Has anyone leveled a 3500 with the auto level rear air suspension?

[gimmie11s]

Ok…. Got everything done today! Still waiting on the back ordered front shocks. Temporarily added a 3/4 spacer on top of the stock shock to get it to work until the others show up. Obviously would be better with a 2” adapter for the bottom of the stock shock, but I plan only to pound pavement with little articulation until the front Fox 2.0’s arrive. Did a Thuren 1.75” front and 1” block in the rear. Added Thuren sway bar, adjustable track bar and Fox stabilizer. Block, air bag spacer and u-bolts are Traxda products, which CJC Off-Road sells, but I found them elsewhere on sale. Just FYI, air bag spacer is more like 1.25” but works great. You do have to spin air bags around to make it work, but it’s 2 top and 2 bottom bolts. You got to get truck leaf stack pretty high above the axel to get the block and bolts on the the leaf pack. Just use lots of safety cribbing. I made my own adjustable rod to tinker with the air bag height. The balls are 8mm if anyone is wondering. I got the ends off eBay for around 10-12 bucks and some 6mm stainless all-thread off Amazon for like 7-8 bucks. Put heat shrink on the threads to black it all out. Works good. I have bags almost empty. I read somewhere someone got a code if running them too empty. I too got a “stability” code. Added a turn out and re-attached the bars, went on a drive and the code went away. Bags are still pretty low, but not empty, but still messing with it, and very happy so far. Can’t wait to wear out the stock tread so I can put some new shoes on it now. Let me know if anyone has questions. I did all the work. Friend has a lift, made job quicker and way easier. Curious if anyone else has seen this stability code or not. If it doesn’t come back I won’t worry about it, if it does may try one more turn on the air bag rod. Otherwise, off to the dealer to check the system.

Nice job on those adjustable rods...

 

[MotoFish]

Looks awesome! I am doing the same exact thing except I went with the 2.25 springs and the 1" Carli blocks for the rear but did the same Traxda bag spacers.

Are you dead level or still have a little rake? Wonder if the 2.25 in the front might be too high, I definitely don't want reverse rake.

When you say flip the bags around do you mean flip them upside down or just 180*?

Thanks!

Thanks! It is sitting pretty level, as far as looks go. I did not measure height after doing the job, just thought it was perfect. Thuren recommended a 1/2” spring to level it without touching the rear, thus the reason I did the block in back to run the 1.75 in front and since I wanted to run bags as low as possible. The back may have only come up 1/2”… so if you leave your air bag bars alone, you should be pretty close. You just spin the bags 180, you don’t turn them upside down. Just go slow because the air line is still attached, but it will spin in place. The line gets close to the frame but doesn’t really get pushed by it. I actually think the line is more protected this way.

 

[MotoFish]

Nice job on those adjustable rods...

Thanks!

 

[kpecks]

Ok well, no update from CJC on eta for my kit due to shocks... anyone have any input on the regular fox res shocks on eBay?

 

[Vr6mole]

Ok well, no update from CJC on eta for my kit due to shocks... anyone have any input on the regular fox res shocks on eBay?

Did you order the thuren res fox shocks from CJC? If so when did you order them? I placed my order late December and was told 2 months.

 

[kpecks]

Did you order the thuren res fox shocks from CJC? If so when did you order them? I placed my order late December and was told 2 months.

No. I ordered the Carli tuned shocks with everything else Carli. They said mid jan they’d be shipping. I ordered 12/10/21. I guess were right at 2 months.... first world rich people problems

 

[MotoFish]

I spoke with Thuren the end of last week.

Thuren tuned Fox 2.0’s to fill already placed orders about 3 weeks out still. I ordered them about 2 1/2 weeks ago, so looking at 5-6weeks.

Since they were still weeks out I asked about remote reservoir Fox 2.0’s and he stated a minimum of 12 weeks out…. Reg 2.0’s it is hopefully in a few weeks.

