Ram 2500 XL for overland / expedition trips

[silvrzuki77]

Looking forward to parts going on your truck! Specially when you figure out the adapters for when you go with the military rims. About to put up my 4x4 E350 than ordering almost identical truck but 3500. Jeep the updates coming!


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[chet6.7]

@chet6.7, I downloaded the most recent version of Cummins' Powerspec program.

The problem is that it is geared (no pun intended) towards true medium and heavy duty applications of the 6.7l Cummins (RV's, buses, small transport trucks, ect.). The RPM's that it recommends for for the 6.7L (1700-1900 RPM's for economy and 1850-2150 RPM's for balanced performance) tend to be higher than what the stock Ram 2500/3500 turns with 3.42's and stock tires.

It seems like there is a discrepancy between how FCA sets up and gears the 6.7L Cummins in their trucks and how Cummins suggests its engine should be geared.

There does seem to be a discrepancy,I will go with Cummins' suggestions over the car builder's at Ram. I think my truck runs the best around 2K,so I try to keep it close to that,I try to avoid RPM's less than 1700 as I have read other posts that suggest this is harder on the 68RE. I don't think the boys at Ram got the diff. gearing, or, the trans. programming right,the trans with be in 4th at 30 and 5th soon after. I lock out 4th/5th/6th depending on town speed or freeway speed,I only use 6th at 75 or so on the flats.


The link below is where I got the Cummins link,there may or may not be something in there that is useful to you.

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/4...93-what-rpm-considered-not-lugging-motor.html

 

[Ravenmad]

WooHoo..... Tires have arrived, and wheels will be in the shop by Wed. I almost have all the parts for the truck, just waiting on gears, lockers, and full PSC steering from DPP. I should be able to put the truck on the lift by next friday and start putting it together.

 

[marshal]

WooHoo..... Tires have arrived, and wheels will be in the shop by Wed. I almost have all the parts for the truck, just waiting on gears, lockers, and full PSC steering from DPP. I should be able to put the truck on the lift by next friday and start putting it together.

would you mind confirming the weight of those tires? and where did you source the wheels from?

 

[Ravenmad]

The wheels came from Discount Tire Direct through Nemesis "I get stuff through them at cost / a little perk for being friends with the owner" and the tires came from Expedition Imports in California. Tires weigh 118 pounds each / give or take a few ounces ( on a shipping scale at the shop ). By reference, a 40x15.5x20 Nitro trail grappler weighs 110 pounds. Def. not a light weight tire, but really not absurd either. DPP told me a 40 inch Toyo on a 17 inch deadlock wheel weighs in at about 162 pounds.

I am looking for a good set of 10 lug aluminum Hutchinson bead locks, however, we are also trying to get a deal on a set of billet bead lock wheels to save some weight if possible. We will see, for now I will be running the Armory wheels from Black Rhino.

 

[blackdmax15]

So I have absolutely no affiliation, but what about Trail Ready 20” beadlocks? You can custom order any back spacing and they will be wicked light for a 20” wheel. I ordered my 18 Ram and it’s still being shipped. Phase two will be the flares, 42s and the trail ready wheels. Saved some coin not going AEV and doing full Thuren kit with King 2.5s.

 

[marshal]

So I have absolutely no affiliation, but what about Trail Ready 20” beadlocks? You can custom order any back spacing and they will be wicked light for a 20” wheel. I ordered my 18 Ram and it’s still being shipped. Phase two will be the flares, 42s and the trail ready wheels. Saved some coin not going AEV and doing full Thuren kit with King 2.5s.

you're going to need to shift the front axle forward quite a bit, even with the flares

 

[Ravenmad]

So I have absolutely no affiliation, but what about Trail Ready 20” beadlocks? You can custom order any back spacing and they will be wicked light for a 20” wheel. I ordered my 18 Ram and it’s still being shipped. Phase two will be the flares, 42s and the trail ready wheels. Saved some coin not going AEV and doing full Thuren kit with King 2.5s.

Trail Ready Beadlock wheels are nice, that is for sure. Does Trail Ready have a "Billet" 20 inch Beadlock? I wonder what the safe range air pressure wise is for a 20 inch wheel? Is it 20psi minimum??? Just how low can you go on a 20 inch wheel?????

 

[Ravenmad]

you're going to need to shift the front axle forward quite a bit, even with the flares

I agree, I spoke with both Thuren and Carli about trying to run 40s with their respective suspensions. In the end both told me their front coils were manufactured in such a way that if you pushed the suspension forward enough to clear a 40 the coil spring would not work properly... i.e. it would have a significant bow in the springs. Their front springs will also not work with the AEV brackets because the brackets change the lower mounting surface. Something crazy about how the RAM made the factory coil springs to sit on a basically flat surface and then did not provide a flat surface for them to sit on (thats non technical speak of course). Both Thuren and Carli springs compensate for the factory lower mounting surface with the way the bottom of the coil springs are wound. Anyways, I will ask cooper how he got 42s on the old girl "Howitzer". I know they made quite a few adjustments and modifications to the suspension that included a mix of AEV and other manufactured parts.

