'97 Dodge Ram 2500, 4x4 Cummins Powered

[Regcabguy]

The steering gear brace is a must and can be obtained on EBAY for $119 now shipped. That's a bargain. You'll probably deal with a worn trackbar soon as that is an issue. Thuren sells a drop in for you or you can go the more expensive route of a DSS/factory tracbar unit. The beauty of the Thuren unit is that it's adjustable in case you throw some Carli softride coils in there.

Deaver or National can build you a replacement rear pack which will eliminate the pronounced wheelhop due to the mombo blocks back there. Just be sure of your frontend height before contacting them.

Bilstein 5100's might do the job for you,but my Northstar overwhelmed them on my '98.5. Don's custom- valved Fox 2.0's would be an ideal solution as he can dial in a stable highway ride with good offroad characteristics.

We just returned from a 2000K AZ/Utah run and I sure appreciated the popup over a hardsided one. The wind howls out there.:sombrero:

Have fun!

 

[Ram5500]

The steering gear brace is a must and can be obtained on EBAY for $119 now shipped. That's a bargain. You'll probably deal with a worn trackbar soon as that is an issue. Thuren sells a drop in for you or you can go the more expensive route of a DSS/factory tracbar unit. The beauty of the Thuren unit is that it's adjustable in case you throw some Carli softride coils in there.

Deaver or National can build you a replacement rear pack which will eliminate the pronounced wheelhop due to the mombo blocks back there. Just be sure of your frontend height before contacting them.

Bilstein 5100's might do the job for you,but my Northstar overwhelmed them on my '98.5. Don's custom- valved Fox 2.0's would be an ideal solution as he can dial in a stable highway ride with good offroad characteristics.


We just returned from a 2000K AZ/Utah run and I sure appreciated the popup over a hardsided one. The wind howls out there.:sombrero:

Have fun!

I agree, my setup is actually Carli/Thuren hybrid as well. Doing the steering brace w/ track bar at the same time does wonders for the front end.

The Carli mini pack replaces part of the stock leaf pack, still have load carrying ability but rides much better. Full Deaver pack would be better for sure, just more $. The mini pack for the rear just seemed to be a good value for me.

I should clarify as well, the 3" of lift was in the front, basically just leveled with the rear. I was running a spacer to level it previously.

Keeping it as low as possible was my goal as well, that's why the fender trimming to fit the tires. I went with the Carli/Thuren for a performance suspension, Not a lift kit.

May not be exactly what you are looking for, I'm not sure on the weight of your camper, but as much as I like to go offroad 95%+ of the time is spent on road and that is where the biggest ride benefit has been. A friend used to give me a hard time about the "big truck that must drive like crap" till he drove it one day down in Rapid City. He said "this handles like a sports car!" right before "oh, nooo" as he got pulled over for excessive speed

Sorry for the long post, not trying to change your mind, just accurately relate my own experience and personal impression of the suspension mods.

Anyway, be interested to see what solution you find that works best for you!

 

[ExpoMike]

Yeah, I really think a full pack to eliminate the factory blocks would be very good in the long run. If you read the fine print on the Carli 2nd gen springs, they say you lose 15% of load capacity. As of right now, the rockers on the cab are sitting level. That means I have dropped the rear ~2". The mini pack is likely not going to lift this anymore and if I add Carli or Thuren springs in the front, I am going to sit nose high, which I cannot stand unless the rig is a full on pre-runner/race truck.

Thuren doesn't seem to list anything, for the most part, for pre '03 rigs. Again, seems like companies are not really supporting pre '02 anymore and definitely not the camper/Expo crowd. Seem they all think people are using full size rigs to tow and/or pre-run with. Heck, I can't even find anyone building sway bar disconnects, which I find much more useful than anything else on a stock/modified suspension. Offroad, much better ride and articulation than any other mod I have seen done.

I'll get things figured out and will piece something together. I did this on my Cherokee and it works great, especially towing the Kamparoo offroad. Ask anyone who has been on a trip with us.

As for shocks, I will only be using Bilstein's as this is all I have been using for the last 15+ years and have been very happy with them. Most of them have been custom tuned which definitely helps.

 

[Regcabguy]

Yeah,my Northstar is considerably bigger and heavier than your FWC. I also had the factory rear swaybar which controlled sway but did yield a rougher side to side ride in Baja.

Thuren,Carli,Kore and Lorenz Bilstein 5100's are off the shelf though vehicle specific valving. Carli's got a custom valved 5160 coming out.

The qc's have less of a "stinkbug" appearance than my regcab,so the aftermarket coils leveled it out well. Firestone Ride Rites finished the leveling off,but relying on air is pretty weak.

As far as Thuren's concerned,his website is in need of the local webnerd's help. Calling him is the way to go for more info. Super knowledgable and friendly person. He'll return calls within 24 hrs Mon-Friday. One man and wife operation.

 

[Fish]

Thuren's new 3rd gen swaybar incorporates disconnects. He's also got some pretty stout shackles that give a little lift in the rear. I intend to put some of those on with my full leaf KORE/Deaver springs as I sit a bit low in the rear. An extra inch or two would really help level my ride.