 

[e.mayol]

Ok…. Got everything done today! Still waiting on the back ordered front shocks. Temporarily added a 3/4 spacer on top of the stock shock to get it to work until the others show up. Obviously would be better with a 2” adapter for the bottom of the stock shock, but I plan only to pound pavement with little articulation until the front Fox 2.0’s arrive. Did a Thuren 1.75” front and 1” block in the rear. Added Thuren sway bar, adjustable track bar and Fox stabilizer. Block, air bag spacer and u-bolts are Traxda products, which CJC Off-Road sells, but I found them elsewhere on sale. Just FYI, air bag spacer is more like 1.25” but works great. You do have to spin air bags around to make it work, but it’s 2 top and 2 bottom bolts. You got to get truck leaf stack pretty high above the axel to get the block and bolts on the the leaf pack. Just use lots of safety cribbing. I made my own adjustable rod to tinker with the air bag height. The balls are 8mm if anyone is wondering. I got the ends off eBay for around 10-12 bucks and some 6mm stainless all-thread off Amazon for like 7-8 bucks. Put heat shrink on the threads to black it all out. Works good. I have bags almost empty. I read somewhere someone got a code if running them too empty. I too got a “stability” code. Added a turn out and re-attached the bars, went on a drive and the code went away. Bags are still pretty low, but not empty, but still messing with it, and very happy so far. Can’t wait to wear out the stock tread so I can put some new shoes on it now. Let me know if anyone has questions. I did all the work. Friend has a lift, made job quicker and way easier. Curious if anyone else has seen this stability code or not. If it doesn’t come back I won’t worry about it, if it does may try one more turn on the air bag rod. Otherwise, off to the dealer to check the system.

By any chance you know at what length you set the rear links?

 

[MotoFish]

By any chance you know at what length you set the rear links?

Sorry, out of town with work, so not home to verify these stats. However, the stock links were either 6 3/4” or 6 7/8” long (center of ball sockets at each end). I made mine about 1/4” shorter to start. That is where I got the error, so added a full turn longer on each rod of the ends. So I would guess they are around 3/16” shorter than stock length. I have not had the error come back and I like where the rear is height and comfort wise for a one ton. Will be towing in a few weeks, so that will be my first time to ensure all the auto stuff works to my satisfaction also.

Hope that helps!

 

[e.mayol]

Sorry, out of town with work, so not home to verify these stats. However, the stock links were either 6 3/4” or 6 7/8” long (center of ball sockets at each end). I made mine about 1/4” shorter to start. That is where I got the error, so added a full turn longer on each rod of the ends. So I would guess they are around 3/16” shorter than stock length. I have not had the error come back and I like where the rear is height and comfort wise for a one ton. Will be towing in a few weeks, so that will be my first time to ensure all the auto stuff works to my satisfaction also.

Hope that helps!

So by what you already have on the truck. You think the rear with the 1" air bag spacer and the 1" leaf block will work with the stock link? You are saying you have the 1" rear combo and the 3/16 shorter rod, so you already technically moved the sensor arm 1" 3/16 lower. If the stock link is left in place the sensor arm will be moved 1" lover resulting in a little less air preassure than stock.

 

[MotoFish]

So by what you already have on the truck. You think the rear with the 1" air bag spacer and the 1" leaf block will work with the stock link? You are saying you have the 1" rear combo and the 3/16 shorter rod, so you already technically moved the sensor arm 1" 3/16 lower. If the stock link is left in place the sensor arm will be moved 1" lover resulting in a little less air preassure than stock.

The rod mount is on top of the leaf stack, so you can do the 1” block and 1” air spacer and keep the factory rod. That height does not change. The back will lift the full 1”. I made mine a little shorter to be able to run a little less air in the rear to make the rear a little more bump compliant. If that makes sense? I didn’t change the rods because I had to, I shortened them because I wanted to.

 

[C00P]

