shock in the center of the underside bed?

[Am3gross]

what is the shock in the center of the underside bed? i was looking at the exhaust and i noticed a bilstein shock in there. what is it for?

 

[curtis]

do you have a picture of what you are looking at?

 

[Hootbro]

It's a damper for axle hop. AFAIK, only the 2500's have it.

http://www.ramforum.com/f53/what_2014_2500_a-45496/

 

[Skrap]

The link rear suspension should not need the shock for the axel wrap. If you have wrap you may have a problem elsewhere. And a shock to "help" with axle wrap is only a bandaid anyways so doesn't show the problem.

 

[Am3gross]

It's a damper for axle hop. AFAIK, only the 2500's have it.

http://www.ramforum.com/f53/what_2014_2500_a-45496/

you picture is exactly what i was looking at, the yellow shock. also it is for a 2500. i will read thru that thread and see if i can find more info about it.

thank you!

 

[Am3gross]

i took this from the post listed.. credit to Olli as he got this answer from the RAM chassis engineer...


"The 5-link coil system does an incredible job of locating the axle and improving the ride. We put the Bilstein dampener in place for additional control, bringing us far beyond what competitors offer. The dampener exists on gasoline engine models (6.4 and 5.7 HEMI) but not on Cummins-powered trucks. Diesel engines have a much different torque curve and RPM range and do not currently require the component.

The five-link coil design incorporates support at all major points of force. Leaf spring suspensions struggle to combat axle wrap by using staggered shock absorbers (one mounted on the front of the axle tube and one mounted on the rear of the axle tube). The superior design of the five-link coil system functionally resists unwanted axle rotation. Leaf spring configurations also lack lateral support, forcing the leaf ends and shackles to hold against lateral loads — a task they're not particularly good at and one reason competitive leaf-sprung rear suspensions shutter on rough surfaces.

Because of the unique five-link axle control and natural rotation, U-joints in the driveshaft run smoothly and with less vibration through the suspension’s range of motion, an advantage not shared with leaf springs. Another benefit of coil springs is less unsprung mass and elimination of stick-slip friction found between the leaf springs. Additionally, links are engineered in-line with frame rails, so overall packaging is better, not to mention an overall weight reduction of about 40 pounds when compared to a leaf-spring configuration.

The 2014 Ram 2500 also will offer a segment-exclusive rear air suspension system. Two air bags replace the coil springs much like the Ram 1500. Load capacity is not sacrificed and the 2014 Ram 2500’s best-in-class ride and handling gets even better, crushing the competition with two doses of engineering innovation (five-link coil standard and air suspension option). Another benefit to the new air suspension design is the load-leveling capability, which automatically detects load on the rear suspension from a trailer or payload. The air pressure increases until the vehicle reaches normal ride height – leveling the truck and improving stability and loaded ride."

 

[Broke pilot]

That shock is a bandaid for a poorly designed suspension. 5 link a horrible design, but it's cheap to design and manufacture cuz you just put the axle where you want it, run your links and put a panhard bar on it to keep it centered.
Ram uses some rediculous geometry and even worse bushings which is why the shorter trucks (i.e. Not megacabs) need that shock to stop some axle wrap under heavy towing. The longer the drive line length, the less angular deflection and leverage are put on everything.
The whole point of a link suspension is to control the axle. Ram basically said we threw this together at 4:55 Friday by putting that shock up there. If they had really cared about the performance and rode quality of the rear suspension (front too for that matter) they'd have built a triangulated 4 link... But that takes time.
And I really like that Ram says it saves weight over a leaf spring setup... I guess they're not factoring in all that 150-200# of extra steel on the axles to build the coil mounts etc...

But.... I still love my Mega, wouldn't trade it for anything out there!