Hodges 2016 Bilstein Build

[hodge-xj]

Now for the truck. This thing does admirably for being pretty basic, and I genuinely mean it has exceeded my expectations offroad. Being IFS we all know there's numerous short comings and I won't contest that one bit. Aside from a long travel set up I cant ask for much more out of this truck. It is low slung so side hilling and dropping into dips was a total non event, and with the 315s the ground clearance is substantial enough I didn't drag over anything, even in a few spots I thought I would. I'm still learning the capabilities of this truck, but it has really taken me by surprise and I'm astonished it's not more popular. I have open difs and 3.55s, paired with this 8spd in 4lo I really have no complaints at the low speed capabilities. The 6112s still surprise me with their overall comfort both low and higher speeds and honestly this rear suspension just picks up the slack of the ifs's lack of flex. I tried to get some decent pics flexed out, but it's hard to constantly jump out in some spots I was in. There was a bit of droop and compression travel left, not much but the tires were still on the ground and moving me forward. Without a spotter it's hard to see past the massive hood so I stopped where I thought I had the best examples to document. As always picture don't do much justice as there were a few places I figured I'd have to at least give it the berries, but this thing just walked right up everything without needing wheel speed at all. There was the smallest bit of a tire rub that made a squeak noise on the liner, already took care of that and will be a non issue after my realignment. I gotta say, today I fell in love with this stupid truck. More to come [emoji848]

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[hodge-xj]

Parked next to a leveled 250 on 35s, surprised that they sit almost the same height.

Gonna start my rack project soon, gonna Frankenstein a cheap harbor freight rack into something not as ugly. Need a lead for my welder and some time, but the house needs some to so I'll be squeezing truck **** in here and there for a bit.

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[hodge-xj]

Added a generic ladder, lumber, yak rack. For 190 it was a bargain. A little welding and tweaking and it suits my needs. It's kinda ugly but whatever. Gonna add to it as I go and eventually it'll double as an adventure rack.

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[hodge-xj]

So punch list for the upcoming mods

Sway Bar links front and rear
Possibly carli track bar relocation bracket
Barricade Hd Front Bumper
New tires, these duratracs are used and cupped pretty bad....


Open floor for parts debate, been on simple tire and I really am looking at milder tread ats, I spend so much highway time I can't reasonably run an agressive tire, nexen roadians, milestar at-r, radar renegades. Tires are expendable to me, so I like affordable.

Sway Bar links, idk what I'll do up front, maybe cut and weld if they are a ferrous wearable metals, the rear I'll copy ram1500rsm and get the jeep links. Unsure of the real need for the carli drop for the track bar, I kinda wanna try it, but no real need for it other than science.

This bumper, I want it, don't need it but for damn it's slick looking and cheap!!

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[Kyle McWilliams]

The carli drop is for if you ever have your rear end at full extension, it wont pull to the right and yaw the truck. If youre not driving fast enough to be pushing the rear to full extension its not really needed.

 

[hodge-xj]

The carli drop is for if you ever have your rear end at full extension, it wont pull to the right and yaw the truck. If youre not driving fast enough to be pushing the rear to full extension its not really needed.

I don't think my truck wants me to try and find out if I need it!

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[Jamrock09]

I don't think my truck wants me to try and find out if I need it!

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Lmao meanwhile your truck is like try me..

 

[hodge-xj]

Lmao meanwhile your truck is like try me..

It's already seen enough air time I got the tires to rub at the top of the fender openings....dont need to do that again! Maybe if I had a narrower set up that didn't want to eat sheet metal

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[ram1500rsm]

So punch list for the upcoming mods

Sway Bar links front and rear
Possibly carli track bar relocation bracket
Barricade Hd Front Bumper
New tires, these duratracs are used and cupped pretty bad....