Inspired by others here and after plenty of research I have completed my own levelling of my 2020 RAM 3500 w/ air assist. Suspension modifications to this point had been 35x12R17 TOYO AT III on AEV Salta rims and drove in this configuration for about a year (top picture). The determining factor for going with a suspension system was the ride quality empty, no knock on RAM, these things are meant to haul. I choose Thuren for all my suspension parts: 1.75” coils, track bar, sway bar, Fox through steering stabilizer and Fox 2.0 all corners. First off let me give props to Chris at Thuren who put up with all my questions and worked with my local distributor to have it all delivered in about a week right to my door. Install was straight forward and quite manageable by myself in my garage. Install time was almost double, but honestly mostly because of deliberately double and triple checking what I was doing as apparently talking to yourself doesn’t count as a second opinion… I chose to install all the front suspension parts first and determine how close to level that would bring the front and the rear before purchasing and installing if necessary the rear spacers for the leafs and bags. After checking torques and adding grease to everything, the rear ended up being a 1/2” lower than the front which was noticeable while the truck sat level (middle picture). I drove the truck like this for a week, figure I’d give it time for the front to settle, if at all, before ordering the rear spacers. Just for the record that lasted a total of two days before I ordered, just couldn’t look past the rear droop! For the rear I went with Traxda who provide spacers for both leafs and bags, for the look I was going for I choose to purchase their 1” lift option. Leaf spring spacers included the center pins and bolts with plenty of thread, so much so you’ll probably have to trim them all. The airbag spacer instal required you to rotate the bag 180 deg. As you’ll have to off-set the bottom bag mounts inboard (as explained in another post above). Doing rear spacers by yourself certainly will take longer than the 1 hour recommended for each kit in the instructions, especially in your garage, so take your time. After checking all my torques for the rear install I double checked all the front torques I had done the week before. After measuring everything the rear is now 1/2” higher than the front and basically level (bottom picture). Having completed now 500 miles on the complete kits, pulling my RV trailer and hauling a full load of water in the bed I can say the entire system is working as expected with no warnings or issues. Auto level engages and fills with 1” compression and brings the vehicle right back to unloaded height as intended by stock. Overall for cost these kits will put you in the mid range, but worth the time and effort. The ride quality improvement alone is phenomenal, road gaps, potholes and curbs are hardly noticeable now and the slight forward rake and wheel well gaps are in my opinion now proportional. Can’t believe I took a year to pull the trigger on this!

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[gimmie11s]

Inspired by others here and after plenty of research I have completed my own levelling of my 2020 RAM 3500 w/ air assist. Suspension modifications to this point had been 35x12R17 TOYO AT III on AEV Salta rims and drove in this configuration for about a year (top picture). The determining factor for going with a suspension system was the ride quality empty, no knock on RAM, these things are meant to haul. I choose Thuren for all my suspension parts: 1.75” coils, track bar, sway bar, Fox through steering stabilizer and Fox 2.0 all corners. First off let me give props to Chris at Thuren who put up with all my questions and worked with my local distributor to have it all delivered in about a week right to my door. Install was straight forward and quite manageable by myself in my garage. Install time was almost double, but honestly mostly because of deliberately double and triple checking what I was doing as apparently talking to yourself doesn’t count as a second opinion… I chose to install all the front suspension parts first and determine how close to level that would bring the front and the rear before purchasing and installing if necessary the rear spacers for the leafs and bags. After checking torques and adding grease to everything, the rear ended up being a 1/2” lower than the front which was noticeable while the truck sat level (middle picture). I drove the truck like this for a week, figure I’d give it time for the front to settle, if at all, before ordering the rear spacers. Just for the record that lasted a total of two days before I ordered, just couldn’t look past the rear droop! For the rear I went with Traxda who provide spacers for both leafs and bags, for the look I was going for I choose to purchase their 1” lift option. Leaf spring spacers included the center pins and bolts with plenty of thread, so much so you’ll probably have to trim them all. The airbag spacer instal required you to rotate the bag 180 deg. As you’ll have to off-set the bottom bag mounts inboard (as explained in another post above). Doing rear spacers by yourself certainly will take longer than the 1 hour recommended for each kit in the instructions, especially in your garage, so take your time. After checking all my torques for the rear install I double checked all the front torques I had done the week before. After measuring everything the rear is now 1/2” higher than the front and basically level (bottom picture). Having completed now 500 miles on the complete kits, pulling my RV trailer and hauling a full load of water in the bed I can say the entire system is working as expected with no warnings or issues. Auto level engages and fills with 1” compression and brings the vehicle right back to unloaded height as intended by stock. Overall for cost these kits will put you in the mid range, but worth the time and effort. The ride quality improvement alone is phenomenal, road gaps, potholes and curbs are hardly noticeable now and the slight forward rake and wheel well gaps are in my opinion now proportional. Can’t believe I took a year to pull the trigger on this!

