2014 RAM 1500 Express Crew Cab

[MidwestExpress]

Dropped the shocks this morning at Accutune Offroad. We had a conversation about what i want out of the shocks, my mods etc etc, so they'll do the maintenance and brand new valving with whatever double flutter stack valving thing they have. $677 OTD for all 4 shocks.
If i was doing only maintenance it'll be close to $500 to have them rebuilt.
They should be done this week, Monday at the latest. I'm keeping the 500l lbs springs based on their recommendation.

Yikes, that's not cheap but I'll bet you'll like them when you get them back. That's a quick turnaround time though, that's good.

I'm not looking forward to when my Icons need rebuilt, I'll likely have shipping time & costs to add since there's not much for off road shops in KS....

 

[ram1500rsm]

Yikes, that's not cheap but I'll bet you'll like them when you get them back. That's a quick turnaround time though, that's good.

I'm not looking forward to when my Icons need rebuilt, I'll likely have shipping time & costs to add since there's not much for off road shops in KS....

I know I need to learn to do this myself. Most shops will charge you $75 per shock (2.5 shocks rebuilt work) , but after seals and oil the price comes to be 120-125 per shock. then add more if doing revalving and consultation. I work from home now so no more 5 days week fw driving other than vacation time or trail time. i'm expecting the next time i need to this again is prob 2 years or more instead of 1

These are Icon approved dealers, i think for you the closest will be 303 shocks in Colorado
https://iconvehicledynamics.com/p/8/shock-service/

 

[ram1500rsm]

Ordered the Thuren rear shock nuts for the RAM to make the job easier next time.
Also i'm seriously considering stepping down from the 37's and going back to 315/70/17 or 35x12.5x17 i'm driving a lot more in the city now and MPG sucks

 

[hodge-xj]

That's really not a bad price all things considered. Sometimes it's worth the extra bit to leave it to the pros. Especially when time is more valuable than money. I'm sure they'll be notably better after they are done with them.

How bad are the mpgs around town? Gotta be pretty bad to have you considering dropping sizes.

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[ram1500rsm]

That's really not a bad price all things considered. Sometimes it's worth the extra bit to leave it to the pros. Especially when time is more valuable than money. I'm sure they'll be notably better after they are done with them.

How bad are the mpgs around town? Gotta be pretty bad to have you considering dropping sizes.

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About 9-10mpg. Doesn’t help almost every damn Tundra wants to accelerate faster than me at most stoplights

 

[ram1500rsm]

Got the voicemail from accutune indicating my shocks are done. Wooo woooo

 

[ram1500rsm]

Got my shocks back and there is no mistake they have been "Accutuned"
Ended up paying a bit more because they replaced the rear shock pistons with different ones. Apparently the rear OE King shocks have digressive pistons or at least mine did so all that has been taking care now to accomodate my new custom valving.

Can't wait to slap them back and go out and give them hell to see what's up hehehe.

2020-03-05_02-10-53 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[ram1500rsm]

Got my shocks installed yesterday. Hoping this little something can help somebody.
These type of shocks don't have studs at the top like the factory struts, so you have to locate the holes first before you can throw the bolts on them. On top of that you have to align the reservoir bracket holes with the holes at the top of the strut tower and coilover top mount holes so you're doing this literally blind as the res bracket won't allow you much vision once you've placed it at the top of the top of the strut tower.

After struggling with the passenger side trying to locate the most outer hole by hand first, then trying to fish for the other 2 at the back by feel maneuvering the CO left to right front and back in that little space using a big pry bar cursing like a ****, using a small screwdriver to fish the holes and align the CO with all holes i decided something different for the passenger side.

Made an assault of the wife stuff looking for a damn mirror. i know i have one i bought from HF a while back but couldn't find the sucker in the mess i have in the garage, lol
With mirror on hand, place the CO in the tower and align one of the back holes, not the one in the front, with the strut tower hole, then jack from the LCA to pin the shock against the tower in that position, slap the reservoir in and align the hole at the back, then screw the 1st bolt loosely. Repeat the process for the 2nd back hole, and now the bolt in the front hole goes in like a piece of cake.

Sorry if this something easy for some, i'm not a mechanic by any means so bolting the 2nd coilover in place in about 5 min as opposed to 30 min to put the 1st one is the accomplishment of the year for me

2020-03-07_08-19-59 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-03-07_08-20-23 by RAM RSM, on Flickr


Haven't a chance to test them in the dirt yet. I have hit only speedbumps and i can tell there is a difference in the way the suspension reacts to them. Will do a quick test at my local spot today.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Ran them hard up to 45mph, didn't want to go faster because the road is full of those squared edge potholes that last year almost eat one of my tie-rods and had to visit the alignmet rack next day to fix the steering after slamming my front driver tire in a big one. The difference back then with today is day and night. Don't get me wrong the OE valving is not bad it's just different in the sense of how long it takes for you to feel the dampening action from a rough road when the shocks are cycling up and down fast. With the OE valving the truck feels softer on the street, and when tackling dirt roads i had to speed up to about 30 mph to feel the plushness on the shocks , with more speed more control. With the Accutune valving the shocks feel firmer like i can push the truck a lot harder into a corner with less body roll but now i don't have to try to speed up to 30mph to feel the truck switching to plush mode in the road. and tackling those big potholes was a lot easier today.

