IHC 3/5 Lowering Kit on 2020 RAM 1500 4x4

[TheFoodMan52]

jajajaja man I feel you on the bad roads, I live in Sh!tvannah Ga for now. Running through SC on 95 is a poor choice for any vehicle.

One of the things to check is the hole the sway bar end links go through on the IHC lower control arm (I heard they fixed it) the ID of the whole is to big for the sway bar link (also check if they cut the thread shorter on the link so you can properly tighten it down) I had to make a hat bushing to take up the difference.

To stop the sway bar from hitting the springs I took the sway bar to a heavy equipment repair shop that does truck springs and had them slightly spread the sway bar open. It clears the springs by 0.1500" - 0.2000" so that is good enough for me.

Roger. I'll get my pry bar and check the sway bar holes tonight, and make sure the tips are cut. I've got some fresh cutoff wheels and grinding discs so I'll be good there.

I'll check the sway bar clearance again as well and get a picture for ya.

 

[TheFoodMan52]

I found the clinkeddy noise! The sway bar ends are loose in the holes, like you said. What hat washers did you use, out of curiosity?

As for the sway bar links even being remotely close to the struts or springs, not a chance with the apparently newer 4WD kit. There is so much space, I could slide a proper sub sandwich in between there lol
The pocket for the sway bar links also accounts for the full length of the thread, so no cutting of those are needed.
The tie rods are also almost... fully level already. I do not think the bump-steer kit would provide me much, if any benefit here.
The 4WD kit appears to be somewhat radically different looking than the 2WD kit from all of the pictures that I can see, particularly with the lower strut mount!

Video of what I found here:

Also, tracked down the part number for the IHC shocks. 919500. Look to be pretty cheap boys, which explains the "bounce" I'm getting when coming to a stop since dropping them. They're perfectly serviceable while driving, but will probably hunt something better from Fox or Bilstein to match later.

From Pro-X (who seems to be the OEM) it seems the shocks have been deprecated and replaced with their newer offering here: PRO-X Twin Tube Shock Absorber - 919500B - Pro Comp

 

[TittoPollito]

I found the clinkeddy noise! The sway bar ends are loose in the holes, like you said. What hat washers did you use, out of curiosity?

As for the sway bar links even being remotely close to the struts or springs, not a chance with the apparently newer 4WD kit. There is so much space, I could slide a proper sub sandwich in between there lol
The pocket for the sway bar links also accounts for the full length of the thread, so no cutting of those are needed.
The tie rods are also almost... fully level already. I do not think the bump-steer kit would provide me much, if any benefit here.
The 4WD kit appears to be somewhat radically different looking than the 2WD kit from all of the pictures that I can see, particularly with the lower strut mount!

Video of what I found here:

Also, tracked down the part number for the IHC shocks. 919500. Look to be pretty cheap boys, which explains the "bounce" I'm getting when coming to a stop since dropping them. They're perfectly serviceable while driving, but will probably hunt something better from Fox or Bilstein to match later.

From Pro-X (who seems to be the OEM) it seems the shocks have been deprecated and replaced with their newer offering here: PRO-X Twin Tube Shock Absorber - 919500B - Pro Comp

Good to know that everything else seems to be correct!!! It does seem like the lack of trimming of that ear is your steering issue, since that setup is no where near as funky as the 2wd stuff. I machined the hat bushing I needed for the sway bar link (kind of a perk of having a fab shop in the home garage). There are a couple of other threads on here about the IHC stuff, in one of them the guy gives a Viking shocks PN to use for the rear (I believe they are for a Ford ranger). I have use Viking stuff in the past and have nothing bad to say about them

 

[TheFoodMan52]

I might have to hit you up to fab a couple of the hat bushings you made then, lube your pockets with a quick touch of PayPal grease

I would imagine the sway bar link threads are the same size from 2wd to 4wd, and it looks like the holes in the arms are the same oversized deal, relatively same depth. Lemme know if you're game for it!

 

[Rock Crawler]

Good to know that everything else seems to be correct!!! It does seem like the lack of trimming of that ear is your steering issue, since that setup is no where near as funky as the 2wd stuff. I machined the hat bushing I needed for the sway bar link (kind of a perk of having a fab shop in the home garage). There are a couple of other threads on here about the IHC stuff, in one of them the guy gives a Viking shocks PN to use for the rear (I believe they are for a Ford ranger). I have use Viking stuff in the past and have nothing bad to say about them

Unless something has changed recently, Viking told me that they don’t make anything for the 5th Gen Rams. Some of us are using the Bilstein 5100 shocks from an early 90s Ford Ranger for the rear. P/N 24-185684.