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Looks fantastic, congrats

 

[MotoFish]

Inspired by others here and after plenty of research I have completed my own levelling of my 2020 RAM 3500 w/ air assist. Suspension modifications to this point had been 35x12R17 TOYO AT III on AEV Salta rims and drove in this configuration for about a year (top picture). The determining factor for going with a suspension system was the ride quality empty, no knock on RAM, these things are meant to haul. I choose Thuren for all my suspension parts: 1.75” coils, track bar, sway bar, Fox through steering stabilizer and Fox 2.0 all corners. First off let me give props to Chris at Thuren who put up with all my questions and worked with my local distributor to have it all delivered in about a week right to my door. Install was straight forward and quite manageable by myself in my garage. Install time was almost double, but honestly mostly because of deliberately double and triple checking what I was doing as apparently talking to yourself doesn’t count as a second opinion… I chose to install all the front suspension parts first and determine how close to level that would bring the front and the rear before purchasing and installing if necessary the rear spacers for the leafs and bags. After checking torques and adding grease to everything, the rear ended up being a 1/2” lower than the front which was noticeable while the truck sat level (middle picture). I drove the truck like this for a week, figure I’d give it time for the front to settle, if at all, before ordering the rear spacers. Just for the record that lasted a total of two days before I ordered, just couldn’t look past the rear droop! For the rear I went with Traxda who provide spacers for both leafs and bags, for the look I was going for I choose to purchase their 1” lift option. Leaf spring spacers included the center pins and bolts with plenty of thread, so much so you’ll probably have to trim them all. The airbag spacer instal required you to rotate the bag 180 deg. As you’ll have to off-set the bottom bag mounts inboard (as explained in another post above). Doing rear spacers by yourself certainly will take longer than the 1 hour recommended for each kit in the instructions, especially in your garage, so take your time. After checking all my torques for the rear install I double checked all the front torques I had done the week before. After measuring everything the rear is now 1/2” higher than the front and basically level (bottom picture). Having completed now 500 miles on the complete kits, pulling my RV trailer and hauling a full load of water in the bed I can say the entire system is working as expected with no warnings or issues. Auto level engages and fills with 1” compression and brings the vehicle right back to unloaded height as intended by stock. Overall for cost these kits will put you in the mid range, but worth the time and effort. The ride quality improvement alone is phenomenal, road gaps, potholes and curbs are hardly noticeable now and the slight forward rake and wheel well gaps are in my opinion now proportional. Can’t believe I took a year to pull the trigger on this!

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Awesome. Nicely done!

 

[CdnHO]

The rod mount is on top of the leaf stack, so you can do the 1” block and 1” air spacer and keep the factory rod. That height does not change. The back will lift the full 1”. I made mine a little shorter to be able to run a little less air in the rear to make the rear a little more bump compliant. If that makes sense? I didn’t change the rods because I had to, I shortened them because I wanted to.

Your solution for the adjustable ros is sure a LOT cheaoer than the Revell rods. They cost me close to 150.00. Totally insane for what it is. Wish I had seen your post before I pulled the trigger on them. I shortened them to lower the rear end for my fifth wheel. Set left and right "out of range" codes that showed on the scanner but not on the dash.

 

[MotoFish]

Your solution for the adjustable ros is sure a LOT cheaoer than the Revell rods. They cost me close to 150.00. Totally insane for what it is. Wish I had seen your post before I pulled the trigger on them. I shortened them to lower the rear end for my fifth wheel. Set left and right "out of range" codes that showed on the scanner but not on the dash.

Thanks. I am happy with them. They work great. I haven’t adjusted them much from stock height for a while. Guess I have them where I want them. But nice to know I can if or when I want to add or subtract air in the bags. I haven’t seen a code since the first time, so another reason I have left them alone for a while now.

