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Looking For Tips on First Time Lift - 2020 Ram Rebel

boogielander

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Carli kit is great, but since you're offroading occasionally I'd say go with Fox 2.5.
Here's my set up:
-Fox 2.5 front and rear. Extended travel optioned.
-Carli UCA, Carli Rear Coils, Carli Rear End Links.

I don't know how much that would cost you in parts total though.

I did the work myself over Christmas week at the shop in El Monte, CA. Did the whole thing in 6 hours just because I was figuring it out as I went. The hardest part for me was to get the steering knuckle off the stock UCA and putting together (greasing all the joints and stuff) the Carli UCA. Other than that everything was easy and straight forward. The beauty of doing it on a lift is that rear wheels didn't have to come off, which saved some time and energy and helped with the rear spring install. IMG_2044.jpg IMG_2114.jpg

Ride review:
On road- I set the low speed compression at max and high speed compression at the minimum, and on road ride was very compliant, cushy, and comfortable. It was better than stock, especially with my set up (bed rack, decked drawer, rotopax, maxtrax, and a 200lb+ RTT)

Off road, desert higher speed trails- I cranked up the high speed compression to click 5 (of 11), max low speed compression. Going through desert terrains such as whoops and washboards were AWESOME. Even though I only went as fast as 30 going through whoops section and 40 through washboard sections (due to bed rack vibing on its own - fasteners problem and those speed were the max I could go without bed rack started to vibe on its own), the ride was comfortable and cushy. Suspension did its job soaking up the washboard surface and made it smoother than 405 freeway (or any major freeway in california) just cruising at 40, while other non-race shock builders' shocks would probably need to go 50-60 to skip through the uneven surface. On whoops sections, I didn't have a lot of up and down travel inside the cab or in the bed. Suspension took care of majority of those vertical travel before the occupant could feel it.

Comparison with Bilsteins:
I never had Bilstein 5100s on my Ram but I did have them on my previous rig- a 4Runner. I know it's different platform and people may say it is a different experience, but let me tell you this: they are going to perform the same, even on different platforms.
5100s are less than 2inches in diameter (1.8in, to be precise), which limits the amount of shock fluid inside. This reduces the dampening ability when compared to 2.5in shocks like King (or Carli Performance kit, which is King shocks but revalved by Carli) or Fox 2.5. Which means, when you're going offroad, especially on forest service roads or washboard surfaces, you will feel more vibration/ less dampening just because of smaller shock body. Then there's also heat. When you go offroad, your suspension cycles quite a lot faster and often than when you're on pavement. That produces heat, and heat is absorbed by your shock fluid. With a smaller diameter shock, heat absorption ability is less simply because there's less liquid in there. When your shock fluid overheats, you will have suspension fade. Much like brake fade when brakes overheat, your suspension cannot do its job when overheat and will even reduce your suspension performance and life.
On my 4R, going through desert terrains or even going offroad for extended hours was not pleasant, as my shocks heated up too fast and performance dropped quick. thumbnail_IMG_2713 (1).jpg
And landing of that was not fun at all. It was rough. It was stiff like I had track car suspension. Stuff were bouncing around in the 4R and I caught a secondary air after I landed. Luckily no airbag deployed and no damage sustained.
And a year later, my Bilsteins just blew. So I switched to King after and it was 100 times better.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you can afford it and if you go wheel, go nothing less than King (or Carli King) or Fox 2.5. Skip the 2.0 or anything under because quite frankly, you rather have the performance capability and not use it, than to not have the performance capability when you want them (in the future) and not have them.
 

Vulpes

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Carli kit is great, but since you're offroading occasionally I'd say go with Fox 2.5.
Here's my set up:
-Fox 2.5 front and rear. Extended travel optioned.
-Carli UCA, Carli Rear Coils, Carli Rear End Links.

I don't know how much that would cost you in parts total though.

I did the work myself over Christmas week at the shop in El Monte, CA. Did the whole thing in 6 hours just because I was figuring it out as I went. The hardest part for me was to get the steering knuckle off the stock UCA and putting together (greasing all the joints and stuff) the Carli UCA. Other than that everything was easy and straight forward. The beauty of doing it on a lift is that rear wheels didn't have to come off, which saved some time and energy and helped with the rear spring install. View attachment 148022 View attachment 148023

Ride review:
On road- I set the low speed compression at max and high speed compression at the minimum, and on road ride was very compliant, cushy, and comfortable. It was better than stock, especially with my set up (bed rack, decked drawer, rotopax, maxtrax, and a 200lb+ RTT)

Off road, desert higher speed trails- I cranked up the high speed compression to click 5 (of 11), max low speed compression. Going through desert terrains such as whoops and washboards were AWESOME. Even though I only went as fast as 30 going through whoops section and 40 through washboard sections (due to bed rack vibing on its own - fasteners problem and those speed were the max I could go without bed rack started to vibe on its own), the ride was comfortable and cushy. Suspension did its job soaking up the washboard surface and made it smoother than 405 freeway (or any major freeway in california) just cruising at 40, while other non-race shock builders' shocks would probably need to go 50-60 to skip through the uneven surface. On whoops sections, I didn't have a lot of up and down travel inside the cab or in the bed. Suspension took care of majority of those vertical travel before the occupant could feel it.

