2017 Ram 2500 - Post Divorce Therapy

Big Ern

Member
Thanks...I’ll check out LoD.

Suspension: thanks everyone. Looks like I’ll be giving Thuren a call to what they can do to meet my needs.
 

sam-aye-am

Member
One other suspension place to consider: Lorenz

Granted, I have different needs/wants out of a 3rd gen than you, I think Sean Lorenz has personally tried all kinds of different setups for different purposes. He had fox custom valve some 2.0 remote reservoir shocks for my truck with 2500-3000 lb camper in back. I did the install just before Christmas and then put 1600 miles on the truck and camper. Because I was up against a deadline, his wife even delivered the shocks to my house the day fox finished them up.

Only a few miles were dirt roads to get to camping spots, but the on road performance was night and day. I almost think that I'm more comfortable letting the girlfriend drive the rig now. Came off of rancho 9000xl shock. I don't know why I didn't do this earlier when I've regularly dropped that kind of cash on MountainBike forks about every 3 years.
 

Bayou Boy

Adventurer
A lot of guys will say you need King 2.5s minimum but those guys are running fast on actual trails. If you are doing gravel most of the time with just a little trail work the Fox 2.0 IFPs custom tuned to whatever coils you choose will serve you well. Thuren also has a King IFP setup as a middle ground.

Personally, I have zero desire to drive high speed on rough terrain. I live in Louisiana and probably drove to Colorado or further to camp and still have to drive home so I can't be breakin' stuff. I just want to be able to do reasonable speeds on rough corrugated road with imbedded rocks and not bounce off the road from the washboard.
 

Regcabguy

Oil eater.
One other suspension place to consider: Lorenz

Granted, I have different needs/wants out of a 3rd gen than you, I think Sean Lorenz has personally tried all kinds of different setups for different purposes. He had fox custom valve some 2.0 remote reservoir shocks for my truck with 2500-3000 lb camper in back. I did the install just before Christmas and then put 1600 miles on the truck and camper. Because I was up against a deadline, his wife even delivered the shocks to my house the day fox finished them up.

Only a few miles were dirt roads to get to camping spots, but the on road performance was night and day. I almost think that I'm more comfortable letting the girlfriend drive the rig now. Came off of rancho 9000xl shock. I don't know why I didn't do this earlier when I've regularly dropped that kind of cash on MountainBike forks about every 3 years.

Lorenz is a friend of mine. He revalved some shocks I ordered from KORE which were mushy as hell. In about 90 minutes he removed the shocks and tightened up the rebound for the popup. Transformed the truck. I do run Kings from Thuren but don't go fast offroad at all so 2.0's might have done it.
 
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warwickscout

Observer
I may wait and see if AEV comes out with a resi shock option, but AEV seems to take a very long time to get items to market. I don't know if I want to wait that long. I understand the whole design, r&d thing (I'm in manufacturing), but these guys sure do take their sweet time. If there isn't a market for an item that is a different issue.

I will try and take some pics of the mounting bracket on the BD fog light kit tomorrow when I have some time. I got 2 different squadron beams (wide cornering for the 2 outside lights and spot for the 2 inner). I put each set on a separate switch so I didn't have to mess with the canbus issue, as well as have the ability to run 1 set at a time or both (with or without high beams). BD light output is pretty crazy. I am sold on BD products.
View attachment 430333View attachment 430332View attachment 430334

love the fogs.where did you get the brackets or did you make them
 

Big Ern

Member
The bracket is a kit from Baja Design that is for the Ram 2500/3500 (they make other vehicle specific kits) to mount up their squadron sport/pro in the fog light pocket. Super simple.
 

D45

Explorer
I had a Buckstop Baja bumper (220 pounds) and a Milemarker 12K winch (100 pounds) on my old 3500, it barely sagged

I ran like 3 coils IIRC, Rough Country, then Thuren and finally Carli


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Big Ern

Member
I am attaching some photos of the Baja Designs fog light bracket on how it mounts up. Sorry for the bad photos, but it is a pia to get under the bumper and snap a photo of these with an iphone.

I am also attaching photos of the ARE Z-Series topper as I believe some wanted some closer photos. I am really happy with this topper. It is my second one (the other was on a Tundra). I've never had a problem and the price point is very good. My only gripe is the lock. It seems a little sloppy and that they should have used a higher quality mechanism.
 

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GabAlmighty

Observer
Thanks, and yes...front bumper, rear bumper if / when they finally release it, and maybe the snorkel (my son loves the snorkel but practically when the heck am I going to bury this thing in water up to the intake?).

The front bumpers are on backorder on the AEV site so will keep checking when they get back in stock. Rear bumper timing who knows...they haven't released the full details on this one yet.

When you're being dumb and playing around water and decide to go WOT through a hole no deeper than half your tire... Engine is asking for a lot of air and will suck in whatever is around/near it. Ask me how I know... haha.
 

Jimbo12

New member
When you're being dumb and playing around water and decide to go WOT through a hole no deeper than half your tire... Engine is asking for a lot of air and will suck in whatever is around/near it. Ask me how I know... haha.

Our trucks have an active air flap. Without sealing and disabling this, you'll suck in water no matter what.

Here is the entire system:
fetch


Background:
The Cummins does have whats called an "Active Intake Box" (none of the other engines have this). The idea is that the box normally takes air from inside the fender where it is relatively well protected from dirt, dust and debris. The box has a motor and air flap as well as another air intake port in the front of the box located in the grille of the truck.
When a Cummins is subjected to very heavy loads in very high ambient temperatures, the computer will begin to de-rate the power in order to keep the engine running correctly. By opening the front valve, there is a chance it can get colder air and delay derating the power.
From what Ive been told by Ram, most trucks will go their entire lives without opening the valve. For those of us out west pulling large grades with heavy loads in high ambient temps, we will be the ones using it.
There is a lot of logic that determines just when this flap will open, for instance not when its raining, not in 4 Low, etc.


What it means for the Raised Air Intake System:

We call it a Raised Air Intake System for a couple of reasons:
A) We are trying to get the point across that its people who live in dry environments that need "snorkels" more than in wet environments. After all you might use a snorkel once a year to cross water (unless you live in Costa Rica or similar) but you'll use it everyday in the dryer environments.
B) The small flapper door does not seal fully in the Cummins Active Air Box. Now, with a very small amount of work, you certainly CAN seal the box off and make it work for water.

On the 5.7/6.4/3.6/3.0CRD, none of this is an issue and the box is sealed to the intake system.
 
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Dalko43

Explorer
Jimbo, I've read similar descriptions of Ram's Active Air system.

In light of all that, do you think a snorkel makes sense for the Ram 2500? It seems that Ram's proprietary system is already set up to draw in clean and cool air.
 

Jimbo12

New member
Jimbo, I've read similar descriptions of Ram's Active Air system.

In light of all that, do you think a snorkel makes sense for the Ram 2500? It seems that Ram's proprietary system is already set up to draw in clean and cool air.

Yes, from all of the tests I've seen, there is no CAI (cold air intake) that will flow better than this factory setup. However, the downside is the lack of ability to add a snorkel. I'm sure the AEV guys could fill you in on how to properly seal it, but it would probably take some programming on Ram's end to eliminate the flap function. In the winter, Ram wants you to run the front grille cover for this reason, as that air flapper will snow/ice up and stick. It will throw a malfunction light.
 

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