Practical upgrades

[CHeYeNNe71]

Great choice. I'll be grabbing the RC 3.5 Arms when I'm ready.

 

[Scram1500]

Looks like the factory lift upper control arms are on national back order. Will be ordering Core 4x4 instead. I’ll make a post for final install once everything comes in.

I was able to order the Mopar Lift uca's from Rockauto

 

[phoenixfire1212]

I was able to order the Mopar Lift uca's from Rockauto

So you have a link to what you ordered?

 

[Scram1500]

So you have a link to what you ordered?

When I searched for my year (2020) the parts didn't show up for whatever reason so I just used the search function on their website and put in the Mopar part number. The part is there if you look under 2021

MOPAR 68323530AA Control Arm | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

MOPAR 68323531AA Control Arm | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

 

[User_26887]

Still waiting on the struts. Everything else came in. Not to beat a dead horse, but has anyone had experience using the stock length Suspensionmaxx end links for the front end vs upgrading to the longer links?

 

[boogielander]

Still waiting on the struts. Everything else came in. Not to beat a dead horse, but has anyone had experience using the stock length Suspensionmaxx end links for the front end vs upgrading to the longer links?

you don't really need to do the front if you are doing 2-3".
for the rear it's different story.

 

[User_26887]

Excellent. Hopefully everything else comes in and I can give an update. My plan is to provide a summary of a before and after so everyone can have a reference post for this thread.

 

[User_26887]

Just dropped my Ram off with all the parts for install. It’s a local business familiar with levels/lifts.

Should be a day or two (depending on lift availability). I’ll try to finish a detailed write up in the next week or two; things have been pretty hectic lately.

 

[User_26887]

Picked it up today.

Initial impression (25 miles of mixed driving) are great.

First, for measurements:

Starting heights (before and after measured from the same parking spot and full fuel tank each time).

Rear wheel wells measured at 38.2 now measure at 40.5 (+2.2-2.3)

Front measured at 36.2 and now are just under/at 39 (+2.6-2.8 ish) leaving a 1.5” rake.

One difference to note is it was almost 40 degrees warmer than when the before measurements were taken but I haven’t lowered my tire pressure yet since the temps are going to drop that far tonight. I don’t know how much the diameter difference is at this time.
We also had 40+ mph wind gusts. It didn’t seem rock as much or fast when hit broadside.

I’ll bet these settle around a half inch or so with time and if they do, it’ll be right on the higher end of my original estimate.

The suspension is firmer but smoother. I drove my daily route without any issues and didn’t bottom out like the factory struts did. On rough side-roads (35-45 mph) these eat up bumps/potholes and train track crossings with no problem.

On the highway,(70 mph) you can feel the concrete a bit more than factory. My buddy dropped me off in his 2021/2022 2500 Laramie with air ride. It’s very comparable but the Laramie had a harsh bottom on larger bumps (bridge abutments). I have no idea what his pressure was set at. These don’t have that.

Just for clarity, these do NOT increase payload or towing capacity. They just make handling and driving nicer with hopefully better/longer lasting performance/parts life.

Large dips on either side of bridges create a smooth drop and rebound, then it stops. There is no second or third rebound to float through. I drove a 2024 2500 tradesman that would porpoise even on decent roads when empty. Didn’t notice anything like that either.

I noticed washboard gravel didn’t make anything hop or rattle between 20-45 mph. If you push it it probably will. There is a consistent rumble as you can feel the struts/shocks doing their job but no sideways movement noted. You’ll notice the steering is more responsive and need to adjust steering speeds to avoid oversteering on loose/slick surfaces.

These 6112/5100 in the rear keep all four wheels planted. When pulling away and turning right on from gravel covered pavement, the 392s didn’t seem to spin as easily. Time will tell on that one.

The installer said everything aligned very well using the factory lift kit specs and didn’t see any contact; UCA/BJ angles looked good at full extension. Clearance between the UCA and tire is approximately 3/4-1” at ride height. The struts did have ABS line relocating brackets with the 6112s. He did say the rear sway bar links were a tight fit to re-install.

The only weight through all of this was the old parts in the bed. Only heard them side/clunk over the train tracks.

I’ll try to post some more later. It’ll look like the tires are too small since I just bought factory sized 275/65/18s. I’ll bump those up to 33’s/34s on the next set.

I’ll try to do another update in a week or two. I need to haul a couple of 1500-1700 lb loads later this spring. I’ll do one with and without the Timbrens. Probably won’t be pulling anything for a while so I probably won’t have any information on that.

The only immediate adjustment I need to make is the garage door manual release rope length so it doesn’t drag across the top of my cab.

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

The 6112's give a slightly better ride then the 5100's in front. I've ran both. I'm sure you'll be enjoying them for a long time. I would jump to 34's when you do.

 

[User_26887]

I have a bit over 500 miles since the install; replaced the Suspensionmaxx stock links with their links for leveled pickups. They should be included on most leveling applications, especially if you’re running stock links.

The biggest differences are they reduce the harshness on any large bumps that have a sharp drop/rise. Think of a steep edged pot hole or a large seem between concrete slabs. They don’t seem to do too much against seams between concrete slabs at freeway speeds but you can tell that the porpoising is slightly smoother.

