Ram 2500 XL for overland / expedition trips

[ttengineer]

Could you post a photo of the coil and coil seat once you set her down on the new tires?

The only other thing I worry about with switching to Thuren .5” coil, is once you add a bumper and winch, depending on weight, you may drop the front lower than it would with factory coils.


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[Ravenmad]

Could you post a photo of the coil and coil seat once you set her down on the new tires?

The only other thing I worry about with switching to Thuren .5” coil, is once you add a bumper and winch, depending on weight, you may drop the front lower than it would with factory coils.


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Easy task. I will be back in the shop today to finish up the inner fender liners and mount the tire / wheel combo on the truck. Headed to Salt lake city tomorrow morning to get the gears and ARB installed at Northridge 4x4 ( the denver store said they could not touch it until the end of May).

 

[mikekey]

the problem that we keep running into is that AEV is currently the only one that manufactures a drop bracket that also shifts the axle forward. Both Carli's control arms and brackets retain stock placement/geometry. Over the last few weeks a couple new options have come to light, but thats where we stand at the moment

Some of us are debating whether that is even needed. Anyhow, there will be another option on the market shortly. But that's all I'm saying about that right now. I do actually wheel these rigs regularly in Moab. And have wheeled with an AEV Rig. They like to dangle their wheels a lot.

Really though, fabricating a drop bracket that moves forward, not complicated. My plans are to move to 40's hear eventually.

Also, side note... The AEV kit provides right at 9 Inches of shock throw on all 4 corners. THE Thuren coils and hence shocks provide app. 10 inches in the front and 12.5 in the rear (thats what I was told).

Really, always surprised they don't offer a better shock with that kit. Those Bilstein 5100's are trash. At least some Fox shocks or something.

I can verify that. I'm running Thurens' front and rear coils now along with King 2.5's with the additional 12 inches out back.

Matter of fact I'm in Moab testing it over the next 3 weeks here. Was just out on Metal Masher with the PW yesterday.

Cheers.

 

[ttengineer]

They like to dangle their wheels a lot.


Really, always surprised they don't offer a better shock with that kit. Those Bilstein 5100's are trash. At least some Fox shocks or something.

The dangle is mostly due to the sway bar and a little because of the radius Arms. A quick order from Carli will fix that.

The Carli sway bar is probably the single most effective mod one can do to these trucks. It allows the axle to move the way it's supposed to move.



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[mikekey]

The dangle is mostly due to the sway bar and a little because of the radius Arms. A quick order from Carli will fix that.

The Carli sway bar is probably the single most effective mod one can do to these trucks. It allows the axle to move the way it's supposed to move.

A softer front sway bar isn't going to help short shocks in the rear But yes, the OE sway bar is stiff as hell. I've been disappointed no one makes quick disconnects. Shame.

 

[Ravenmad]

Some of us are debating whether that is even needed. Anyhow, there will be another option on the market shortly. But that's all I'm saying about that right now. I do actually wheel these rigs regularly in Moab. And have wheeled with an AEV Rig. They like to dangle their wheels a lot.

Really though, fabricating a drop bracket that moves forward, not complicated. My plans are to move to 40's hear eventually.



Really, always surprised they don't offer a better shock with that kit. Those Bilstein 5100's are trash. At least some Fox shocks or something.

I can verify that. I'm running Thurens' front and rear coils now along with King 2.5's with the additional 12 inches out back.

Matter of fact I'm in Moab testing it over the next 3 weeks here. Was just out on Metal Masher with the PW yesterday.

Cheers.

If your going to be in Moab I will be cruising right past there this weekend with a major vendors New jeep JL in tow. PM me if you want to get together, I would be game to stop for a day or so. I am leaving in the morning for Salt Lake City (Northridge) for gears and locker. I will be done on Friday, plus the obligatory miles to break in the gears before I head back to Colorado. I could be in Moab on Sunday.

 

[mikekey]

If your going to be in Moab I will be cruising right past there this weekend with a major vendors New jeep JL in tow. PM me if you want to get together, I would be game to stop for a day or so. I am leaving in the morning for Salt Lake City (Northridge) for gears and locker. I will be done on Friday, plus the obligatory miles to break in the gears before I head back to Colorado. I could be in Moab on Sunday.

I organized and am the host for Power Wagons in Moab, which officially starts this weekend. I've got about 40 rigs showing up. Just two of us here right now.

We're doing Poison Spider on Sunday, but everyone is in a Ram. If you want you can shoot me a PM and I can send you my #. We're staying south of town near Area BFE.