Comparison with Bilsteins:
I never had Bilstein 5100s on my Ram but I did have them on my previous rig- a 4Runner. I know it's different platform and people may say it is a different experience, but let me tell you this: they are going to perform the same, even on different platforms.
5100s are less than 2inches in diameter (1.8in, to be precise), which limits the amount of shock fluid inside. This reduces the dampening ability when compared to 2.5in shocks like King (or Carli Performance kit, which is King shocks but revalved by Carli) or Fox 2.5. Which means, when you're going offroad, especially on forest service roads or washboard surfaces, you will feel more vibration/ less dampening just because of smaller shock body. Then there's also heat. When you go offroad, your suspension cycles quite a lot faster and often than when you're on pavement. That produces heat, and heat is absorbed by your shock fluid. With a smaller diameter shock, heat absorption ability is less simply because there's less liquid in there. When your shock fluid overheats, you will have suspension fade. Much like brake fade when brakes overheat, your suspension cannot do its job when overheat and will even reduce your suspension performance and life.
On my 4R, going through desert terrains or even going offroad for extended hours was not pleasant, as my shocks heated up too fast and performance dropped quick. View attachment 148026
And landing of that was not fun at all. It was rough. It was stiff like I had track car suspension. Stuff were bouncing around in the 4R and I caught a secondary air after I landed. Luckily no airbag deployed and no damage sustained.
And a year later, my Bilsteins just blew. So I switched to King after and it was 100 times better.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you can afford it and if you go wheel, go nothing less than King (or Carli King) or Fox 2.5. Skip the 2.0 or anything under because quite frankly, you rather have the performance capability and not use it, than to not have the performance capability when you want them (in the future) and not have them.
Great pics of your RAM, and holy crap, air! Great rundown on shock size/operation. Wish I had a lift, took me about 12 hours in a dirt driveway. Found the Carli installation instructions to be detailed and incredibly helpful.
 

boogielander

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Great pics of your RAM, and holy crap, air! Great rundown on shock size/operation. Wish I had a lift, took me about 12 hours in a dirt driveway. Found the Carli installation instructions to be detailed and incredibly helpful.
yeah when it comes to put together the Carli bits their instructions were clear as day. Through my career of installing stuff, there are times I had to resort to multiple videos on YT to see how others do it just because the instruction books are not clear.
Most recent one is an Expedition One rear bumper on a GX460, and there was no other information on installation other than a vague booklet with some cellphone quality pictures printed in black and white lol. but i digress.

Anyways, the Ram lift was a lot easier to install than I expected. Only thing I wasn't sure about the whole process was the Fox preload setting and I chose to just go with whatever they came with, only loosen the passenger side shock to turn the set screw to face outside in case I needed to adjust it.
 

Vulpes

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yeah when it comes to put together the Carli bits their instructions were clear as day. Through my career of installing stuff, there are times I had to resort to multiple videos on YT to see how others do it just because the instruction books are not clear.
Most recent one is an Expedition One rear bumper on a GX460, and there was no other information on installation other than a vague booklet with some cellphone quality pictures printed in black and white lol. but i digress.

Anyways, the Ram lift was a lot easier to install than I expected. Only thing I wasn't sure about the whole process was the Fox preload setting and I chose to just go with whatever they came with, only loosen the passenger side shock to turn the set screw to face outside in case I needed to adjust it.
I have heard that the Expedition One bumpers lacked, anything like instructions. But, who doesn't love a good puzzle!

Went with the King option and they are not adjustable, so a tad simpler. Ended up modifying a Harbor Freight puller to fit over the extra large UCA spindle bolt.
The install really only had one issue. If anybody goes King shocks, make sure all their fittings are tight right out of the box, and check the packaging for leaked oil. This happened to me.
 

boogielander

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I have heard that the Expedition One bumpers lacked, anything like instructions. But, who doesn't love a good puzzle!

Went with the King option and they are not adjustable, so a tad simpler. Ended up modifying a Harbor Freight puller to fit over the extra large UCA spindle bolt.
The install really only had one issue. If anybody goes King shocks, make sure all their fittings are tight right out of the box, and check the packaging for leaked oil. This happened to me.
for the price they are charging I'd expect a decent set of instructions lol.
On that particular GX, it came with 3 booklets of instructions for bumper install, hatch piece install, and reverse cam install. I have no complains about those, but my biggest complain was the lack of clear instructions regarding bolts and nuts used in each step because they came with a lot of hardware and clear pictures of how things should look.