I'm not sure if any of that would work with 2nd gen trucks. As Dave mentioned, give Don a call or email. His website sucks. Don has built some awesome 2nd gen trucks, but the market isn't really there to mass produce a full line for them.

 

[ExpoMike]

Too bad Thuren doesn't list everything on their site. In this day and age, there should be no reason I need to call someone to find out about their products. Bad business IMHO. I have no problem calling a company to clarify something or a specific question but for general info about products, come on...

I'm toying with the idea of DIY4X rear shackle flip (= 4" lift) and removing the factory blocks (~ 5"). Then have National Spring build a pack that gives me the height/rate I need and not have some crazy arched springs to eliminate the blocks. Man, what was Dodge thinking using blocks? :Wow1:

Really just coming up about an 1" front and about 2" rear is about all I want at this point. I think if I can come up with some good shocks and sway bar disconnects, it would be a nice setup. Wish I could come up with one of those Power Wagon disconnect systems to retrofit. Seems only the PW and Wrangler Rubicon get this much needed (and my opinion required) upgrade.

 

[Herbie]

Mike, were you driving the new rig through Mira Mesa yesterday afternoon?

Thought I saw you at the MM Blvd/Camino Ruiz intersection on our way to Babies-R-Us. Very quick, didn't get a second look, much less a photo, but it definitely caught my eye and made me think it was you!

 

[ExpoMike]

Mike, were you driving the new rig through Mira Mesa yesterday afternoon?

Thought I saw you at the MM Blvd/Camino Ruiz intersection on our way to Babies-R-Us. Very quick, didn't get a second look, much less a photo, but it definitely caught my eye and made me think it was you!

Yeah, about 3:30 or so. We live in MM. :ylsmoke:

 

[ExpoMike]

Well, got out for our first shakedown run. My parents joined us towing our Kamparoo as they are looking to buy that from us. Overall it went well as we got familiar with the new rig. We did about 210 miles round trip, about 40 of that offroad. Returned 14.1 MPG, which considering all the mountain driving wasn't too bad.

With a bone stock rig (outside of the 285/75-16 BFG AT's) and worn out shocks, the truck did really well. From sandy washes to rocky trails, it road fairly well. Definitely need to address the suspension to help the ride offroad but still impressed being stock and a 1500# camper on the back.

As for the camper, it was definitely a change from the Kamparoo trailer. I like many things better but the one downside is there is less "floor space". With the wife and dog, it made moving around interesting at times. Cooking inside out of the wind (which we had a lot of) totally rocks!!! The bed was comfy and it stayed much warmer (almost too warm) and we never had to run the heater.

One problem we did run into when I got home and was unloading. Checking the turnbuckle tie downs, I found the front pass. side laying in the bed. Reaching up to check the camper mount, found the wood being torn out and the mounting loop hanging at an angle. That sucks and I'll need to pull the camper and check out the damage, then figure out how to repair it.

Overall we are happy with the change in rigs. We will have to come up with our new routine for packing/camping as we have for the Kamparoo.

Here are a few pictures from the trip. Enjoy.

First time in the dirt

XJLisa and Ellie, who was thinking, "we're going where?"

The spot we were camping at had a old house foundation, which worked great as a level spot

Our Kamparoo and the new Ram/FWC

Likely the most extreme part of the wheeling this weekend

Parents Dakota and our Kamparoo. Twist it up!

That's it for now.

 

[Loco-Nomad]

If I didn't have so many kids this is the setup I would have! So versatile. Very nice!

 

[Regcabguy]

May Grey along the coast equals nice weather inland. Our Northstar gets tight even with the wife and I on long trips. I was on line looking at Outfitter's aluminum framed offerings. Pretty nice. Now if I could just win the lottery.

 

[ExpoMike]

Got a cool shot of the rig at El Mirage dry lake, from this weekend. Was out there with a buddy who runs a LSR car. He ran a 184+ mph run breaking is last month record breaking run of 170 mph. It was awesome.

I'm really loving this setup, especially going out solo. It's so easy to setup/take down for one person. I did have one issue with the truck. The fuel shutoff soleniod died, which would not allow the truck to start. Luckily it has a mechanical linkage that we were able to tie open and allow me to drive home without any problems. Just was not able to shut the truck off without removing the zip tie. Need to replace that.

Other than that, it ran great and I haven't filled up yet but based on my trip back from Phoenix, it's looking like 17-18 mpg being almost all freeway. I would be very happy with those numbers. Will fill up after getting the soleniod replaced.

 

[my1stcummins]

You've got to love a vehicle that can be fixed with zipties and duct tape. Expedition worthy for sure.:sombrero:

 

[Little Red]

:Wow1: that is a very nice Dodge truck. I really like the camper on it too. Not to tall for overland driving.

This is exactly what I want my next expedition truck to be. :drool:

 

[ExpoMike]

So I just picked these up today. Got some work to do this weekend.

New Bilstein 5160's! Oh Yeah!!!