 

[desertskier]

Inspired by others here and after plenty of research I have completed my own levelling of my 2020 RAM 3500 w/ air assist. Suspension modifications to this point had been 35x12R17 TOYO AT III on AEV Salta rims and drove in this configuration for about a year (top picture). The determining factor for going with a suspension system was the ride quality empty, no knock on RAM, these things are meant to haul. I choose Thuren for all my suspension parts: 1.75” coils, track bar, sway bar, Fox through steering stabilizer and Fox 2.0 all corners. First off let me give props to Chris at Thuren who put up with all my questions and worked with my local distributor to have it all delivered in about a week right to my door. Install was straight forward and quite manageable by myself in my garage. Install time was almost double, but honestly mostly because of deliberately double and triple checking what I was doing as apparently talking to yourself doesn’t count as a second opinion… I chose to install all the front suspension parts first and determine how close to level that would bring the front and the rear before purchasing and installing if necessary the rear spacers for the leafs and bags. After checking torques and adding grease to everything, the rear ended up being a 1/2” lower than the front which was noticeable while the truck sat level (middle picture). I drove the truck like this for a week, figure I’d give it time for the front to settle, if at all, before ordering the rear spacers. Just for the record that lasted a total of two days before I ordered, just couldn’t look past the rear droop! For the rear I went with Traxda who provide spacers for both leafs and bags, for the look I was going for I choose to purchase their 1” lift option. Leaf spring spacers included the center pins and bolts with plenty of thread, so much so you’ll probably have to trim them all. The airbag spacer instal required you to rotate the bag 180 deg. As you’ll have to off-set the bottom bag mounts inboard (as explained in another post above). Doing rear spacers by yourself certainly will take longer than the 1 hour recommended for each kit in the instructions, especially in your garage, so take your time. After checking all my torques for the rear install I double checked all the front torques I had done the week before. After measuring everything the rear is now 1/2” higher than the front and basically level (bottom picture). Having completed now 500 miles on the complete kits, pulling my RV trailer and hauling a full load of water in the bed I can say the entire system is working as expected with no warnings or issues. Auto level engages and fills with 1” compression and brings the vehicle right back to unloaded height as intended by stock. Overall for cost these kits will put you in the mid range, but worth the time and effort. The ride quality improvement alone is phenomenal, road gaps, potholes and curbs are hardly noticeable now and the slight forward rake and wheel well gaps are in my opinion now proportional. Can’t believe I took a year to pull the trigger on this!

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I have basically the same truck as yours except its a 22 with an SO. I am thinking about using the same setup to level mine but the measurements I made don't make sense for the results you got. Do you remember the starting measurements on your truck? I used the Thuren method to measure (fender lip to axle center) and got these numbers: Front = 24.75, Rear 25.25. Then raised: Front 24.75 + 1.75 = 26.5, Rear 25.25 + 1.0 = 26.25. So the rear would be 0.25 lower than the front unlike yours at 0.5 higher. Any insight is appreciated.

 

[MotoFish]

I have basically the same truck as yours except its a 22 with an SO. I am thinking about using the same setup to level mine but the measurements I made don't make sense for the results you got. Do you remember the starting measurements on your truck? I used the Thuren method to measure (fender lip to axle center) and got these numbers: Front = 24.75, Rear 25.25. Then raised: Front 24.75 + 1.75 = 26.5, Rear 25.25 + 1.0 = 26.25. So the rear would be 0.25 lower than the front unlike yours at 0.5 higher. Any insight is appreciated.

First off, I did mine about 7 months ago. I don’t have “before” numbers anymore. It’s a 2021, 3500 Long Bed, SRW drive with auto air, HO. 1.75 Thuren Sprung, sway bar, track bar, rear 1” block, Fox 2.0’s all around, but air bag spacer is actually 1.25” not like the 1” block, but that’s what you can get.

Current numbers as she sits, center axel to fender flair: (roughly)

Front 26.5”
Rear 26.75”

I also have the adjustable rods but haven’t changed them in months, but can make rear go higher or a little lower. Somewhere on this thread I talk about how I made them.

Hope this helps

 

[desertskier]

Thanks. Sounds like you are using the bags to raise the rear slightly. C00P didn't mention that he needed to do that in his post. I was hoping to get the same numbers as you with the bags empty. Good job on the adjustable rods!

 

[MotoFish]

Thanks. Sounds like you are using the bags to raise the rear slightly. C00P didn't mention that he needed to do that in his post. I was hoping to get the same numbers as you with the bags empty. Good job on the adjustable rods!

You can use the stock rods if you want. If you want a little more (or less) then make the adjustable ones for around 20 to 30 bucks and you’ll be set!