Open floor for parts debate, been on simple tire and I really am looking at milder tread ats, I spend so much highway time I can't reasonably run an agressive tire, nexen roadians, milestar at-r, radar renegades. Tires are expendable to me, so I like affordable.

Sway Bar links, idk what I'll do up front, maybe cut and weld if they are a ferrous wearable metals, the rear I'll copy ram1500rsm and get the jeep links. Unsure of the real need for the carli drop for the track bar, I kinda wanna try it, but no real need for it other than science.

This bumper, I want it, don't need it but for damn it's slick looking and cheap!!

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Nexen Rodian AT are $143 from Walmart in 315/70/17
Falken MT in same size $180

 

[Kyle McWilliams]

I read somewhere about the carli drop where a guy said he was chasing his buddys ram and whenever the back end got light over some rollers he would see the whole rear axle shift to the right in comparison to the body of the truck.

If you look at the track bar you can see how its like the radius of a circle and the the further it articulates the more it would want to go to the right.

I dont personally think the carli drop is worth anything besides being able to say your truck has carli parts. Unless you really are doing some gnarly prerunner racing stuff with your truck.

 

[joshuaeb09]

I read somewhere about the carli drop where a guy said he was chasing his buddys ram and whenever the back end got light over some rollers he would see the whole rear axle shift to the right in comparison to the body of the truck.

If you look at the track bar you can see how its like the radius of a circle and the the further it articulates the more it would want to go to the right.

I dont personally think the carli drop is worth anything besides being able to say your truck has carli parts. Unless you really are doing some gnarly prerunner racing stuff with your truck.

I got mine and a core 4x4 pan-hard for that exact reason, but over some of the rough pavement doing the 30mph limit by our office. There's a spot that's messed up just right to throw the rear end for a loop and my ford buddies love pointing it out when they're behind me. Still haven't installed either yet since I've been waiting on different rear springs to arrive and who knows might not do much, but the carli bracket was cheap and the core panhard completes the 5 link upgrade. Hell just the noticeable improvement from the core control arms might be enough to mitigate some of that play, but since I don't go to the office much anymore so probably won't be able to test out that scenario until all of the other goodies have been installed.

 

[ram1500rsm]

what’s the issue again with the axel shifting and this drop bracket curing what? The axel will shift towards the right because it pivots from the trackbar attached to the frame. If your truck is only lifted 1” the roll center is barely changing to need a tb bracket drop,much less all arms lol I mean the thing is only $75 but come on, I don’t need to spend $1k replacing all rear arms for a damn 1” lift, and we don’t even have a front trackbar that has to be accounted for roll center anyways so wth?

I’ve noticed my axel is slightly shifted towards driver instead of passenger now why is that? The trackbar is actually a little longer than needed?
If anything I’ll get an adjustable trackbar to correct that, and maybe that will also fix the extra movement in the axle, I don’t know why the thing will wobble out or whatever its that cause the axel to simply move like that while driving ?

I’ll have to dig into this, I didn’t think I needed rear sway bar links until I tested longer links

 

[hodge-xj]

Nexen Rodian AT are $143 from Walmart in 315/70/17
Falken MT in same size $180

Dude how is **** so cheap for you on the internet?!

Edit I had the wrong size searched [emoji2369] this bumper takes priority over tires, for now. These duratracs have good tread left, they just weren't maintained so they are cupped bad and sound like swampers, I'm trying to fix that with a couple rotations but man, they are so loud compared to what they realistically should be. I'm up near 40- 50k a year commuting so for now the budget tires that are boring will suffice. I csnt believe the prices at Wal-Mart online, never thought to check there. Thanks for the heads up!

As for the track bar, you and I are both well versed on live axle suspensions, so we understand the theory, but at 1" of lift is never have thought we'd need correction. That being said I may scoop up the carli bracket and see what they did with it, I have a feeling they just flattened the bar out so our vertical travel remains parallel and doesn't have an excessive arc with the advertised amount of travel. End links (still might cut and weld need to look) and this bracket will be ordered this week, as I need to do pads and oil so I'll roll this into my maintenance slot. Curiosity is getting the best of me.

