BDS Lift vs ZONE lift kits

R.L.K. · May 29, 2015

Still on the fence between BDS AND ZONE and now RC

Ratket · May 30, 2015

bds is top notch stuff.. I wouldn't hesitate to use one of their kits.

gassersarentdead · May 30, 2015

I went with zone over rc cause rc went back to using lame ass blocks for the rear. Also, they don't coat or paint their parts and people said it rusts really quick and looks like ****.

brandonjansen · May 30, 2015

Exactly what he said ^^ . Do yourself a favor and take RCX off your list. They only provide coil spacers for the rear end lift which is not ideal. Plus not all their parts come powdercoated. So if you don't have them powdercoated or paint them they'll rust in no time. I had one of the old RCX kits on my 1500 (before they changed them) and it was alright for a cheap kit, but no where near the quality of my BDS kit.

Ratket · May 30, 2015

you could also look at Carli & cognito- I am not sure if they make 1/2 ton kits but Carli makes awsome stuff.

R.L.K. · Jun 1, 2015

I looked into the Carli & Cognito and wow nice looking lifts and lots of comparisons to BDS , Thanks for the info , I'm probably a year out , but for now it's BDS , CARLI or PERFORMANCE LIFTS . I do still plan on doing a level soon using bills or FOX adjustable shocks ... Anyone have anything to say about bills vs Fox ?

mgmajestic · Mar 26, 2017

Shock question

So this might have been brought up but my question is doesn't bds come with fox shock coilovers standard with the 6in where zone you have to add them to the base lift? From what I say on both websites it almost equaled the same price but bds atleast came with them for around $4k

R.L.K. · Mar 26, 2017

mgmajestic said:
So this might have been brought up but my question is doesn't bds come with fox shock coilovers standard with the 6in where zone you have to add them to the base lift? From what I say on both websites it almost equaled the same price but bds atleast came with them for around $4k

There's a couple diff options for 6 " kits from BDS if I remember correctly, one does come standard with the adjustable Fox coil overs and 5" rear coils , among other options , one being a preload spacer up front utilizing your oem front coils and 3" rear coils .

The preload spacer option is significantly less $$ , lots of guys get this kit and just do not use the preloaded spacers and just install the Bilsteins 5100s @ 2.1" - 2.8" .

mgmajestic · Mar 26, 2017

Ok yeah I didn't know if there was a huge price point difference cause it seemed like it was a decent amount extra for the zone lift with coilovers I guess something to consider also

clays laramie · Aug 16, 2017

Dont know if your still lookin, but check this out.
BDS Suspension vs. Zone Off Road Suspension

PDXRam · Aug 16, 2017

I had a 6"/3" BDS with fox shocks and a coil spacer leveling kit in the back. In my opinion the ride felt very stiff driving. Never sat in the back though so idk how it was in the rear seats. If I'd do it over again, I might have gone a different direction or added better shocks in the front. Also, a big clunk noise started coming a few weeks after the lift was installed. Might have been from something else - who knows, I'm no mechanic.

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Hemi450hp · Aug 16, 2017

I think the stiff ride from the BDS kit has a lot to do with the rear Fox shocks. They are extremely stiff, so I think I'm going to be getting rid of mine. I havent decided on which shock to replace it with yet, but the Fox rear shocks will be coming off. They are almost impossible to compress by hand while on the truck which is overkill for how I use the truck.

JB1 · Aug 16, 2017

Thanks for the heads up on the shocks

BogsRam14 · Aug 16, 2017

On my Zone 6" I went with Fox rear adventure series shocks. I think they ride great and are comparable to Bils rear 5100's. I've heard the Fox performance 2.0 do feel very stiff.

PDXRam · Aug 16, 2017

Hemi450hp said:
I think the stiff ride from the BDS kit has a lot to do with the rear Fox shocks. They are extremely stiff, so I think I'm going to be getting rid of mine. I havent decided on which shock to replace it with yet, but the Fox rear shocks will be coming off. They are almost impossible to compress by hand while on the truck which is overkill for how I use the truck.

Please let me know which route you go and how you like it

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JB1 · Aug 16, 2017

http://www.ramforum.com/f40/installed_bds_6_lift_fox_2_0_shocks_way_soft-98777/

these members say the FOX is too soft

Hemi450hp · Aug 16, 2017

JB1 said:
http://www.ramforum.com/f40/installed_bds_6_lift_fox_2_0_shocks_way_soft-98777/

these members say the FOX is too soft

When I went to install the 1" rear coil spacers on Monday, I could not compress the shocks by hand to put the lower shock bolts back in. I'm 6'2" 215lbs, and struggled with this. That is way too stiff on the compression for a truck that gets driven mostly on the street. I can see the benefit to a firm compression on a truck that sees a lot of offroad use, but its not ideal for my application. Maybe BDS saw those complaints of the shocks being too soft and then overcompensated and now has them set too stiff?

JB1 · Aug 17, 2017

I read that older thread week ago, then read your reply and thought might be better to pass on the fox shocks.
While researching kits I found some BDS/Zone members using Bilsteins in the rear from superlift kits. You will have to order a shock hardware bag from superlift but I doubt it cost much.

Here are some numbers I found but please verify fitment before purchasing.

77-80038 superlift rear shock hardware
33-185569 bilstein 5100 rear shock
25-187748 bilstein 5165 rear shock w/resi

You can search and verify what's used on the superlift kit, that shock with resi was used by a member on another forum but Photobucket removed pics.

WiSH2oo0 · Aug 17, 2017

Hemi450hp said:
I could not compress the shocks by hand to put the lower shock bolts back in. I'm 6'2" 215lbs, and struggled with this. That is way too stiff on the compression for a truck that gets driven mostly on the street.

Don't buy the Bilstein rear shocks then. I have a video of me trying to compress them in to the lower shock mount on my 12 Ram. There was a lot of cussing and a pry bar involved. I'm a buck fifty but I work on equipment all day at work. The BDS rear shocks were easy peasy lemon squeezy to compress into the lower mounting location.

JB1 · Aug 17, 2017

So you think the standard included oil shocks would be best or the nitrogen?

BDS Lift vs ZONE lift kits

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