You can always change the resi to adjustable ones later down the line but that does require $$. However, if you have Carli spec Kings then no adjusters are needed as their valving is great already.

Also, regarding leaked oil. Make sure if check the PSI on the nitro gas too if you can. The PSI level plays a part in your shock performance as well.
 

Vulpes

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for the price they are charging I'd expect a decent set of instructions lol.
On that particular GX, it came with 3 booklets of instructions for bumper install, hatch piece install, and reverse cam install. I have no complains about those, but my biggest complain was the lack of clear instructions regarding bolts and nuts used in each step because they came with a lot of hardware and clear pictures of how things should look.

You can always change the resi to adjustable ones later down the line but that does require $$. However, if you have Carli spec Kings then no adjusters are needed as their valving is great already.

Also, regarding leaked oil. Make sure if check the PSI on the nitro gas too if you can. The PSI level plays a part in your shock performance as well.
Oh the dreaded: "bag of misc bolts/nuts" and $$$$, and no direction, it certainly make things more challenging and a potential for failure later.

So I bought the system from CJC, and told them about the leak. They were very responsive and told me to bring it by their shop. After I got the wheels on, I drove it down and they checked it and the PSI for free, it was good.
 

boogielander

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Oh the dreaded: "bag of misc bolts/nuts" and $$$$, and no direction, it certainly make things more challenging and a potential for failure later.

So I bought the system from CJC, and told them about the leak. They were very responsive and told me to bring it by their shop. After I got the wheels on, I drove it down and they checked it and the PSI for free, it was good.
yeah usually we can do a bumper install with electrical wiring (bumper pods/ reverse lights) in 2 days. This one is dragging on to the fourth day, especially with the hatch connection. not a big fan of it.

CJC people are nice. they are knowledgeable and customer support is outstanding! yeap confirmed you have Carli performance pack, so no adjusters are needed for your kings.
 
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Based on your described usage, I'd go with Bilstien 5100's for a front level, and put the 35" tires on your stock wheels. Unless you want new wheels.
Good morning I just purchased the 5100's front and rear and Falken 295/70R18 Wildpeak AT Tires. I have a question. What ring should I place the front shocks on to fit the 35" tires. I am going to install these myself this weekend. Any help is appreciated.
 

HSKR R/T

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Good morning I just purchased the 5100's front and rear and Falken 295/70R18 Wildpeak AT Tires. I have a question. What ring should I place the front shocks on to fit the 35" tires. I am going to install these myself this weekend. Any help is appreciated.
If you have the factory Off Road Group springs then clip 4. Otherwise whatever the instructions recommend for stock height. I think it's clip 6
 

H2OMAN

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Good morning I just purchased the 5100's front and rear and Falken 295/70R18 Wildpeak AT Tires. I have a question. What ring should I place the front shocks on to fit the 35" tires. I am going to install these myself this weekend. Any help is appreciated.
If you have the orp Bilstein says not to go above ring 5. But that gives you 3" of lift.
 
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If you have the orp Bilstein says not to go above ring 5. But that gives you 3" of lift.
Thank you guys, yea I just unboxed and watched a couple videos so ring 5 it is. Also I just bought the Falken Wild Peaks 295/70R18 and will be mounting these on my Stock Wheels. With the 5100's I should have no issue fitting these 35"s correct? Also are new upper control arms required for this to fit 35s? I have the tires showing up this Saturday and was hoping to install the lift on Saturday and take the wheels to a shop to mount balance and align. I just want to make sure I shouldn't have any hiccups.
 

HSKR R/T

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If you have the orp Bilstein says not to go above ring 5. But that gives you 3" of lift.
Actually, Bilstien says not to go above clip 4 without changing UCAs, when you have ORP springs
 

HSKR R/T

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Thank you guys, yea I just unboxed and watched a couple videos so ring 5 it is. Also I just bought the Falken Wild Peaks 295/70R18 and will be mounting these on my Stock Wheels. With the 5100's I should have no issue fitting these 35"s correct? Also are new upper control arms required for this to fit 35s? I have the tires showing up this Saturday and was hoping to install the lift on Saturday and take the wheels to a shop to mount balance and align. I just want to make sure I shouldn't have any hiccups.
The tires don't have any effect on if you need new UCAs or not, it's the amount of lift you have
 
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Actually, Bilstien says not to go above clip 4 without changing UCAs, when you have ORP springs
Looking at the instructions I don't see anything explicitly saying that UCA are required past ring 4? I mean it says do not go past ring 5 with the rebel ORP... Im assuming it will be okay? Thoughts?



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