shims. There was no tuning done, only spring rate change.
then some of my customers got theirs on their broncos... same thing. can't keep up with my fox 2.5. Swapped rig to confirm it's not driver issue and... he likes how mine drives more and definitely went faster lol.

no issue with the CV at the moment at 54k miles but with the miles being piled on i may swap them out early. CV at this point is just consumables for me lol it's bound to happen, just don't know when. I also don't disconnect sway bar. Makes no sense for me to disconnect it at air down and then reconnect it when airing up especially when I haven't run into issues, and i also go up and down the mountain with this truck as well.

I'm not surprised by the experience your friend had with Accutune. On my silverado I had to send them back and have them revalve immediately and then they were perfect. I'm pretty sure they sent them with the off the shelf valving initially, but I did not pull them apart.

I agree with you on the 4" lift being a poor option for high speed. If someone was to be more trail oriented and less desert/high speed, then I could see the lift being an ideal solution. You are only going to gain clearance from larger tires, but your breakover angle is improved, which can be extremely helpful when cresting dunes, hills, rocks etc. The fuel tank skid plate on my rebel hangs down pretty low and has got me in trouble once or twice.... I've considered removing/modifying it in order to avoid getting hung up again. A lift would cure that problem, but create several others, which is not going to work for my uses.

 

[boogielander]

I'm not surprised by the experience your friend had with Accutune. On my silverado I had to send them back and have them revalve immediately and then they were perfect. I'm pretty sure they sent them with the off the shelf valving initially, but I did not pull them apart.

I agree with you on the 4" lift being a poor option for high speed. If someone was to be more trail oriented and less desert/high speed, then I could see the lift being an ideal solution. You are only going to gain clearance from larger tires, but your breakover angle is improved, which can be extremely helpful when cresting dunes, hills, rocks etc. The fuel tank skid plate on my rebel hangs down pretty low and has got me in trouble once or twice.... I've considered removing/modifying it in order to avoid getting hung up again. A lift would cure that problem, but create several others, which is not going to work for my uses.

yea lol we do our own shock services. it's not that difficult and there are plenty of information that can be obtained, it's just the right tools are expensive but they pay of themselves if you do enough of them.
Another reason I speak highly of Thuren is Don (the bossman) willing to share info and can get into a lot of technical things. Granted, he's not gonna share his "secret sauce" tuning, but if you go on enough runs with him and get on his good side, he will help you get as perfect as it gets.
having said that and having been going on runs with people who actually do high speed (some are race support for Baja and other desert races) and test ride/ test drive tuned suspensions from various tuners, here's how I tier things for Ram application:

• Generic "tuning": services like Accutune - they do all kinds of platforms but not expert at specific platform or achieving the full potential. Yes, they post technical articles, but still, their marketing is better than the actual services provided.
• Carli: Carli focuses on HD Ram and HD Ford. Their fabrication parts are good, and their shock tuning works for 80% of the people - from amateurs to the average experienced/ skilled people. But there will be rooms for improvement.
• Thuren: Focuses on Ram only. Traditionally HD Rams, but because Don got himself a RHO he's investing more in the 1500 platform now. Fabrication parts are well engineered, and the shock tuning is the best out there.

As for breakover angle... unfortunately there's no correct way to fix this problem on our platform due to how the chassis and body are designed. My breakover angle is worse than the 4Runner, and the frame actually sits closer to the ground than the 4Runner despite I'm on 35s and the 4Runner was on 33s with 2" lift. If I want to chase brakeover and ground clearance, going HD is the only correct way to fit it.

And that is why I decided to stop spending money on getting LT for this truck and instead save that money for a Power Wagon - that way, I do get the best of both worlds: clearance and angles for crawling, as well as suspension package with 13" travel in the front and 15" of travel in the rear for high speed and taking jumps.