 

[TittoPollito]

Unless something has changed recently, Viking told me that they don’t make anything for the 5th Gen Rams. Some of us are using the Bilstein 5100 shocks from an early 90s Ford Ranger for the rear. P/N 24-185684.

You are correct Viking makes nothing for the 5th gen hence why I said I believe they are for the Ranger. It should be one of the following numbers (you would need to cross-reference the above PN to be sure) but they will be a bit more spendy than the Bilstein stuff or at least they were last time I really looked at prices of stuff they both offered.


@TheFoodMan52 Yeah I will knock you out a couple of bushings, it will be a few weeks as I am heading out of town this afternoon for my "real" job. You will be ok though I think I put like 4-5K miles before I did mine (also a work related emergency)

 

[TheFoodMan52]

You are correct Viking makes nothing for the 5th gen hence why I said I believe they are for the Ranger. It should be one of the following numbers (you would need to cross-reference the above PN to be sure) but they will be a bit more spendy than the Bilstein stuff or at least they were last time I really looked at prices of stuff they both offered.

View attachment 181812
@TheFoodMan52 Yeah I will knock you out a couple of bushings, it will be a few weeks as I am heading out of town this afternoon for my "real" job. You will be ok though I think I put like 4-5K miles before I did mine (also a work related emergency)

All good, I'm not taking the truck too far out currently. Only 'major' trip coming up is a drive to Atlanta for a convention coming up here on May 9th, then going back to Tallahassee. Couple hundred miles, nothing that it shouldn't be fine to handle for now.

 

[TittoPollito]

All good, I'm not taking the truck too far out currently. Only 'major' trip coming up is a drive to Atlanta for a convention coming up here on May 9th, then going back to Tallahassee. Couple hundred miles, nothing that it shouldn't be fine to handle for now.

Sorry about the delay, it seems the issue at work is keeps snowballing, I should be home the 31st. I will knock out those spacers for you some time the week of the 3rd

 

[TheFoodMan52]

Sounds good amigo, just DM me or something so I can drop you payment

 

[delosh]

Hey FoodMan - I just happened to see your thread. It's been forever since I've been on here. I've had the IHC 3/5 kit installed since mid 2020. Likely a 2WD kit only back then but they said it will work. It does. Also have the AirLift helper bags. My issues were horrible turning radius (better after grinding) and bottoming out. I cut off the OEM bump stop bracket and used the same yellow bump stops pictured earlier. I adapted Viking shocks to work but the damn knobs won't turn any more. And now one air bag or line leaks. Still bottoms out occasionally but nothing I can do about that - not cutting anything off the axle. Just thought I'd add my 4 years worth of living with the kit.

The bumpsteer kit is interesting!

Here's mine:

Delosh 2019 4x4 Bighorn Diamond Black Crystal Crew Cab build

Hey guys! I bought my RAM in June 2019 and have been slowly working on my mods over the last year. I'm a lifelong car guy with a passion for sleek design, big power and big audio. Here's what I've got so far. Custom sub enclosure with 3 Rockford Punch 10s JL Audio 900/5 in center console...

5thgenrams.com

 

[TheFoodMan52]

Hey! Cool build, I wouldn't have thought to get all of the amplifiers shoved into the center console, my plan here next month when Net Audio gets my stuff done is to mount everything on a thin MDF board to the floor under the rear bench. We're going to add 1" spacers underneath the feet of the bench seat brackets so I've got room for my 2 big boy 10" subs, then I'll be running two Phoenix Gold amps: RX1100 and 500, sub and speakers respectively.

The steering radius is just... what it is lol. There's not much you can do when there's that much geometry change going on. For bottoming out, I haven't actually bottomed out in the rear or front of the truck at all yet, at least not on the factory 20" chrome wheels with OEM spec tires. About the only annoying thing was the axle shifting to the right about 2 inches after lowering, but a core 4x4 adjustable track bar addressed that.

 

[Alter Ego Trip]

I'm curious for you guys who are lowering 4x4's. Is the relocation kit really necessary. I'd prefer not to cut up the rear axle either, and if I did, it would either be the belltech/ridetech kit as they are a lot less invasive. Only issue with them is; they aren't reversible like the IHC kit is (IHC will allow you to mount shocks back to factory locations with their brackets) so the truck would have to be sold lowered, which lowered 4x4's in my state are a bit less popular lol.

The 4x4's sit up so much higher than the 2wd's (I swear my 24 sits even higher than my 19/21 did) that I'm wondering if just cutting off the factory bumpstops and putting a shorter one in would be sufficient for a 4" rear drop without any bottoming issues. I'm also wondering if you wouldn't have the high speed sway issues with the 4x4's either. From pictures, it almost looks like a 2/4 kit on a 4x4 doesn't sit a lot lower than a stock 2wd.