2021 Ram 1500 Warlock 4x4

Just trying to decide on a good leveling kit for the truck. I had a 4x2 2010 Ram before this and don’t know too much about the 2021z any comments would be nice. The new truck is a 4x4 2021 Ram Warlock. I saw the belstein leveling kit and am interested in it just not sure what to do.

The Bilstein 5100's are a great inexpensive option. I've been running mine at 2.8 since about 500 miles from the factory. You should sit level with them at 2.8 on the warlock.

Here's mine at just 5100's at 2.8 on the front, stock everything else






Here she is on 35's




And here is with a zone 1.5" body lift making it a 4" lift total

That is a nice looking truck right there man!! Do you think you can give me the part number for the bilstein? And everything else that should go with it? The dealer I talked to said the kit is about 800$

Gage Babbs said:

Just trying to decide on a good leveling kit for the truck. I had a 4x2 2010 Ram before this and don’t know too much about the 2021z any comments would be nice. The new truck is a 4x4 2021 Ram Warlock. I saw the belstein leveling kit and am interested in it just not sure what to do.

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Hit up @Nick@GotExhaust and he can set you up with the Bilsteins you need the 5100’s are the best bang for the buck. The improved ride option are the 6112’s. Forum members get a discount from our vendors so support our vendors

Gage Babbs said:

That is a nice looking truck right there man!! Do you think you can give me the part number for the bilstein? And everything else that should go with it? The dealer I talked to said the kit is about 800$

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Is that 800 installed, or just parts? The Front and rear 5100's should run you sub 400 for the parts.

As @Quick_Shifter Mentioned, hit up Nick, He'll get you set up with the best deal, and the exact parts you need. Some shops suck and mix up our 4th gen warlocks with the new 5th gens.

j-b said:

Is that 800 installed, or just parts? The Front and rear 5100's should run you sub 400 for the parts.

As @Quick_Shifter Mentioned, hit up Nick, He'll get you set up with the best deal, and the exact parts you need. Some shops suck and mix up our 4th gen warlocks with the new 5th gens.

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Most shops Suck, LOL Believe me I fix a lot of stuff

As mentioned the 5100's are a great lower cost option. Please feel free to message me for a quote and to discuss further.

I appreciate all you’re comments/ help and I’ll be sure to hit up nick!

What if anything does the leveling kit do? Does the ride improve..any roll? Are there any mechanical concerns ..driveshaft etc..thanks

Dave Haddon said:

What if anything does the leveling kit do? Does the ride improve..any roll? Are there any mechanical concerns ..driveshaft etc..thanks

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When people refer to the Bilstein 5100's (and comparable products from other manufacturers) as a "Leveling Kit" there's really not much to them mechanically. It's a new set of struts with an adjustable lower spring perch that lets you choose the ride height by changing the distance from the lower spring perch to the pivot bolt on the lower control arm.

Since trucks are made to tow and haul it is typical for the front to sit a little lower than the rear to ensure predictable handling while loaded, but some people don't like the way that looks when they're unloaded. When people level a truck that means lifting the front of the truck to match the height of the rear. If you lift both ends that's just a lift.. though it's typical to lift the front a little more than the rear to produce a level final result.

Here's the executive summary:

There is no real mechanical concern. Lifting the front over 2" you are strongly advised to also buy lift-specific upper control arms. Lifting over ~2" can result in a "Pogo Stick" ride some people don't like and others don't notice.

Nerdy wall of text to follow:
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Because it keeps your stock range of motion and doesn't mess with any of the stock fixtures there is no change from stock mechanical reliability. Total suspension range of motion stays pretty much the same, maybe a quarter inch different if you want to split hairs.
There is a "BUT"...

The "BUT" if you select a ride height more than about 2" above the stock ride height you may have trouble getting a good alignment using the stock upper control arms. This is because the upper and lower control arms are different lengths from each other. When they are both level (parallel to the ground and each other) that's fine but as you change the ride height they move out of parallel and the camber angle of the wheel changes. There are alignment cams on the truck to correct for this, along with correcting for minor collision damage, manufacturing inconsistencies etc. like any vehicle - but they have a very limited range of motion and when you raise these trucks above ~2 inches or so with otherwise stock parts you can reach the limits of those cams.

Regarding ride quality every brand of leveling strut will have its own secret sauce. Bilstein usually builds their 2" monotubes with a digressive damping profile - in English that means firm on small bumps and less firm on big bumps. That means they set into corners more quickly and feel sportier, but it also means you feel the roughness of the road more. Whether you like that or not is entirely personal.

Because the lift/leveling struts don't change the factory range of motion but only where your truck normally sits within that range, there is also a trade-off between "up" travel and "down" travel in the suspension. Your suspension can move up and down roughly 9 inches total so if it starts out with 4.5" up and 4.5" down, if you lift the truck 2.8" now your tire can only move down 1.7" from its usual position relative to the body. That means you might find the truck falls into potholes more, falls off the far side of speed bumps more.. just like other aspects of ride quality that affects different people differently some people can't stand it, other people don't notice it.

Lastly there's minimum preload on the spring. Because these leveling struts use a pretty much stock length strut body and just change the location of the lower spring perch along the strut body the more you move it one way or the other the more you affect the neutral preload on the spring. When the truck is at rest or moving on level ground this specific factor doesn't affect ride because the springs are linear. Their static length while loaded is the same no matter how much preload they have (as long as preload is less than static load) . But when you take the load off the spring by lifting a tire entirely off the ground, the preload becomes the minimum amount of weight necessary to make the suspension move and do its job. It might be hard to imagine what that feels like but most people who have noticed it seem to agree on one description: Like a pogo stick.

It's hard to say authoritatively what the correct setup is, everyone has different expectations and values and there are a lot of right ways to do it. My own truck has been through several iterations of lift components and settings, affordable because I can do my own work but if I was paying labor I'd definitely be happier if I had got it exactly right the first time

I went with a RC 2" leveling kit. All of the strut extension type kits come with a spacer that goes on top of the strut, like this one does. The problem you will run into is this will now cause the suspension to over extend the UCA, thus deteriorating the upper ball joint. The RC kit comes with a bump stop that limits extension to that of the factory setup (which I confirmed after install), which is why I went with this one.

If my truck had miles on it, I'd have gone with the Bilsteins front and rear. But mine is also a 2021 and is only at 7k miles.

YMMV.

Thank you..that clears up all my questions..leaving it stock..cheers dave

@dgarber12771 I see you have the sport hood on your Warlock. I am curious, I have heard rumors that the hood scoops on it are not functional on the Warlocks. Is that the hood yours came with, and if so, is the rumor they don't work accurate?