 

[ttengineer]

you're going to need to shift the front axle forward quite a bit, even with the flares

I agree, I spoke with both Thuren and Carli about trying to run 40s with their respective suspensions. In the end both told me their front coils were manufactured in such a way that if you pushed the suspension forward enough to clear a 40 the coil spring would not work properly... i.e. it would have a significant bow in the springs. Their front springs will also not work with the AEV brackets because the brackets change the lower mounting surface. Something crazy about how the RAM made the factory coil springs to sit on a basically flat surface and then did not provide a flat surface for them to sit on (thats non technical speak of course). Both Thuren and Carli springs compensate for the factory lower mounting surface with the way the bottom of the coil springs are wound. Anyways, I will ask cooper how he got 42s on the old girl "Howitzer". I know they made quite a few adjustments and modifications to the suspension that included a mix of AEV and other manufactured parts.

I'm going to run Thuren 1.75" springs with my AEV lift. There is no reason it shouldn't work. Thuren springs are designed to replace the factory springs which the AEV kit is designed for. Plus diesel power products has already done this with synergy 2" springs.


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[Ravenmad]

The synergy springs are made with the same profile as the stock / factory springs. If you take a factory / synergy spring and set it on a flat surface it will basically stand straight up. The Thuren and Carli springs will fall over. They will fall over because the end of the spring that is made to sit in the bottom / axle side perch is actually not flat / parallel to the axle tube (attached pics). When I spoke with both Thuren and Carli they both told me using their respective springs with the AEV brackets that correct the lower mounting surface would exaggerate / compound the arch in the spring. At first I thought, well, how could it be any worse than the arch in the stock spring? As I was told by both companies independently, their springs are considerably longer than the stock springs, they do this because their spring rates are much softer and then require a longer spring to accommodate a lift height. Their springs are in the range of 4-7 inches longer than a stock coil spring (depending on lift height). Because of this soft rate, more windings and longer spring along with the lower coil design to compensate for the factories crazy design, if you were to put them on the AEV lower bracket you would cause the coil spring to bow / deflect considerably.

I myself considered doing the same thing you are talking about (Thuren springs) and by the way, I found Thuren to have better customer service as far as answering questions without a financial commitment on my part to buy their stuff. Of Course, this could be because Carli is very busy, I don't know. Anyways...

I also considered running a Thuren suspension with the Lewis Built Arms to move the front axle forward but in the end after several Emails and a lengthy conversation with Thuren who educated me on coil design, alignment and why its important for a coil spring to be positioned a certain way I decided it was not in my best interest to force it to work.

I also considered just running a full coilover and Bypass shock setup in the front, but Im not going fast and my experience with coilover's on jeeps actually sucked. I absolutely prefer a coil spring and quality shock assembly for stability and maintenance compared to coilover's, so that was out also.

 

[marshal]

Trail Ready Beadlock wheels are nice, that is for sure. Does Trail Ready have a "Billet" 20 inch Beadlock? I wonder what the safe range air pressure wise is for a 20 inch wheel? Is it 20psi minimum??? Just how low can you go on a 20 inch wheel?????

Larry offers both cast and forged wheels. I have the 20" cast's and they have a load rating of 3850lbs. TR is the only manufacturer of made in USA cast wheels. Their Forged versions are even more robust. They are not listed though, and you will have to call Larry for pricing. tell them Will from Forge Overland sent you if you do.

 

[Ravenmad]

Larry offers both cast and forged wheels. I have the 20" cast's and they have a load rating of 3850lbs. TR is the only manufacturer of made in USA cast wheels. Their Forged versions are even more robust. They are not listed though, and you will have to call Larry for pricing. tell them Will from Forge Overland sent you if you do.

I will absolutely call them on Monday. Thank You.

I would also consider a 20 inch forged wheel with a set of Inner Air Lock inflatable Beadlock / runflats / ( but I don't know anyone who runs that brand) basically a hutchinson minus 30 pounds a wheel and wheel adapters.

 

[Dalko43]

I also considered running a Thuren suspension with the Lewis Built Arms to move the front axle forward but in the end after several Emails and a lengthy conversation with Thuren who educated me on coil design, alignment and why its important for a coil spring to be positioned a certain way I decided it was not in my best interest to force it to work.

So if the Lewis-built Arms aren't compatible with Thuren's suspension, what suspension will they work with?

 

[marshal]

I will absolutely call them on Monday. Thank You.

I would also consider a 20 inch forged wheel with a set of Inner Air Lock inflatable Beadlock / runflats / ( but I don't know anyone who runs that brand) basically a hutchinson minus 30 pounds a wheel and wheel adapters.

Trailready is familiar with those and can machine the wheel to help with the acceptance of those. He actually just posted on in his instagram today about milling for them.

I forgot to mention, there is no minimum pressure of the TR Beadlocks, the minimum pressure is dictated by the tire in this scenario. they're good all the way down to 0PSI if you can figure out how to keep the inner bead in place.

So if the Lewis-built Arms aren't compatible with Thuren's suspension, what suspension will they work with?

its not that they're not compatible with the suspensions, its that the suspensions aren't designed to be pushed outside of the normal suspension arch, IE - dont push the axle forward 2 1/2" to fit 40's because the coils aren't designed to accommodate that.