Towing with Fox 2.5 DSC shocks? (might purchase shocks soon)

[Atreides]

I have a 23’ Ram 1500 Laramie 5.7, and I‘m looking at getting Fox 2.5 dsc 2-3” lift coilovers and the matching 0-2” rears. I tow a 5k# travel trailer quite a bit with a net truck payload of 1,400# and one of the hopes I had is that I could change the DSC when I tow to get better performance than the stock shocks which can’t handle the payload well in my opinion. I have Timber Grove airbags in the rear (1k miles on them and love them so far) and even with a WD hitch the rear end still bounces around more than I’d like, which is the shock “performance” I’d like to improve (not the airbags fault).

If I purchase the kit, the full setup would be:
- Fox 2.5 DSC 2-3” lift front coilovers (FOX-883-06-166)
- 550# front coil spring
- ICON UCA’s (not tied to these, but I do like the Delta joint design)
- Fox 2.5 DSC 0-2”lift rear (FOX-883-26-079)
- Stock rear spring
- Timber Grove rear airbags (currently installed)
- ReCurve R3 weight distribution hitch

Below are my expectations/hopes and I’m curious if others think I’m on the right track, or won’t get what I’m hoping for…

1. Current rake (not towing, “daily driving”) with airbags@5psi is 3.25”. So I want to lift the front end with the coilovers by 2.5” which would net a 0.75” rake (mostly “level”)
2. Drive around with no load in truck and dial in my “daily driving” DSC settings
3. For towing, I’ll inflate the airbags to match the front gap (or a bit more in rear) current estimation would be 30 psi
4. Drive with the trailer and dial in my “towing“ DSC settings (when towing our trailer the payload is mostly the same for every trip)
5. Change the DSC settings to my preferred level when I tow, and when not towing (not sure how hard this will be given reservoir locations)
6. Between daily driving, and towing, by changing the DSC settings, I’ll get noticeably different shock performance

Appreciate any experience or opinions as I don’t want to drop $4,500 on suspension and be off-my-rocker on my expectations

Cheers

 

[H2OMAN]

They will work great for you. You need to adjust them until you find your best road setting, off road settings, and then tow settings. Excellent call on the Icon Delta Joints. For another $300 you could do read springs that are progressive and really help you out with all of your needs.

 

[Atreides]

For another $300 you could do read springs that are progressive and really help you out with all of your needs.

Thanks for the info and feedback, much appreciated.

For progressive rear springs, do you have any suggestions on ones to look at, or spring rates to look for?

 

[H2OMAN]

I don't know any of the rates but, Icon, Carli, and Eibach seem pretty popular and well liked.

 

[TittoPollito]

So I know this is a little different than what your plans are but here is what I have and I tow an 8.5 x 20 tandem axle enclosed trailer that weighs between 6500 - 7200 depending on how long/far we are going racing. 2021 Crew Cab lowered w/ airlift 1000 in coil bags ( set to 25/35 psi with the trailer hooked up swapping these in a couple months as they don't perform exactly as I would like) and the Teraflex/Falcon front and rear shocks/struts with the tow dampening adjustment, I also have a Curt Anti sway/WDH. I towed the trailer with everything but the shock package for about 3,500 miles and it had a lot of bounce and unpredictable movements. After adding the shocks and setting them to the number 3 preset it is much more predictable and stable feeling, I will be doing the hellwig sway bar and bag update once I get through with the wifes home updates.

 

[H2OMAN]

So I know this is a little different than what your plans are but here is what I have and I tow an 8.5 x 20 tandem axle enclosed trailer that weighs between 6500 - 7200 depending on how long/far we are going racing. 2021 Crew Cab lowered w/ airlift 1000 in coil bags ( set to 25/35 psi with the trailer hooked up swapping these in a couple months as they don't perform exactly as I would like) and the Teraflex/Falcon front and rear shocks/struts with the tow dampening adjustment, I also have a Curt Anti sway/WDH. I towed the trailer with everything but the shock package for about 3,500 miles and it had a lot of bounce and unpredictable movements. After adding the shocks and setting them to the number 3 preset it is much more predictable and stable feeling, I will be doing the hellwig sway bar and bag update once I get through with the wifes home updates.

This is not a bad idea.

 

[Atreides]

the Teraflex/Falcon front and rear shocks/struts with the tow dampening adjustment

thanks for the feedback, and helps confirm that what I’m wanting to do should work. I just looked at the Teraflex / Falcon site and those shocks seem legit. I entered in my year (2023) and it looks like they don’t offer anything past 2020 for the Ram 1500, which they confim in fitment notes. Looks like a great system though.

Regarding airbags, have you picked anything out yet? If not, I recommend looking at Timber Grove. That was the only kit I could find that was fully bolt-on and didn’t require cutting, and awesome that its stainless at that price. The only thing is at 5 psi (their recommended minimum pressure) it raises my rear end up 0.5”, so the rake is even more pronounced and is what got me looking at front coilovers. My truck looks rediculous at 30 psi in the bags and no trailer… haha

 

[TittoPollito]

thanks for the feedback, and helps confirm that what I’m wanting to do should work. I just looked at the Teraflex / Falcon site and those shocks seem legit. I entered in my year (2023) and it looks like they don’t offer anything past 2020 for the Ram 1500, which they confim in fitment notes. Looks like a great system though.

Regarding airbags, have you picked anything out yet? If not, I recommend looking at Timber Grove. That was the only kit I could find that was fully bolt-on and didn’t require cutting, and awesome that its stainless at that price. The only thing is at 5 psi (their recommended minimum pressure) it raises my rear end up 0.5”, so the rake is even more pronounced and is what got me looking at front coilovers. My truck looks rediculous at 30 psi in the bags and no trailer… haha

I have a 2021, i called and talked to them before my order, zero fitment issues. I am 99.9% sure the ‘23 uses the same suspension part numbers as the ‘19+ so it should work in my head lol. I was going to go with the timber groves but my IHC drop kit has the bump stops cut out already so I will probably run the air lift bags that fit in that spot and you have to cut the stops for that kit anyway.