Waiting on my quarterly check from the union and I'll get this barricade ordered as soon as it's in hand. [emoji41]

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[ram1500rsm]

Dude how is **** so cheap for you on the internet?!

Edit I had the wrong size searched

this bumper takes priority over tires, for now. These duratracs have good tread left, they just weren't maintained so they are cupped bad and sound like swampers, I'm trying to fix that with a couple rotations but man, they are so loud compared to what they realistically should be. I'm up near 40- 50k a year commuting so for now the budget tires that are boring will suffice. I csnt believe the prices at Wal-Mart online, never thought to check there. Thanks for the heads up!

As for the track bar, you and I are both well versed on live axle suspensions, so we understand the theory, but at 1" of lift is never have thought we'd need correction. That being said I may scoop up the carli bracket and see what they did with it, I have a feeling they just flattened the bar out so our vertical travel remains parallel and doesn't have an excessive arc with the advertised amount of travel. End links (still might cut and weld need to look) and this bracket will be ordered this week, as I need to do pads and oil so I'll roll this into my maintenance slot. Curiosity is getting the best of me.

Waiting on my quarterly check from the union and I'll get this barricade ordered as soon as it's in hand.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Dude how is **** so cheap for you on the internet?!

Edit I had the wrong size searched

this bumper takes priority over tires, for now. These duratracs have good tread left, they just weren't maintained so they are cupped bad and sound like swampers, I'm trying to fix that with a couple rotations but man, they are so loud compared to what they realistically should be. I'm up near 40- 50k a year commuting so for now the budget tires that are boring will suffice. I csnt believe the prices at Wal-Mart online, never thought to check there. Thanks for the heads up!

As for the track bar, you and I are both well versed on live axle suspensions, so we understand the theory, but at 1" of lift is never have thought we'd need correction. That being said I may scoop up the carli bracket and see what they did with it, I have a feeling they just flattened the bar out so our vertical travel remains parallel and doesn't have an excessive arc with the advertised amount of travel. End links (still might cut and weld need to look) and this bracket will be ordered this week, as I need to do pads and oil so I'll roll this into my maintenance slot. Curiosity is getting the best of me.

Waiting on my quarterly check from the union and I'll get this barricade ordered as soon as it's in hand.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Carli doesn’t mention how much lift you need to to run this bracket, but given the distance between the factory hole and the relocated hole, that seems to be about 2-3"


I don't need this bracket at all. I'm not raised that much in the back, i was at 39 1/4" bone stock, now i'm at 40 1/2 with about 200lbs of weight in the bed at all times., 1" over stock.

Also did some measurement on my axel shift, my driver side wheel is about 1/8" shifted to the driver compared to the passenger, i don't even need at adjustable rear TB to correct for axel shifting for a simple 1" lift.

I did some measurements anyways on the trackbar eye to eye (i didn't have it out to measure the eyletes so i'm doing center of the bolt on boths sides), and it seems to be 33 5/8" long

Distance from the factory diff cover to the edge of the TB, 1 1/8"

The factory TB seems hollow and it seems to have quite a bit of flex if you try to rock it by hand, so i feel the TB is actually a better invesment than that drop bracket.

Found this TB as the Core4x4 is 300 facking dollars, http://bwoodyperformance.com/proddetail.php?prod=250.3005
I called them and they said the bar will fit over the factory diff cover, i didn't ask if it will aftermarket as i don't have one.

I think i'll order this bwoody rear trackbar as my next mod as well

 

[Kyle McWilliams]

Carli doesn’t mention how much lift you need to to run this bracket, but given the distance between the factory hole and the relocated hole, that seems to be about 2-3"
View attachment 162396

I don't need this bracket at all. I'm not raised that much in the back, i was at 39 1/4" bone stock, now i'm at 40 1/2 with about 200lbs of weight in the bed at all times., 1" over stock.

