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Your choice in leveling kit, and would you do it again?

GrayRam20

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I had the Mopar 2" lift newer version with less rake. It rode like the stock setup and I was never disappointed,
also had 34"ridge grapplers on it. and cost less then $3,500 installed at dealer for warranty. i put


That setup rode smooth as stock and looked really good without looking over done. n still got decent mpgs.

k miles on that and never had an issue tires were wearing great and even. prob had half life left on tires

but i have brand new in box level kit $40 KPS brand
 

Rau

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I was looking at this kit from Amazon. It has 3.5” front spacers, UCAs and 2” rear spacers. I found out that their front spacers consist of two parts: one goes on top of the strut and the second one inside the spring assembly and it increases the spring rate. I am not sure if I want that if I want to keep stock smoothness of the suspension.

The question is if it ok to replace front spacers with the ones that sold for leveling to keep spring compression rate.

Readylift 2019-2020 Compatible with Dodge Ram 1500 3.5" SST Lift Kit 69-1935 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZHLXC3J/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_RHGJNYPYDHJ87AH34QKW

These are the leveling pucks I mentioned above:

Fits 2006-2020 Dodge Ram 1500 3.5" Front Leveling Lift Kit 4WD -Street Dirt Track- Front Strut Spacers (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RR3K4XC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_65KHX526QNATX39QRCK1


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PTL294

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Just re-read through, and so much has changed since I last posted. I now have an ORG truck (1” higher springs in rear) with Fox 2.0 IFP struts set at 2 inches and motofab half-inch tophat spacer. I also have Rough Country UCA’s. With the weight of the ecodiesel, I’m still 1 inch lower in the front than the rear. I think I’m going to adjust the preload on the coil overs to get a full 3 inches sometime this summer.
@Rau I think in your case, leveling the front in airbags in the rear would be perfect for you if you want to keep the leveled look but not have too much squatting with a load.
I ordered the Fox 2.0 coils upfront just waiting for them to come in. Allegedly sometime this month. I also got 1.5” Icon springs w/ Icon shocks in the rear. Non ORP on a 22 Ram QC. I thought about doing UCA’s and a 1/2” spacer up front on top of the Fox’s. I want a little rake cause I tow and use the bed, but not a ton. Do you like that set up? I could also just crank the preload a bit. I over analyze the crap out of all this. Haha
 

djevox

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I ordered the Fox 2.0 coils upfront just waiting for them to come in. Allegedly sometime this month. I also got 1.5” Icon springs w/ Icon shocks in the rear. Non ORP on a 22 Ram QC. I thought about doing UCA’s and a 1/2” spacer up front on top of the Fox’s. I want a little rake cause I tow and use the bed, but not a ton. Do you like that set up? I could also just crank the preload a bit. I over analyze the crap out of all this. Haha
I don’t think you’re over analyzing – that’s exactly what I did when I came to my conclusions. Now that I’ve put about 1000 or so miles on this set up, I honestly think it’s under dampened for road use and a little spongy.

That being said, it rides better than my stock ORG suspension. I think there’s room for adjusting preload on the springs that will strike a nice balance between a bit firmer ride but still smooth on the road. I have already had to adjust the driver side preload higher than the passenger side to account for the extra weight of the ecodiesel’s components.

When I make more adjustments in a month or so, I will remove the tophat spacer and just add preload to the springs. It’s a 2:1 adjustment, so adjusting the preload collar by a 1/2” results in a 1” lift- that means you only need to adjust preload by 1/4” to make up the difference of the 1/2” tophat spacers.

The only kicker to all that is the coils are so tight that to make adjustments to the quick collar you need a floor press with a bearing splitter adapter, or a modified wall mounted strut compressor. That means you have to pull the coilovers each time you want to make an adjustment. Kind of a pita.

Edit: I guess there is a third option for adjustments. If a jack was placed under the lower control arm with slight pressure and a pair of modified coil spring compressors were used, I could probably achieve what I need without removing the coilover. I would just have to keep my hands away from things and wear a good face shield. While pretty sketchy, the advantage to this is that if something slips, nothing is flying apart. The coil spring compressors would get bound up in the spring, and the coilover is bolted in. The more I think about that, the more it seems like I should try it.
 
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PTL294

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I don’t think you’re over analyzing – that’s exactly what I did when I came to my conclusions. Now that I’ve put about 1000 or so miles on this set up, I honestly think it’s under dampened for road use and a little spongy.

