Upgrade combos for towing and every day driving.

[StruggleBus]

So I’ve been searching thru the previous post on here for a couple days and I think I may have pieced together the answer thru a few different threads I just want to make sure I’m understanding this right.

I have a 2022 Ram 2500 Bighorn w/ a 6.7 and we really like it. Only complaint is ride quality as it seems you feel EVERYTHING even if your towing or not. I have a 6700 lb travel trailer with a hitch weight of 714 lbs and use a Reese WD hitch. The whole setup works fine and gets the job done no problem but I was wanting to maybe change out some basic suspension parts to make the ride a little nicer especially when not towing.

So far it seems like folks will put some Bilstein 4600 shocks all the way around to upgrade the current shocks and then put Thuren or Carli springs in the rear that are a little softer. Which increases ride quality while not towing but the softer springs cause the truck to sag when you tow more so than the factor springs by about a half an inch. Then people ad the Airlift 5000 or similar rear airbag kit to combat the sag while towing. This all seems kind of like a lot.

So the question is does anyone know of a popular “one and done” setup that’s widely used as a good in between for towing and everyday driving?

Thanks for any help or advise.

 

[Nickx86]

What size rims do you have on your rig? If you have 20” rims, you need to lower your tire pressure unloaded to mid 40’s. Loaded you should have your rear around 60. Honestly it’s the biggest difference without going to a smaller rim size.

I had my old rig, 2016 ram 2500 on 20” rims and with bilsteins 5100 all around. Running at 60-65 psi beat me up, running mid 40’s was much better unloaded

My current rig has 18” rims and I just leave the pressure about 55 or so and it has the factory 4600 bilsteins and it rides way better than my 2016 ram

 

[JayLeonard]

I run all my tires at 62 towing or not, and it made a huge difference. Do that before you change or add anything else.

 

[diymirage]

Interesting
I run mine at 60-80

At what psi does the tire light come on?

 

[Motoman501]

I run 40 psi when not towing, makes the truck ride a lot better.

 

[OLEJOE]

I run 50 in the front and 35 in the rear empty. With our 7k TT I run 50 in the rear also. Rides as well as a 1/2 ton truck. It does get a little firmer when towing but nothing like the class 8’s I’ve been used to driving.

 

[2003F350]

I have an almost identical truck to OP's, and I run between 60-65 all the time. And don't bother changing the suspension. For what it is, it's the best riding 3/4 ton truck I've owned, second only to my old Wagon.

There's not really a 'one and done' change to get what you're after other than buying a second truck that is a 1500 for daily driving. It's a 3/4 ton truck, to get the higher payload and towing they gave it stiffer springs and suspension. Anything you do to 'soften' the ride while unloaded is going to negatively impact your ability to tow, which means you need to add on a bandaid to get you back to where you were when you ARE towing.

In all honesty, I would suggest going and looking at swapping to a Power Wagon if you REALLY want a 3/4 ton truck with a soft ride that will still pull your trailer like a dream. We have an almost identical weight/distribution TT that I pulled for 5 years with the Wagon, and once I set the hitch up RIGHT (the dealer didn't), I never had a problem pulling at 65-67 mph (I don't tow over those speeds unless it's an emergency). It wasn't a rough ride at all, almost as good as my wife's 1500, but still very capable. And the 6.4 isn't a slouch, I never had any issues getting moving or up to speed (though the diesel does do it better). You've just gotta be willing to let that Hemi wind out a bit.

 

[Riccochet]

Tire pressure. As others have mentioned.

Keep mine at 50 PSI front and rear when not towing. Just don't care about the low pressure warning.

 

[StruggleBus]

Hey sorry for the late reply’s on all this. The army sent me to an undesirable location for a couple weeks. Anyways I have just the stock rims….i think 20s. I run the tire pressure according to the door jam which I believe is 60 or 65 for front and rear which I noticed is a change from my 2016 ram 2500 where the front and rears were different pressures. I was doing some research around here and it seems like people just throw some Bilstein 4600 or 5100s on and it improves the quality a lot. I may try that. I appreciate the feed back and once again sorry for the late response.

 

[nlambert182]

I put 5100s on my previous 2500 and it made the ride more firm. I liked it personally and plan to add them to my 18 2500, but I don't mind it riding like a truck because it's a truck. Then again, I liked my 3500 DRW's ride too. My current 2500 is my first one with coil springs and it rides as good as my wife's Armada. Pretty content with it.

If you're going to tow with it I wouldn't try to change any parts to make the suspension softer. You might try adjusting tire pressure if it is an annoyance though.

 

[joesstripclub]

Hey sorry for the late reply’s on all this. The army sent me to an undesirable location for a couple weeks. Anyways I have just the stock rims….i think 20s. I run the tire pressure according to the door jam which I believe is 60 or 65 for front and rear which I noticed is a change from my 2016 ram 2500 where the front and rears were different pressures. I was doing some research around here and it seems like people just throw some Bilstein 4600 or 5100s on and it improves the quality a lot. I may try that. I appreciate the feed back and once again sorry for the late response.

I have only owned my power wagon a few months, but dropping the pressure helped the ride significantly. Different tires obviously, but the consensus for the PW is about 45 psi front and 40 psi rear unloaded. You can do a chalk test on your tires to determine if you are over optimal pressure unloaded. Depending what you consider "feel everything," shocks might help absorb some bounce but you will still feel all of the bumps. I'm not sure if our trucks have a linear or progressive spring, but a progressive spring can help ride unloaded but still carry the weight when towing.