Here's my first review and thoughts of my new Carli Suspension, as well as some pics. My setup includes the Carli tuned King 2.5 pin top shocks, Carli Hemi 3" coils, Carli mild steel control arms, Carli limit straps, and a Carli track bar that was installed almost a year ago. There's a couple more suspension mods I still want, the biggest being the Carli Deaver leaf springs but that will be a while. Some Power Wagon specific sway bar end links would be nice, but I don't see any immediate reason to change those out just yet. I'll also be upgrading to a larger tires at some point, most likely a 295/70/18 Toyo AT II, which is just slightly smaller than a 35x11.50.
Installation was pretty easy, just time consuming. Everything fit perfectly and I had no problems at all. I had taken the truck to a 4wd shop the day before to have the tabs welded to the front axle for the limit straps. That ran me an additional $50 for a few minutes of work but the welds look pretty good. Then after I got home from that, I installed the rear shocks which took about 30 minutes or so. I had the rear axle at full droop but still had to compress the shocks about an inch or two which required the use of a ratchet strap. The next day I tackled the front which took about 6 hours with a few breaks and distractions. Limit straps went in easily after measuring and drilling a couple of 1/2" holes. The hardest part of the whole installation was having to unbolt the exhaust pipes from the headers to get enough clearance to remove the upper control arm bolt. If I had it to do over again, I would go ahead and buy a couple new bolts, cut the stock bolts off, and stab from the other side.
I took it for a test drive around the block and I was amazed. The ride is firm and solid feeling but has a much better ride than stock. Rough roads and potholes is where the suspension really shines. You still feel the bumps but they aren't as pronounced and there's no drama after hitting the bump. I drove it to work this morning and the highway ride is amazing. You still feel expansion joints and bumps in the road but the truck doesn't get all squirrely as it did with the stock suspension. The front end also feels much more solid and planted to the ground. I can't wait to get it offroad and see how it does.
My before measurements were all across the board. With 3/4 tank of gas I was at 40" LF, 40.25" RF, 42.25" LR, & 42.5" RR. After measurements with about the same amount of fuel, I am at 42" front and 42.75" rear. Side to side is level within less than an 1/8 of an inch. Part of the rear lift might be from the bags. They only have 4 lbs in each bag, but that could account for the slight lift.
I'd highly recommend this setup to anyone looking for a sweet suspension setup. Since I won't be mobbing it through the desert over huge whoops, I may even consider dropping the nitrogen pressure a little and see if it smooths out even more.
