bestcoast
Member
The Jeep is gone and has been replaced with something a little more practical. A 2017 Ram 2500 Cummins manual. I bought the truck thinking I was going to keep it relatively stock. I liked the steel wheels and the utilitarian look with no chrome. As these things go that plan quickly and irresponsibly deteriorated after my first couple outings with the truck off road.
I’ve owned the truck for about a year now and have put about 19k miles in that time.
The first upgrade I made to the truck was a set of Toyo open country AT 2’s in 285/75r17. These were probably the best all around tire I’ve ever used. They balanced perfectly and were silent on the highway. They did however lack in grip with slick surfaces and floatation in softer surfaces with the heavy Cummins up front. I bought these tires almost immediately after getting the truck and then headed to the desert of northern Nevada for a weekend trip with some buddies.
It quickly became apparent that suspension work was needed as I wasn’t able to drive more than a few mph over rockier trails without bottoming out in front and pogoing the back end of the truck. Needless to say it sucked and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
I turned to thuren fabrication for the lift kit and opted for his 2.75” front and 1” rear kit with king 2.0 shocks and track bars front and rear.
I can’t say enough for how helpful Don Thuren was when I was buying the kit. He answered numerous emails and questions. It’s definitely hard to find customer service like that.
I tried to leave well enough alone for as long as I could but the lift really made the 34” Toyos look out of place. So off came the AT’s and on went a set of Method Vex wheels in 18x9 with +18 offset. Thuren recommended these to give extra clearance to the front brakes. Along with the new wheels I added 315/70r18 Toyo MT’s. I spent probably two months looking for the right wheel and tire combo. I wanted a 37 originally and the lift would allow it but I wasn’t able to find an E rated 37 for an 18” wheel.
The wheels and tires shipped freight, mounted and balanced with balancing beads
All was well until the pursuit of better die quality continued. I added the thuren torsion front sway bar and played around with disconnecting the rear sway bar to get a feel for how it rode. Boat is probably the most accurate description.
The King 2.0’s had just come out and the valving is very soft. They did well on the street but the valving is too soft for my liking and for the amount of time I spend on fireroads and how terrible the roads in California are, I needed something more...substantial. So I once again lit the debit card on fire and got ready to hurry up and wait.
This brings us to where the truck is today suspension wise.
I’ve owned the truck for about a year now and have put about 19k miles in that time.
The first upgrade I made to the truck was a set of Toyo open country AT 2’s in 285/75r17. These were probably the best all around tire I’ve ever used. They balanced perfectly and were silent on the highway. They did however lack in grip with slick surfaces and floatation in softer surfaces with the heavy Cummins up front. I bought these tires almost immediately after getting the truck and then headed to the desert of northern Nevada for a weekend trip with some buddies.
It quickly became apparent that suspension work was needed as I wasn’t able to drive more than a few mph over rockier trails without bottoming out in front and pogoing the back end of the truck. Needless to say it sucked and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
I turned to thuren fabrication for the lift kit and opted for his 2.75” front and 1” rear kit with king 2.0 shocks and track bars front and rear.
I can’t say enough for how helpful Don Thuren was when I was buying the kit. He answered numerous emails and questions. It’s definitely hard to find customer service like that.
I tried to leave well enough alone for as long as I could but the lift really made the 34” Toyos look out of place. So off came the AT’s and on went a set of Method Vex wheels in 18x9 with +18 offset. Thuren recommended these to give extra clearance to the front brakes. Along with the new wheels I added 315/70r18 Toyo MT’s. I spent probably two months looking for the right wheel and tire combo. I wanted a 37 originally and the lift would allow it but I wasn’t able to find an E rated 37 for an 18” wheel.
The wheels and tires shipped freight, mounted and balanced with balancing beads
All was well until the pursuit of better die quality continued. I added the thuren torsion front sway bar and played around with disconnecting the rear sway bar to get a feel for how it rode. Boat is probably the most accurate description.
The King 2.0’s had just come out and the valving is very soft. They did well on the street but the valving is too soft for my liking and for the amount of time I spend on fireroads and how terrible the roads in California are, I needed something more...substantial. So I once again lit the debit card on fire and got ready to hurry up and wait.
This brings us to where the truck is today suspension wise.
Last edited:
