My Big Booty Dually Adventure Rig Build

[gimmie11s]

3500 only has leaf springs in the back.

Im aware, however the air ride 3500s have a different (lighter/less springs) spring pack than the non air trucks.

 

[kobra]

3500 only has leaf springs in the back.

I think @gimmie11s was asking for pictures of the leaf springs from the front and from the back.
Correct?

I have a 3500 SRW with air suspension and could take some photos, but not a dually so it will likely be a bit different.

Brad

 

[gimmie11s]

I think @gimmie11s was asking for pictures of the leaf springs from the front and from the back.
Correct?

I have a 3500 SRW with air suspension and could take some photos, but not a dually so it will likely be a bit different.

Brad

100% !

BTW.. how do you like the ride?

 

[SFAngus]

Great threat, good info, congrats on the truck!

I ordered the same config (Megacab dually) with air ride, although in a Laramie night edition.

Im curious your thoughts on how the truck rides with the air?

Also, can you get a few shots of the leaf spring pack front and back? I know it's different than the non-air trucks, but i wanted to get a visual.

Thanks! Congrats to you too. Looking forward to seeing some photos of your truck.

The dealership that I bought from had a truck that was nearly identical to mine, all the features that I wanted, but it was a dark very night edition. I was tempted to get it, but I really love the two tone paint.

Here's some suspension photos for you:

 

[gimmie11s]

Awesome! Thank you. How does she ride and what air setting do you keep it on? Alt ride height im guessing?

 

[SFAngus]

Awesome! Thank you. How does she ride and what air setting do you keep it on? Alt ride height im guessing?

Sorry, I had also misunderstood you, and thought you wanted to see the front suspension as well.

It's hard to get a good photo of the rear leafs without sliding under the truck. Was that good enough?

I think it rides pretty well. I've been spoiled by my 1500 Ecodiesel with upgraded Bilsteins, which rode like an Accord, so it's definitely an adjustment.

It's definitely firm, but I don't mind. It's a weekend toy for me, not my daily driver, so the whole thing is a bit of a novelty. The stiff ride just reminds me that I have a real truck now.

As for the setting, as you'll see in other air suspension threads here, the alt ride height and bed lowering mode only work when there's a significant payload or tongue weight.

There is also a thread on here that discusses adjusting the mounts for the air bag system to force them to empty fully, but I didn't want to mess with it.

One of my bags did seem partially inflated when I got the truck, (just from poking it with my finger), so I put my truck in Transport Mode briefly just to force the air to turn off. That seemed to work.

If you read further back towards the top you'll see that the dealer also had the tires over inflated. I aired them down a bit, but honestly didn't notice a big difference.

 

[gimmie11s]

I did see that on the over inflated tires. Ive read with dual rear wheels, you can run 40-50 psi on all 4 and be fine.

Sweet truck, i cant wait to get mine!!

 

[SFAngus]

I did see that on the over inflated tires. Ive read with dual rear wheels, you can run 40-50 psi on all 4 and be fine.

Sweet truck, i cant wait to get mine!!

Thanks! Start a build thread or at least post some photos once you get it. I always like seeing the other duallys, and there's not as many of them.

 

[kobra]

My thoughts on ride quality is over the past 3 trucks, all SRW - 2014 3500 (leafs only), 2016 2500 (w air), 2020 3500 (w air)
The 2020 3500 w air is far superior to the 2014 3500 with leafs only.
The 2016 2500 w air was the nicest ride of all of them, noticeably better.
I've changed out OEM tires for 17" rims and 295/70R17 Falken Wildpeak and run the air pressure at 55psi. Now I am really close to the ride quality of the 2500, except for really sharp cracks in pavement, such as frost heaves we get in winter here in Canada.
I'm very happy with the ride quality and so far am a fan of the 3500 air suspension. (no issues at all, and hope it stays that way long term)

hth
B

 

[SFAngus]

I'm behind on posting a lot of recent updates... I'll get some more things posted soon.

In the meantime, I rented an Airstream for the week to take my older two daughters (7 and 5) camping for four nights.

So far, it tows like nothing behind this truck. I love it!






More to follow...

 

[gimmie11s]

Thanks! Start a build thread or at least post some photos once you get it. I always like seeing the other duallys, and there's not as many of them.

I certainly will. I am going to want a bed step (or 2) on the sides of the bed perhaps behind the rear doors (just in front of the rear tires) on my dually once she arrives. Do you have any plans to install one? Would love to get your thoughts.

My thoughts on ride quality is over the past 3 trucks, all SRW - 2014 3500 (leafs only), 2016 2500 (w air), 2020 3500 (w air)
The 2020 3500 w air is far superior to the 2014 3500 with leafs only.
The 2016 2500 w air was the nicest ride of all of them, noticeably better.
I've changed out OEM tires for 17" rims and 295/70R17 Falken Wildpeak and run the air pressure at 55psi. Now I am really close to the ride quality of the 2500, except for really sharp cracks in pavement, such as frost heaves we get in winter here in Canada.
I'm very happy with the ride quality and so far am a fan of the 3500 air suspension. (no issues at all, and hope it stays that way long term)

hth
B

That is great to hear. Ive read a lot about the air system on these trucks, but oddly enough there isnt much in depth info from ram regarding leaf pack differences or spring rates on air trucks vs non air.

