1500 rear suspension question.....

[rpr]

Old thread I know, but this question still doesn’t seem to be answered on the forum. Has anyone replaced their OEM rear shocks on an air ride truck with aftermarket ones? If so, which did you go with, what are your thoughts re: performance, and have you noticed any issues?

For what it’s worth, a rep from one of the aftermarket manufacturers told me they thought the reason they don’t list air ride trucks as being compatible with their shocks is due to concerns with the fully extended length potentially over extending the air bags. So they (subjectively) thought the shocks for air ride trucks may need to be shorter in full extension than the shocks for non-air ride trucks.

Not sure if that’s the case as these air ride trucks lift up pretty high in Off Road 2 mode.

 

[corneileous]

Old thread I know, but this question still doesn’t seem to be answered on the forum. Has anyone replaced their OEM rear shocks on an air ride truck with aftermarket ones? If so, which did you go with, what are your thoughts re: performance, and have you noticed any issues?

For what it’s worth, a rep from one of the aftermarket manufacturers told me they thought the reason they don’t list air ride trucks as being compatible with their shocks is due to concerns with the fully extended length potentially over extending the air bags. So they (subjectively) thought the shocks for air ride trucks may need to be shorter in full extension than the shocks for non-air ride trucks.

Not sure if that’s the case as these air ride trucks lift up pretty high in Off Road 2 mode.

That’s definitely what I would think because not only are the shocks different between the air ride trucks and the non-air ride trucks, they’re also different… Not so much because their bilstein‘s, but because the rebels have the extra inch of ground clearance too meaning that off-road one in all the other trucks is their normal ride height which is why they only have off-road mode instead of off-road one and off-road two. I would have to say there’s probably a reason why none of the shock manufacturers that I can find actually have an aftermarket replacement for the shocks that come on the air ride trucks.

 

[rpr]

Here’s another thought. There’s nothing different that would require different shocks, but the aftermarket manufacturers simply don’t want to deal with the potential headache of any claims from these niche owners if the shocks fail as they could result in ~$5K in damages from over extended air bags.

Just a thought, but if you guys haven’t noticed law departments have a lot more say in business decisions than they used to. Unnecessary business risks in exchange for very small profit margins in a niche market with very small market share are just not part of the equation anymore.

But I digress, I’m going to try to take some measurements on my truck and give it a try if the full droop and full compressed numbers match up.

 

[corneileous]

Here’s another thought. There’s nothing different that would require different shocks, but the aftermarket manufacturers simply don’t want to deal with the potential headache of any claims from these niche owners if the shocks fail as they could result in ~$5K in damages from over extended air bags.

Just a thought, but if you guys haven’t noticed law departments have a lot more say in business decisions than they used to. Unnecessary business risks in exchange for very small profit margins in a niche market with very small market share are just not part of the equation anymore.

But I digress, I’m going to try to take some measurements on my truck and give it a try if the full droop and full compressed numbers match up.

Id say there’s quite a bit difference because not only do you have to have a shock absorber that won’t bottom out when you drop the truck into entry/exit mode but something that won’t over extend if you raise the suspension to its maximum height. Not only that, I’m sure the dampening and the valving would have to be something special because you don’t have a coil spring, you have an airbag that probably has different compression rates depending on how much air is in the bags between all the different suspension loads and whether or not you have a fully loaded trailer or bed or nothing in the bed and nothing on the hitch. I don’t know how I would prove that because that’s probably a trade secret from ram trucks.

Although I may be completely wrong but it makes sense to me why the part numbers are not the same for the OEM shocks on the spring ride trucks and for the air ride trucks. The aftermarket makes a lot of stuff so I don’t know why they would be worried about a lawsuit over an aftermarket shock absorber for a truck that has factory air ride.

 

[rpr]

Monroe lists a shock for the air ride Rams. It’s a Monroe Reflex Truck Shock and it lists the Fully Extended Length at 23.45” and the Fully Compressed Length: 16.42”. It’s Part No. 911197. That’s only 7” of travel and I think the air ride has approx. 4.5” of built in ride height adjustment between Entry Mode and Off Road 2 Mode. So that only leaves 2.5” of suspension travel. Assuming it’s split evenly, that means there’s only 1 1/4” compression in Entry Mode and only 1 1/4” extension in Off Road 2 Mode. That’s hard to believe but let’s assume it’s correct for purposes of seeing if the non-aid ride Fox 2.0 IFP shocks are compatible.

The Fox 2.0 IFP shock for the non-air ride equipped Rams is listed as having a Fully Extended Length of 26.41” and a Fully Compressed Length of 16.80”. So the Fox is 0.38” longer when fully compressed and 3” longer fully extended.

Assuming the Monroe shock for the air ride Rams is equivalent to the OEM Mopar shock for the air ride Rams it does look like the aftermarket Fox and Bilstein shocks for the non air ride trucks may in fact be too long to work on the air ride trucks. The fact that the air ride needs a slightly shorter compressed length shock is not a surprise due to the Entry Mode, but I’m having a tough time believing the air ride needs a shorter fully extended shock.

However, this begs the question. Are the fully extended lengths of the shocks really the only thing that are used in the air ride trucks to stop the rear suspension in full droop? If there’s some other limiting device that stops the air ride suspension in full droop then it becomes more plausible that they might work, but they might still bottom out when in full compression.

 

[rpr]

And I just saw that Monroe also lists 911299 as being compatible with the air ride trucks. This shock also has a fully compressed length of 16.42” but a very different (more believable) fully extended length of 26.09”.

I’m going to have to remove the OEM Mopar shock and take some measurements…

 

[rpr]

I found a Fox IFP 2.0 shock that works on the air ride trucks. They’re installed and working great. Details are in this newer post with a topic title more specific to rear shocks on the air ride trucks so it’s easier to find it if searching for a solution:

Air Ride - Rear Shock Replacement Options

So after a lot of research it appears only Chrysler and Monroe offer a direct replacement for the OEM rear shock on the air ride trucks. Fox, Bilstein, and Rancho do not list any shocks as being compatible with the air ride suspension. However, I want something that performs better than the...

www.ramforum.com

Figured I would post a link here for the folks with air ride trucks who are subscribed to this older thread.