 

[Zuber]

On sway bar disconnects - seems you could easily cut the sway bar in the center and weld on a couple of levers and a support sleeve. Then it would be just one bolt to disconnect it and let the levers swing past each other.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

I've enjoyed this thread a lot and learned something about upfitting the newer RAMs. Another take on the anti-sway bar. On my 2001.5 Ram with Lance Camper, I simply disconnect one side and zip tie it up to the bar for the duration. This worked well on trips in both directions down and up the Mojave Road with a hard side truck camper. Even with this much axle twist

Mine is a GEN II Dodge, so much of the gear changes and suspension work have no bearing on the GEN IV rigs, except maybe my GEN IV tie rod, drag link, TRE's, and pitman arm. Why no bearing? You have 900 pound feet of TQ; I have 505 stump pulling pound feet of TQ. I have a 3" lift all around to clear 35" tires, tuned to carry my 2600 pound Lance Camper at level. To make that room on the front axle/fender clearance I installed controll arms designed for a 6" lift, which on 3" lift springs located the axle 1-1/2" forward giving me the fender clearance in needed. I upgraded my front stock Dana 60 axle (deleting the Dodge proprietary front unit bearing, 32 spline shafts and CAD) with mostly Dana 70 parts including the SpynTec Dodge Dana 60 Hub Conversion Kit, (the best one of the lot, IMV, because they don't stick out so far) inner spindle bearing kit, new spindles, new Timken bearings, hub seals, new ball joints, Dana 70, 35 spline outer stub shafts, Mosier 35 spine front Dana 70 long and short front axle shafts, Mile Marker Dana 70 lockout hub assy, factory ABS sensors and studs. Both front and rear (35 spline Dana 80) pigs now have Eaton Detroit True Trac torque biasing, gear driven limited slips, With Stockton Wheel "Power Wagon", 10" wide steel expedition wheels on the rear and steel 7-1/2" wide wheel in front with 64 pound, 35" Cooper AT3's I needed a gear change and it was a toss up between 4.10's and 4.30's. The 4.10's won and I am a happy camper.
click on this short vid to watch said rig climb the Diablo Drop Off, a 300 foot sand hill in the Anza Borrego Desert. Tire pressure: 20 pounds. Started my NV-5600 in 4th gear/low range with a quick drop to 2nd gear to ooze through the deep mogols. True Tracs worked great even when a tire was off the ground. Nothing broke. jefe
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bfj5y93wsd7vfkw/jefe does sand hill at dry wash of the devil Anza.m4v?dl=0

 

[Tex68w]

Nicely done!

 

[Ravenmad]

I made it out to Salt Lake City by Noon as I promised the good people at Northridge 4x4. They are installing the 4.88 gears and front ARB along with a HD compressor. They tell me it will be done tomorrow.

I am not going to say any names because some manufactures operate on MAP pricing, so lets just say I found someone who sold me a brand new AEV front bumper for a "very" reasonable price. I called AJ over at Northridge (Salt Lake City Location) and Ill be picking up a new WARN 16.5 TIS winch tomorrow o go with the bumper. Downfall.... The bumper is not for a XL, so I will have to mod the side pieces to hold the bottom portion of the Highmark fenders. I know what some are thinking, don't think it, I got this bumper for a "very" good deal. Soooooo, I absolutely have no issue cutting it to fit.

I also scored me some JW speaker LED driving lights for the bumper and a assortment of lights for other parts of the truck.

 

[Explorerinil]

I made it out to Salt Lake City by Noon as I promised the good people at Northridge 4x4. They are installing the 4.88 gears and front ARB along with a HD compressor. They tell me it will be done tomorrow.

I am not going to say any names because some manufactures operate on MAP pricing, so lets just say I found someone who sold me a brand new AEV front bumper for a "very" reasonable price. I called AJ over at Northridge (Salt Lake City Location) and Ill be picking up a new WARN 16.5 TIS winch tomorrow o go with the bumper. Downfall.... The bumper is not for a XL, so I will have to mod the side pieces to hold the bottom portion of the Highmark fenders. I know what some are thinking, don't think it, I got this bumper for a "very" good deal. Soooooo, I absolutely have no issue cutting it to fit.

I also scored me some JW speaker LED driving lights for the bumper and a assortment of lights for other parts of the truck.

The bumper on the prospector and xl are the same, you just attach a flare to it... that’s how I understand it.

 

[Ravenmad]

The bumper on the prospector and xl are the same, you just attach a flare to it... that’s how I understand it.

The place were I bought it told me that the side "wing pieces" on the XL version are a little shorter and are pre drilled for the bottom portion of the high mark fender flares. I think I will just cut the winglets to the correct length. I am also considering building a piece for the bumper that in effect is welded to the "wing" and terminates the flare higher up on the "wing" ... I'll draw up what Im thinking and put it on here for input.

 

[Ravenmad]

If you look at the pic. you will see, I actually cut the factory front bumper and attached the AEV high mark lower portion of the fender flare to the factory bumper.

Yes, I know I have not upgraded to an apple I phone yet!!!! lol

 

[Ravenmad]

a couple of pics on her feet. I ran up to Les Schwab tires and they did an alignment to make sure it was all good before I headed out to Utah.