What's your thoughts on the Bilstein OEM shocks?

[Travelin Ram]

Hey, guys, as I'm getting more used to the PW, and of course the first infatuation starts to fade, I find myself wondering if these shocks are the best. It seems to me the ride is "busy", for lack of a better term. Lots of small motions and feeling more road imperfections than I recall from my previous Rams. So far all stock, and I'm running 55 front and 50 rear psi (yeah, the idiot light is on). No load in the truck.

In my previous trucks (97, 00, 05, 11) I ran everything from stock tires to 35". Mostly stock suspension although I put a Carli on the 05. They all seemed very composed and almost limo like on pavement. This truck less so. I've even noticed bump steer on some bad bridge joints. Maybe this is just a tradeoff for the PW suspension differences?

I've had a bunch of 4x4 trucks over decades, so this isn't a new experience to me. I think It's a combination of these Duratracs transmitting too much harshness, and the shocks not doing a good job of soaking up the small stuff.

I'm not looking to be a wuss that expects this thing to ride like a Lincoln town car, but honestly for highway ride it suffers by comparison to my 2011, which was a 3500 SRW on 35's. That truck was completely comfortable on asphalt, and pretty damn good on the trails too (considering the Cummins iron weighing down the front).

Any perspective you can offer is appreciated!

 

[IRSmart]

Everyone that needs new shocks gets different ones. That should tell you something.

 

[Halligan]

Now that the new truck smile is fading a bit maybe it's time for some Thuren or Carli Suspension upgrades to put the smile back on. The stock suspension is certainly softer riding than a regular 2500 but there is room for improvement. My PW is at 55,000 miles now and this spring I'm going to upgrade with Thuren goodies.

 

[Breaker Alex]

Me and a fellow PowerWagon owner noticed a big difference when we replaced the stock Duratrac tires.
I went with 37'' 12.5 R17 10 plies and my dad went with 315/70R17 BF KO2 10 plies.
Tire pressure maters too.

A local tire expert said the Duratrac is not a good match with a HD truck.
Tire is too light and not sturdy enough for that kind of mass ( ehhh something like that )


That said, I find the truck rides great and don't see a reason to replace anything in the suspension.

 

[Trailmaker]

500lbs was the magic number for me. I did a write up on my 3k rode trip through the Smoky Mountains and I just installed my cover and boxes, then put my recovery gear and tools in them and finally my luggage. Perfect ride.
Don’t believe me. Go get some bags of sand or that mulch for the flower beds that you need for the spring anyway, and drive around a few days. You will see.

 

[Breaker Alex]

500lbs was the magic number for me. I did a write up on my 3k rode trip through the Smoky Mountains and I just installed my cover and boxes, then put my recovery gear and tools in them and finally my luggage. Perfect ride.
Don’t believe me. Go get some bags of sand or that mulch for the flower beds that you need for the spring anyway, and drive around a few days. You will see.

View attachment 195797

You heard the man,

get your wifes on board fellows!

 

[Travelin Ram]

@Breaker Alex you’re a braver man than me,

 

[Grand Mesa]

It didn't help on I-80 out in Iowa that my factory installed Duratrac spare tire eventually had worked itself noticeably loose after having driven hundreds of miles of washboard roads of Colorado and Wyoming earlier. On every bridge joint I had to slow down from 70 MPH to 55 MPH and the truck still swayed in the rear while the spare tire shifted. Got much worse the further I drove. When I finally figured out what the issue was the truck's crossrails had already worn deep grooves into the tire's sidewall exposing the cords. It was trashed.

 

[BoldAdventure]

The factory shocks are utter garbage. I wish the PW would come with something better. Like the Gladiator got Fox shocks, why can't we?

I will say this, if you're riding around at factory tire pressures, especially off-road, that's half your problem.

It didn't help on I-80 out in Iowa that my factory installed Duratrac spare tire eventually had worked itself noticeably loose after having driven hundreds of miles of washboard roads of Colorado and Wyoming earlier. On every bridge joint I had to slow down from 70 MPH to 55 MPH and the truck still swayed in the rear while the spare tire shifted. Got much worse the further I drove. When I finally figured out what the issue was the truck's crossrails had already worn deep grooves into the tire's sidewall exposing the cords. It was trashed.

Thuren Rear track bar will fix what you are describing with the highway expansion joints.

 

[Gulfstream]

I have found the stock Bilsteins to be totally adequate for my use. Living in SW Idaho the majority of my driving is in rock, gravel and some mud, nothing that's driven through fast. They seem to keep the tires well planted and the ride is good... I've never pushed them hard enough to have them fade so they work for me. My 18 only had 12k miles but they've been mostly of road.

 

[crazy jerry]

i thought the bilsteins are good for factory parts. no they arent fox 2.5 or king but theyre a hell of alot better than 90% of other trucks have

 

[Oilbrnr]

As Mike (ORT) said, the yellow Bilsteins are pretty sad. They are pretty much the equivalent of the Rancho's we had in the '80's and '90's. OK, maybe a bit better, but not much.

The bump steer you feel is from the rear tracbar geometry. Thuren's relo kit will fix that.

Bottom line, save up about $4-5k and then call Thuren. That said, what is your real plan for the truck? Do you really use it off-road a lot like some of us do, or is she pounding pavement 99% of the time...

 

[olyelr]

As Mike (ORT) said, the yellow Bilsteins are pretty sad. They are pretty much the equivalent of the Rancho's we had in the '80's and '90's. OK, maybe a bit better, but not much.

The bump steer you feel is from the rear tracbar geometry. Thuren's relo kit will fix that.

Bottom line, save up about $4-5k and then call Thuren. That said, what is your real plan for the truck? Do you really use it off-road a lot like some of us do, or is she pounding pavement 99% of the time...

Mine pounds the pavement most of the time... but I still want a Thuren setup LOL

 

[crazy jerry]

rancho is bottom barrel chinese garbage. any bilstein is better by far

 

[Oilbrnr]

rancho is bottom barrel chinese garbage. any bilstein is better by far

Well, yellow billy's are now the bottom of the barrel. Welcome to 2020.

 

[crazy jerry]

your wanting to argue whats the worst shocks? ffs

 

[crazy jerry]

my opologies for offending you guys and your rancho shocks

 

[Travelin Ram]

Thank you all for the feedback, pretty much as I expected. I’m still in the fact finding stage at this point with the truck, and I’m not doing any modifications until this thing proves some reliability and FCA sorts out a few minor issues. No way I’m giving them an easy off ramp for warranty this soon.

Unfortunately one thing I’m chasing is an NVH issue, which means until that’s sorted even tires and shocks are off the table.

Once that’s done to my satisfaction and we’re past the initial break in issues, I’ll put on some 35’s and reassess the ride. Shocks after that, depending on how it feels with new shoes.

The truck will see a lot of dirt, but realistically all these trucks see more pavement than dirt, unless it’s a working ranch truck or something similar.