Kelderman Air Ride on 24 2500 6.4L hemi

[Tbon3]

I’ve tried searching through multiple threads on this site before posting, so if this has already been covered I apologize—please feel free to share the link.

I’m looking into the Kelderman air ride system to replace the front and rear coils on my truck. I tow a 12k, 40' travel trailer during the summer months and occasionally pull my four-wheeler trailer. Other than that, this truck is my daily driver.

Living in New England, the winters (and roads) are brutal. The frost heaves I deal with daily are so bad they make typical school-zone, Lowe’s, or other speed bumps look like ant mounds. There’s one road posted at 45 MPH where, even at 35, the rear end bounces enough to make the truck feel unsettled and all over the road. My end goal is simply to soften the ride and make it less harsh.
Yes, I know this is a ¾-ton truck built to work, and I’m using it like a soccer mom—but I genuinely love this truck and this is my only complaint. Before anyone suggests buying a separate daily driver, I’d much rather put $4k into my $70k truck than have it sit in the drive way.

With that said, does anyone recommend alternatives like Thuren coils or a Carli suspension setup? Kelderman has told me they’ve received feedback that, on gas trucks, the difference between air bags and the stock suspension isn’t very noticeable. Can anyone confirm or dispute that? If you’ve installed Kelderman on a gasser, I’d really appreciate hearing your real-world experience.

 

[AH64ID]

Have you tired lowering the air pressure when you’re not towing?

 

[Tbon3]

Have you tired lowering the air pressure when you’re not towing?

I have and unfortunately it has not made a noticeable change. My rear tires are at ~45 and front is at ~50. This was my first attempt from reading other posts on here before diving down this rabbit hole lol. But I have done an extensive amount of research over the past weeks. After hearing back from Kelderman yesterday here is my plan B option.

Thuren +1" Soft rate rear coil kit
Thuren +2" Front coils
Thuren Front track bar ( not sure if its needed so may hold off)
Fox 2.5 w/ reservoir rear 0-1.5" lift
Fox 2.5 w/ Reservoir front 2-3.5" lift

Not sure if front sway bar or rear track bar is needed right off the rip. The rear track bar shouldn't matter as I'm not lifting it a large amount. Any insight on the front track bar?

 

[dieselscout80]

I think I would first try:
- Lower tire pressure: front 45 psi and rear 40 psi

- disconnect your front sway bar

- depending on your mileage replace your shocks

Then try it, but it is a HD truck and won’t ride like Cadillac.

I did the above and it helps. I now have just over 96k miles on my truck. A while back I also replaced the shocks with Bilstein 4600 shocks which helped with the ride.

 

[Tbon3]

I think I would first try:
- Lower tire pressure: front 45 psi and rear 40 psi

- disconnect your front sway bar

- depending on your mileage replace your shocks

Then try it, but it is a HD truck and won’t ride like Cadillac.

I did the above and it helps. I now have just over 96k miles on my truck. A while back I also replaced the shocks and that helped with the ride. I have Bilstein 4600 shocks now.

I will give the lower tire pressure a shot just weary if a 5 PSI will make that much of a difference. Also on load E tires I'm surprised that low of PSI wont effect the side walls. I get that its an HD truck and it wont ride like a cadi. But there has to be a way to make it not ride so stiff. My truck only has 13K miles on it. Did you get the same coils listed above? If so did you need the front track bar and rear sway bar links? Just curious if the rear sway links are really needed if its only changing by 1".

 

[dieselscout80]

I will give the lower tire pressure a shot just weary if a 5 PSI will make that much of a difference. Also on load E tires I'm surprised that low of PSI wont effect the side walls. I get that its an HD truck and it wont ride like a cadi. But there has to be a way to make it not ride so stiff. My truck only has 13K miles on it. Did you get the same coils listed above? If so did you need the front track bar and rear sway bar links? Just curious if the rear sway links are really needed if its only changing by 1".

I’m running factory springs.

The only suspension changes are the ones I listed above.

 

[AH64ID]

I have and unfortunately it has not made a noticeable change. My rear tires are at ~45 and front is at ~50. This was my first attempt from reading other posts on here before diving down this rabbit hole lol. But I have done an extensive amount of research over the past weeks. After hearing back from Kelderman yesterday here is my plan B option.

Thuren +1" Soft rate rear coil kit
Thuren +2" Front coils
Thuren Front track bar ( not sure if its needed so may hold off)
Fox 2.5 w/ reservoir rear 0-1.5" lift
Fox 2.5 w/ Reservoir front 2-3.5" lift

Not sure if front sway bar or rear track bar is needed right off the rip. The rear track bar shouldn't matter as I'm not lifting it a large amount. Any insight on the front track bar?

I would try lower air pressure and removing the front sway bar first.

I also wouldn't want to run those shocks on a DD, they need rebuilt far too often. Stick with Bilstein 5100 or 5160's.

I will give the lower tire pressure a shot just weary if a 5 PSI will make that much of a difference. Also on load E tires I'm surprised that low of PSI wont effect the side walls. I get that its an HD truck and it wont ride like a cadi. But there has to be a way to make it not ride so stiff. My truck only has 13K miles on it. Did you get the same coils listed above? If so did you need the front track bar and rear sway bar links? Just curious if the rear sway links are really needed if its only changing by 1".

35 psi is enough air for 4140 lbs per axle. On my Hemi I run 40/35 empty, its a CCLB. As long as the tires aren't overloaded for the inflation pressure then it's fine. 35 psi is typically the lowest recommended pressure for street use on LT tires, but I'll run them as low as 25 on dirt roads without issue.