Also did some measurement on my axel shift, my driver side wheel is about 1/8" shifted to the driver compared to the passenger, i don't even need at adjustable rear TB to correct for axel shifting for a simple 1" lift.

I did some measurements anyways on the trackbar eye to eye (i didn't have it out to measure the eyletes so i'm doing center of the bolt on boths sides), and it seems to be 33 5/8" long

Distance from the factory diff cover to the edge of the TB, 1 1/8"

The factory TB seems hollow and it seems to have quite a bit of flex if you try to rock it by hand, so i feel the TB is actually a better invesment than that drop bracket.

Found this TB as the Core4x4 is 300 facking dollars, http://bwoodyperformance.com/proddetail.php?prod=250.3005
I called them and they said the bar will fit over the factory diff cover, i didn't ask if it will aftermarket as i don't have one.

I think i'll order this bwoody rear trackbar as my next mod as well

Did you measure the axle shift with the rear tires both completely off the ground? I think i read the carli bracket is made for 0.75"-1" rear lift and from what i understand the axle shifts a fair bit at full liftoff just with factory gear.

 

[Kyle McWilliams]

So punch list for the upcoming mods

Sway Bar links front and rear
Possibly carli track bar relocation bracket
Barricade Hd Front Bumper
New tires, these duratracs are used and cupped pretty bad....


Open floor for parts debate, been on simple tire and I really am looking at milder tread ats, I spend so much highway time I can't reasonably run an agressive tire, nexen roadians, milestar at-r, radar renegades. Tires are expendable to me, so I like affordable.

Sway Bar links, idk what I'll do up front, maybe cut and weld if they are a ferrous wearable metals, the rear I'll copy ram1500rsm and get the jeep links. Unsure of the real need for the carli drop for the track bar, I kinda wanna try it, but no real need for it other than science.

This bumper, I want it, don't need it but for damn it's slick looking and cheap!!

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Look at the Gladiator QR900s, they look kinda like the baja t/a to me but they're highway legal and cheapppp

 

[ram1500rsm]

Did you measure the axle shift with the rear tires both completely off the ground? I think i read the carli bracket is made for 0.75"-1" rear lift and from what i understand the axle shifts a fair bit at full liftoff just with factory gear.

No because then the axel will tend to shift towards the frame and i don't think that'll be accurate.
I did it under load just as the truck is sitting right now.

 

[Kyle McWilliams]

No because then the axel will tend to shift towards the frame and i don't think that'll be accurate.
I did it under load just as the truck is sitting right now.

Im pretty sure the idea is that as weight is removed from the rear axle and the suspension stretches out, thats where you will see your rear axle pull to the side and if you're traveling at that kind of speed it *could* upset the truck.

These are the carli bracket descriptions on on 2 different sites, and if you look at the instructions for carli ram 1500 kits on the carli site they install these with their 1/2" lift rear springs.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Im pretty sure the idea is that as weight is removed from the rear axle and the suspension stretches out, thats where you will see your rear axle pull to the side and if you're traveling at that kind of speed it *could* upset the truck.

These are the carli bracket descriptions on on 2 different sites, and if you look at the instructions for carli ram 1500 kits on the carli site they install these with their 1/2" lift rear springs.

View attachment 162412 View attachment 162413

You want to align to axel as it rolls down the road, the weight of the vehicle should be allowed to push the axel down, then the trackbar should hold the axel centered. at least this has been in every instruction i've had in my hands to adjust trackbars, like with control arms, you want to tighten down the bushings with full weight sitting on top of the arms. i've also adjusted them with straps dragging the axel laterally then adjusting the nut, or simply rotating the arm but always with wheels on the ground and full weight of the vehicle on top. it depends on what version/adjustability you have. Granted if you had one a POS spohn TB, that will probably bend if you try to move the axel with the wheels on the ground, talking about POS the stocker seems made out of super steel compared to that flexy POS they call trackbar from Spohn
and that's the thing with Carli, i know they have a great reputation but things like this always makes me have my doubts about the things vendors claim to sell their products.