I'm behind on posting a lot of recent updates... I'll get some more things posted soon.

In the meantime, I rented an Airstream for the week to take my older two daughters (7 and 5) camping for four nights.

So far, it tows like nothing behind this truck. I love it!


More to follow...

Youre not even working her with that load!

 

[JohnandDonna]

I'm behind on posting a lot of recent updates... I'll get some more things posted soon.

In the meantime, I rented an Airstream for the week to take my older two daughters (7 and 5) camping for four nights.

So far, it tows like nothing behind this truck. I love it!

View attachment 14521


View attachment 14522

More to follow...

Airstreams are the easiest to tow travel trailer. We have a 2020 International Serenity 30RB twin, weighs just under 9k (click on my banner and you can see it). Our 2500 Mega with the 6.4 Hemi tows it with plenty of power to spare. IMHO the match up of a Ram Longhorn or Limited with an Airstream is the most perfect match of quality, comfort and just plain good looks! Let us know what your towing experience was like. Are you considering a purchase of an Airstream. If so, just note that they are so hot that if you order you are probably looking at 6 months minimum for delivery. And while you can buy used, that market is just as hot and almost as expensive as new. Some have gone the route of purchasing a vintage and have it restored and spec out the way they want. Best of luck, be safe and most of all, enjoy!

 

[SFAngus]

I certainly will. I am going to want a bed step (or 2) on the sides of the bed perhaps behind the rear doors (just in front of the rear tires) on my dually once she arrives. Do you have any plans to install one? Would love to get your thoughts.

I haven't seen any that install behind the rear doors... that's an interesting idea. I might add the Mopar step that installs at the back bumper.

 

[SFAngus]

Airstreams are the easiest to tow travel trailer. We have a 2020 International Serenity 30RB twin, weighs just under 9k (click on my banner and you can see it). Our 2500 Mega with the 6.4 Hemi tows it with plenty of power to spare. IMHO the match up of a Ram Longhorn or Limited with an Airstream is the most perfect match of quality, comfort and just plain good looks! Let us know what your towing experience was like. Are you considering a purchase of an Airstream. If so, just note that they are so hot that if you order you are probably looking at 6 months minimum for delivery. And while you can buy used, that market is just as hot and almost as expensive as new. Some have gone the route of purchasing a vintage and have it restored and spec out the way they want. Best of luck, be safe and most of all, enjoy!

Thanks, this is my first time with one, and I'm impressed. I would love to buy one, but I'll need to convince my wife first. She doesn't go with us camping, so it's a tough sell.

 

[SFAngus]

We're spending two nights at the Costanoa KOA in Pescadero. If you're thinking about camping in CA, I highly recommend this place. It's our first time here, and probably the nicest campground I've ever stayed at.



We got lucky and got a "Premium" end site. Not only do we have one less neighbor, but we also have a paver stone patio, propane grill, fire pit, table and chairs, and an unobstructed ocean view. It's awesome.

 

[CdnHO]

Finally

 

[SFAngus]

Finally

Congrats!

 

[SFAngus]

Be interesting to see your opinion of the Pedal Monster once you get a chance to drive it for a while. Are you dissatisfied with the accelerator response as it came from the factory?

Sorry for the delayed response. I wasn't exactly disappointed with the stock pedal feel, but it definitely has some dead feeling to it.

I wasn't expecting too much for acceleration with this truck because I had read enough reviews on Car and Driver that I knew these trucks aren't fast diesels like the GM's. They are powerful, but slow.

I've had the Banks Pedal Monster installed for a few days now, and I definitely like it. It is easy to control through the app, and the app even shows you in real time what it's doing.

Essentially, it just artificially boosts the input from the pedal. So if you give the pedal 20% input, it will tell the ECM that you're giving it 40% input, for example. (The amount of increase depends on your settings).

I found that I was often keeping the pedal close to the floor when accelerating, so this fixes that.

It also has the effect of making the truck "feel" faster, even though it isn't really.

Here's a few photos to demonstrate what it does.

This is level 4 in city mode. You can see it is a very mild increase in throttle input:





This is level two in Sport mode:



This is level 7 in Track mode, which is almost tripling the input:



I'm very happy with it overall. It's easy to install, easy to use, and it makes it much more enjoyable to drive.

And, it's easily removed if you decide that you don't like it.

 

[McHenry2500]

I'm wondering what setting you had your pedal monster set at when pulling the camper? Did it help when starting out on a hill or pulling uphill (more throttle to pull uphill)?

 

[CdnHO]

Busy day.