That being said, it rides better than my stock ORG suspension. I think there’s room for adjusting preload on the springs that will strike a nice balance between a bit firmer ride but still smooth on the road. I have already had to adjust the driver side preload higher than the passenger side to account for the extra weight of the ecodiesel’s components.

When I make more adjustments in a month or so, I will remove the tophat spacer and just add preload to the springs. It’s a 2:1 adjustment, so adjusting the preload collar by a 1/2” results in a 1” lift- that means you only need to adjust preload by 1/4” to make up the difference of the 1/2” tophat spacers.

The only kicker to all that is the coils are so tight that to make adjustments to the quick collar you need a floor press with a bearing splitter adapter, or a modified wall mounted strut compressor. That means you have to pull the coilovers each time you want to make an adjustment. Kind of a pita.

Edit: I guess there is a third option for adjustments. If a jack was placed under the lower control arm with slight pressure and a pair of modified coil spring compressors were used, I could probably achieve what I need without removing the coilover. I would just have to keep my hands away from things and wear a good face shield. While pretty sketchy, the advantage to this is that if something slips, nothing is flying apart. The coil spring compressors would get bound up in the spring, and the coilover is bolted in. The more I think about that, the more it seems like I should try it.
I guess I’ll make the adjustments prior to install and hope for the best! Thanks for the heads up. How many turns to get the .5? If I only wanted say 2.25 is there a ratio of turns to inches? Thanks for all the info. Now I just need the damn springs. I live in a 500 sqft cottage and my living room is over run with parts waiting to go in. Plus the waiting is making me spend more money! I’m about to order some UCA’s while I wait for the springs.
 

djevox

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I guess I’ll make the adjustments prior to install and hope for the best! Thanks for the heads up. How many turns to get the .5? If I only wanted say 2.25 is there a ratio of turns to inches? Thanks for all the info. Now I just need the damn springs. I live in a 500 sqft cottage and my living room is over run with parts waiting to go in. Plus the waiting is making me spend more money! I’m about to order some UCA’s while I wait for the springs.
You can measure either from the eyelet to the lower coil mount, or from the bottom of the shock body to the lower coil mount. Adjusting to 2.25” would be 1.125” of adjustment on the collar. Keep in mind the settling under the weight of the truck, so there’s going to be some trial and error. You can call Fox Suspension and they have a tech department that will help if you need it also.
 

Rau

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Just re-read through, and so much has changed since I last posted. I now have an ORG truck (1” higher springs in rear) with Fox 2.0 IFP struts set at 2 inches and motofab half-inch tophat spacer. I also have Rough Country UCA’s. With the weight of the ecodiesel, I’m still 1 inch lower in the front than the rear. I think I’m going to adjust the preload on the coil overs to get a full 3 inches sometime this summer.
@Rau I think in your case, leveling the front in airbags in the rear would be perfect for you if you want to keep the leveled look but not have too much squatting with a load.

I think so too. The question is how much level I can add in front with airbags in rear wheels.

I wanted to install timber grove airbags, because they require no cut or other modification and I was told they will give a bit of raise in the back with suggested 5-7 psi when empty.

Will that be enough for combination with 3.5” spacers in front to have the truck in level or near level? I actually don’t mind if I have 0.5”-1” higher in the back.


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djevox

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I think so too. The question is how much level I can add in front with airbags in rear wheels.

I wanted to install timber grove airbags, because they require no cut or other modification and I was told they will give a bit of raise in the back with suggested 5-7 psi when empty.

Will that be enough for combination with 3.5” spacers in front to have the truck in level or near level? I actually don’t mind if I have 0.5”-1” higher in the back.


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Edit: oops, the info below is for Kelderman because I was just talking to them on the phone earlier. (no, the kit’s not out yet from them)

Theoretically, you have infinite options with Timber Grove within the constraints of the geometry. I say that because all you have to do is call them and they’ll design what you want. I’m considering getting at least their bag brackets (or maybe a full kit soon). To answer that question, the Front looks level with the rear at ~2” front lift, so you’ll need the rear to be at least 1.5” higher for the 3.5” front lift.
 
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Essbaum

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I installed 3.5” lift kit and now my rear is 2” higher than it used to be.

The question is do I need a special upgrade to install airlift 5000 from the link below?

Air Lift 57375 LoadLifter 5000 Air Suspension Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HD6XLWF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NMJP1T2NEJRDG6GGZXF5


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But you may be right on the edge of not needing to. Best check with air lift.
 

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