Ram Heavy Duty Forum

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Leveling kits on 6.4 Hemis

Redfour5

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
366
Reaction score
262
I'm considering this and was leaning toward Carli over Thuren with the coil springs and fox shocks and trackbar but then I'm like reading the Carli stuff and it seems so diesel focused that is almost seems like they don't even necessarily recommend it for anything other.

Anyone with any feedback on this? If you've done the kit, how do you like it? Did you do the track bar? Do you notice any changes. And some may have done the sway bar change. How's that workin out. There seems to be a lot of people who are all YES on the coils, fox shocks and track bar, but find the sway bar to be a "meh."
 

BrianM

New Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2022
Messages
1
Reaction score
1
I have 2022 Tradesman with the Hemi. I went the Thuren route with 2” springs, track bar and Fox 2.0 shocks front and back. I’m very happy with it. The truck sits almost level (the back end is 1/4” higher ) and the ride is firm but compliant over bumps. One of the biggest areas of improvement was from the track bar. I used to get a bit of oscillation (steering wheel shake) with the front end over small stutter bumps on the street. All gone now.

I considered mixing Carli shocks and track bar with the Thuren springs but decided to stick with everything from one company.

The Carli track bar looks to be a bit more rigid since it uses solid bushings on both ends where as the Thuren uses solid on one and semi solid on the other end. I didn’t see a big enough advantage to use it over the Thuren.

Something else to take into account, Thuren is known for exceptional customer support.

Haven’t added the sway bar yet, that’s next.

And yes, that was my impression with the Carli as well. Carli seems to be more focused on diesels.
 
Last edited:

Redfour5

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2021
Messages
366
Reaction score
262
At their urging, I asked CJC Offroad after watching one of their videos and getting slightly snarky about a lack of clarity regarding some points...not directed at them, but in general... They gave great advice (below) and contextually answered a couple questions in addition to the specific recommendation. I'm going to follow it. It appears that a couple of you responding here followed it also...

On Fri, Feb 17, 2023 at 11:04 AM Karl Milhon <kavoom@aol.com> wrote:
Hello,

I"m looking for a recommendation on a "budget" suspension improvement for my truck. I was looking at the budget Carli system with the "tuned" shocks all round and the new front springs along with the track bar.
I have a 2022 Ram 2500 Laramie with the "off road" package and I added the AMP power steps.

I just added a Fab Fours matrix pre-runner front bumper that weighs 180 lbs and the winch is 90 lbs with synthetic line... So, its a total of 270 lbs (ish) vs the OEM bumper weight of 85 lbs... I do notice a very slight hardly noticable difference in how it rides with the new bumper. I put a "Rough Country" rear bumper on and that is neglible weight with about a 40 or 50 lb difference vs OEM bumper. My payload is rated at 3,080 per RAM...My Max Tow is like 14,800.

The truck will do a bit of light off roading mostly national forest roads of varying quality. Some can be pretty bad during certain seasons but NO Moab type stuff. I tow a loaded 6800 lb travel trailer with one slide Runs around a 800 lb tongue weight loaded and want to keep it practical around this core requirement of the truck... I'm open to an air bag system for towing but sounds like more trouble than its worth... The trailer tows great now, no sag. I'm NOT looking for a "lift" as such more leveling, tow friendly set up using the same rear OEM springs if possible but getting an improved ride overall. That's why the "budget" Carli set up appealed to me.

In reading and researching, I like the Carli System but the Thuren is also spoke of positively. The Carli system seems ever so slightly better engineered including the "tuned" Fox Shocks but I can't attest to any real world distinctions except for the subjective YouTube videos I've seen and a few bit more objective ones like from your company. I may consider a new swaybar at some point in the future if indicated...

So, any help or recommendations would help.

Hi,

A nice setup for Hemi 2500 trucks that retains the factory rear weight capacity while leveling the truck slightly and running custom tuned shocks would be to run Thuren 2" Hemi tuned front coils, Carli tuned 2.0 shocks (or Carli Pintop shocks), and a Carli track bar. The Thuren 2" front springs are the lowest riding custom tuned springs for Hemi applications that we have encountered for these trucks and we have been very pleased with how they work. Carli's front springs in their leveling setup are diesel specific so many customers with Hemis that are looking for a similar outcome have run this setup.

For what it's worth custom tuned shocks make a world of difference in terms of on road ride quality and are a critical piece of a well rounded suspension setup. A replacement sway bar can absolutely help to further improve ride quality but is not a requirement. That said, the sway bar can help substantially to reduce the truck's side to side rocking on forest service roads and similar. We touch on that a bit in this video:

Feel free to let us know if we can provide any additional information or recommendations.

Thanks,
--
CJC Off Road
Sales Department
Sales@CJCOffRoad.com
(424)241-3252
CJCOffRoad.com
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top