"Description
Lifting the rear of your truck puts the factory rear track bar at an extreme angle that introduces a peculiar phenomenon of “body yaw” posed by the front and rear track bars swinging in opposite directions. Crafted from 3/16″ Cold Rolled Steel and expertly welded, the rear track bar drop bolts onto the factory mount and includes new hardware. This vital component will relocate the track bar within factory spec and eliminate the exaggerated body shift."

Lol what front track bar do we have ?
and then we have pictures to see the difference between the relocated hole and the factory hole where the TB will mount. that's how much drop the TB will see, that's only good if you're lifting the rear by that height amount. that's the reason for example you'll see raise brackets in the Jeeps that connect to the axel with different holes to adjust for different heights. you can raise the TB from the axel, or drop it at the frame, but they don't even offer that so people with a 5" lift in the back are only adjusting for about 2-3" down, anything is better in that case since the angle at 5" will be super step.

 

[hodge-xj]

You want to align to axel as it rolls down the road, the weight of the vehicle should be allowed to push the axel down, then the trackbar should hold the axel centered. at least this has been in every instruction i've had in my hands to adjust trackbars, like with control arms, you want to tighten down the bushings with full weight sitting on top of the arms. i've also adjusted them with straps dragging the axel laterally then adjusting the nut, or simply rotating the arm but always with wheels on the ground and full weight of the vehicle on top. it depnds on what version of adjutability you have. Granted if you had one a POS spohn TB, that will probably bend if you try to move the axel with the wheels on the ground, talking about POS the stocker seems made out of super steel compared to that flexy POS they call trackbar from Spohn
and that's the thing with Carli, i know they have a great reputation but things like this always makes me a have my doubts about the things vendors claim to sell their products.

"Description
Lifting the rear of your truck puts the factory rear track bar at an extreme angle that introduces a peculiar phenomenon of “body yaw” posed by the front and rear track bars swinging in opposite directions. Crafted from 3/16″ Cold Rolled Steel and expertly welded, the rear track bar drop bolts onto the factory mount and includes new hardware. This vital component will relocate the track bar within factory spec and eliminate the exaggerated body shift."

Lol what front track bar do we have ?
and then we have pictures to see the difference between the relocated hole and the factory hole where the TB will mount. that's how much drop the TB will see, that's only good for about the same height, more or less will put the angle at the same distance i have now for exmaple without the drop bracket, that's the reason for example you'll see raise brackets in the Jeeps that connect to the axel with different holes to adjust for different heights. they don't ven offer that so people with a 5" lift in the back are only adjusting for about 2-3" down, anything is better in that case since the angle at 5" will be super step.

Just rolled under my rig, the stocker definitely feels like it does deflect a good bit, I was surprised, between the bushings and the bar being a bit soft feeling it would most definitely contribute to a loose feeling in the rear. Add another thing to the list that I'll be swapping out. Tho not super pertinent it's gonna get rolled into the same list as sway bar links. It's only money right?

I think the idea of the drop from carli in our instance would all but totally eliminate the axle moving side to side at droop/compression. Our rear track bars are nearly flat, even lifted, so I can't see them having a big arc to them, my Cummins front axle would move a solid inch side to side between droop and compression. So this is pennants comparatively speaking. For daily driving I'm pretty confident I'd feel a difference from an upgraded bar over the drop, but I'll just package them together for the sake of why not. **** I don't need any of this fancy **** I've strapped to my rig as it is so why stop there [emoji41]. Maybe if I ran it hard I'd reach the limits of the equipment, but that's not gonna happen, tho I'm sure it'll be the best equipped grocery better out there!!!

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