I am dealing with another intermittent clunk probably from the brakes. I also ended up retorquing all touched components to the factory lift specifications. I loosened the UCA upper bolts and lower control arm strut mounts and torqued them from the ground thinking that the shop may have done this in the air resulting in a higher than expected lift. See the previous posts for measurements. I let those components sit loose for an 30 minutes while under its own weight before re-tightening. No change in the ride height after the initial install. I’ll retighten these after another 500 miles.

It still worked out if my pickup doesn’t settle with time but you may want to take an additional 1/2-3/4 than expected lift up front with 6112s when calculating what to do with the rear to ensure some rake if desired. It may just take more time to settle too.

No obvious signs of alignment issues nor UCA contacting with the OEM upgrade RC UCAs and a 2.5-2.8 lift. I haven’t had these at max droop that I can tell for now. I’ll post after a few more miles (next oil change/tire rotation is in 2,500).

 

[User_26887]

Just hit 1,500 miles and so far so good. No noticeable changes in height so far. Only had a couple of trips with about 700 lbs in the bed. The rear coils sagged about 1.5 inches making the pickup perfectly level. I had Timbrens on the rear axle but they didn’t make contact. The gap is 3” unloaded. Ordered the spacer kit and will install that when it comes in.

 

[blutsband]

How necessary is the adjustable rear track bar for a 1-1.5” lift? I’m assuming it is for alignment purposes since Ram adds one for a 2” lift and I’m doing 75% of the same lift in the rear.

 

[Redz72]

Lifting the rear 1-1.5” is not that crazy. So for me, I did not opt for a longer track bar or bracket at this time. If I go to 3.5+ inches in the future, I would include an adjustable track bar from Core 4x4.

I currently run 1” Motofab spacers in the rear and have zero issues. I will be installing Bilstein B12 1.5” coils and shocks in the next few weeks and don’t anticipate an issue with this minimal lift either. Just my .02.

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

Lifting the rear 1-1.5” is not that crazy. So for me, I did not opt for a longer track bar or bracket at this time. If I go to 3.5+ inches in the future, I would include an adjustable track bar from Core 4x4.

I currently run 1” Motofab spacers in the rear and have zero issues. I will be installing Bilstein B12 1.5” coils and shocks in the next few weeks and don’t anticipate an issue with this minimal lift either. Just my .02.

Just curios, can you measure the difference side to side in the rear how much each wheel sticks out from the wheel well?
I personally am upgrading the rear arms, panhard, sway bar and links w/ CORE4X4. I'm only going around 1.5 as well, but have over 80K miles and only doing this once with all new stuff. Same with front, replacing lower arms with Mevotech TTX and links with SuspensionMaxx. Then I'm good for the next 80K+ miles.

 

[Redz72]

Just curios, can you measure the difference side to side in the rear how much each wheel sticks out from the wheel well?
I personally am upgrading the rear arms, panhard, sway bar and links w/ CORE4X4. I'm only going around 1.5 as well, but have over 80K miles and only doing this once with all new stuff. Same with front, replacing lower arms with Mevotech TTX and links with SuspensionMaxx. Then I'm good for the next 80K+ miles.

I’ll do that for ya. I’ll snap a couple pictures as well before and after the 1.5” Coil install. With the 1” Motofab lift I currently have, I don’t have any noticeable heavy poke one side over the other. But I’ll take a closer look if the rain lets up in the next three days here in the beautiful North East. Lol.

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

I’ll do that for ya. I’ll snap a couple pictures as well before and after the 1.5” Coil install. With the 1” Motofab lift I currently have, I don’t have any noticeable heavy poke one side over the other. But I’ll take a closer look if the rain lets up in the next three days here in the beautiful North East. Lol.

Thanks! Yeah I know it's supposed to rain for the next few days here with a possible of snow thrown in, good old IL!

 

[boogielander]

How necessary is the adjustable rear track bar for a 1-1.5” lift? I’m assuming it is for alignment purposes since Ram adds one for a 2” lift and I’m doing 75% of the same lift in the rear.

not really necessary.
if Carli doesn't offer it, then there's no need for it.

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

How necessary is the adjustable rear track bar for a 1-1.5” lift? I’m assuming it is for alignment purposes since Ram adds one for a 2” lift and I’m doing 75% of the same lift in the rear.

Alignment, plus the angle of the panhard. You want to keep the bar parallel as much as possible. Carli on the 4th Gen sold a drop bracket for this reason. Mopar used to as well with the 4th Gen/ 5th Gen kit.

 

[mplaramie]

Alignment, plus the angle of the panhard. You want to keep the bar parallel as much as possible. Carli on the 4th Gen sold a drop bracket for this reason. Mopar used to as well with the 4th Gen kit. I'm not sure why they don't with the 5th Gen.

I'm doing the same set up with the BDS 3" and CORE4X4 rear kit. Went with the adjustable trackbar and also grabbed the trackbar bracket from the 2" Mopar Lift Kit. This way I'm covered no matter what.