I have a 2022 PW used for overlanding. I have been conscious of how much weight is added with each step. With Rack, RTT and all other in bed add ons I am at less than 650lbs. I should have no problem staying within payload range. I have noticed the famous rear end wag more with the added weight so I am looking to cure that issue. The ride is still acceptable to me overall. I do not want to raise the truck and all the aftermarket systems seem to all want to do that. I am looking at going with front and rear Thuren track bars as most research seems to say this is the fix for the wag. I also found Bilstein 5160s made for the stack Power Wagons that I plan on installing to. I think for now this will be the extent of suspension upgrades. I am a firm believer in Bilstein shocks since I have them on several other vehicles. You just do not hear much about the 5160 shocks but they look like they could be the ones that Carli labels as their shock with special valving.
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Suspension upgrade
- Thread starter Soapy
- Start date
G Mcpherson
Well-Known Member
I recall reading somewhere that Icon is the manufacturer of the Carli Label 2.0 shocks
Rear Trackbar definitely flattens the curve for the wag
Enough shock/rear tire pressure also have an affect in my experience. I’d always bump rear tire pressure about 5psi when I had the RTT on vs off. Tired and/or small shocks let the movement happen easier than the bigger shocks.
Enough shock/rear tire pressure also have an affect in my experience. I’d always bump rear tire pressure about 5psi when I had the RTT on vs off. Tired and/or small shocks let the movement happen easier than the bigger shocks.
According to the guys at CJC, Carli is switching to King shocks for the Backcountry system. The PW systems have not made that move yet though.
Also, what air pressure are you running? I used to get the rear end wag until I got my tire pressure dialed in better.
I move my air pressure around but notice more wag at lower pressures. Off roading I am down around 40 psi. It is strange that to get the TPMS light to go off you have to take the front pressure to above 60 while the rears have to be above 65. Then the TPMS light won't come back on until you are 55/60. I don't mind driving with the TPMS light on with tires at lower pressures but I do find I get better mpg at the higher pressures.
My last overland adventure in Nevada started out in The Gold Butte area by Mesquite and ended up going to the Grand Canyon in the Whitmore wash of the Arizona strip. In Nevada you are never very far from off roading opportunities. Of roading, overlanding camping it is all really the same thing.
Slightly off topic for this thread, but it will depend on your definition of overlanding. Here are two of my overlanding trips; 8 days in Death Valley and 12 days doing the "Great Wester Loop" (CO, WY, MT, ID, OR, UT, NV).
It’s just a new-age term for camping. In Nevada, you can probably camp anywhere with all that public land.
Docwagon1776
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Utah has a lot of "no road" trails if you're up for some light rock crawling to serious rock crawling. Mojave Nat'l Preserve has plenty of unmaintained to semi-maintained roads with dispersed camping allowed. The US is too densely populated for public land to be completely road or trail free. Just like natural erosion from animals makes game trails in heavily trafficked routes, vehicles do the same only much faster. Hawaii has a lot of great examples of this, unapproved 'no trails' paths to the green sand beaches, for example, are true roadless driving but the erosion is so bad the trails are sometimes cut so deep into the land a Wrangler driving in one is completely below the ground. I, honestly, did not feel good about using them and left early because I felt like I was harming the area more than enjoying it. It's not the Sahara where the wind will fix it for you and there's just too much traffic.
Unless you're just being pedantic for some reason and consider tire tracks on slickrock or a defined path in sand a "road" then you haven't looked very hard. If you insist overlanding follow Star Trek rules of where no man has gone before, you'll need a time machine because you can't even do that on foot in the US any longer.
Docwagon1776
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Camping is a big umbrella.
Backpacking is camping.
Car camping in a campground is camping.
Overlanding is camping.
Each is just a different category with it's owns unique aspects.
Wanderlust073
Well-Known Member
Rockcrawlindude
a rock crawlin’ dude
There are a handful of people out there living the dream like @ramblinChet you should check out his adventures. His well documented journey would give you some ideas, I’m sure. He and people like him are the real deal.
The majority of the overlanding people that I have met that are just doing what we used to call “car camping” where you can park your car at your campsite and they’re only doing that once or twice a year. The rest of the year they’re just daily driving that vehicle in commuter traffic with a ladder and a RTT
To get this thread back on track here are some pictures of the completed upgrades of front and rear Thuren track bars with new brackets and Bilstein 5160 shocks. I noticed a better ride on the small expansion joints and manhole covers right away. Going over rail road tracks at speed you can fell a huge difference in the rear end with no waggle just a firm planted feel now. Off road performance should be greatly enhanced but will soon find out for sure. Very happy with the upgrade.
Docwagon1776
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Have you ran it loaded yet? Hauling firewood I notice it's got that sway feel to it over certain bumps and am considering that track bar myself.
I have not loaded it since the install but did have it loaded before without it and could notice the wag a lot more under load. I am pretty sure this will take care of that. I was able to still fit a 35 inch spare. I have seen some people mention that a 35 would not clear the Thuren rear track bar but I have no issue.
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