Once again this road by this time of the year after the rains becomes a damn man made pothole galore.
A normal ***** sidewall tire would have left me stranded here today. This is why i don't run little cute all season hwy tires. And i swear i didn't even feel the obstacle this time, i just ran through it like there was nothing in there.

2020-03-08_01-54-59 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[ram1500rsm]

And this is how bad the KO2's in 37 rub with a small lift hahahaha.
2020-03-08_01-55-09 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[ram1500rsm]

Ordered couple more items.
Needed new front brake pads. Ive about a 1/4 of the pad material in the front. I haven't checked the rears but i ordered rears too just in case.
I went with Wagner semi metallic, severe duty specs to replace the Brake Best pads Ceramic i have. Rotors are still the same Brake Best ones i installed the last time and i don't feel them warped or anything so i'll be just throwing fresh pads front and rear.

Front Pads- Wagner Severe Duty SX1084 Semi-Metallic Disc Pad
Rear Pads Wagner Severe Duty SX967A Semi-Metallic Disc Pad

Also ordered new a set of Freedom Offroad rear control arms, they have fixed length and i'l assume they'll be more heavy duty than the Mevotecs i have.

Freedom Offorad FO-D707R-OE Rear Upper Control Arms - Fixed
Freedom Offroad FO-D708R-OE Rear Lower Control Arms - Fixed

Keeping the 37's for now, they only have little more than 10k miles and i spent around $1800 on those suckers so might as well run them for another year at least, i'm still eating up what i spent on the Falken 315's the last time so i can't repeat that exercise for a 3rd time . Tires are so damn expensive these days is a small fortune everytime you need new ones. I think next time i'll be hunting down deals in Craiglist.

 

[ram1500rsm]

So i had the FO rear arms installed today.
Couple of things first. i'm extremely disappointed with Mevotech. I really thought they were a simple and nice option to go with. I've pointed out a couple of times this things were very nice because of the price and because they looked beefier than the stockers. This is how this POS Mevocrap arms look like after just 6 months. I did the install with brand new parts in Sep 2019.

Driver rear lower,
2020-03-15_06-12-59 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

I thought it was cosmetic without my glasses , damn
2020-03-15_06-13-17 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

This was the driver rear upper
2020-03-15_06-14-14 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Passenger rear upper:
2020-03-15_06-14-27 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

So 3 out of 4 have cracked bushings with the first at the top being the worst, and that ones looks like that on both sides.

 

[ram1500rsm]

This is the FO rear upper
2020-03-14_06-33-57 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

FO rear lower
2020-03-14_06-33-47 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Compared to the Mevotech Supreme which i thought were more heavy duty than the stockers i replaced with 80k miles. Mevotechs above only have 7K miles lol, when the time comes to replace my front Lowers i'm going with factory Mopar LCA's without a single doubt in my mind. 87K miles and still kicking ******* butt knocking on wood.

Rear Lowers
2020-03-15_06-10-48 by RAM RSM, on Flickr


Rear Uppers
2020-03-15_06-11-47 by RAM RSM, on Flickr


Big end of the bushing on the Mevotech is the same size as stock, and same size on the FO arms
The bushings appear different just in case, the Mevotech has a recess while the FO doesn't, so that gives me piece of mind is not the same bullchit bushing Mevocrap has
2020-03-15_06-11-26 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Big difference FO has same size bushing on the other end as well, while the stocker and Mevotechs have a smaller bushing
2020-03-15_06-11-14 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Then when it comes to weight, the FO's are heavier, specially the uppers compared to Mevotech.
FO upper weights 6.8 lbs
2020-03-15_06-10-15 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Mevotech uppers don't even have the weight to make the reading, and both upper and lower are a little heavier than the stockers go figures. I'd think they're about 4lbs or so as i think my bath scale doesn't register anything below 5lbs.
2020-03-15_06-09-53 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

FO lower weights 8.4lbs
2020-03-15_06-09-04 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Mevotech Lower is 7lbs
2020-03-15_06-09-21 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Product installed
2020-03-15_06-15-11 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-03-15_06-15-03 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[ram1500rsm]

Also replaced the Bwoody Panhard with the Freedom Offroad one. Much easier to adjust because it's got a double slevee.
This is how all 3 look like, Stock, Bwoody and Freedom Offroad
2020-03-15_06-15-27 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Bushing view
2020-03-15_06-16-00 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

And some measurements:
Stocker is 33 5/8 eye to eye
2020-03-15_06-16-48 by RAM RSM, on Flickr


I had the bwoody set at 33 1/2"
2020-03-15_06-16-32 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

and i've made the FO 33 3/8 perfect centering
2020-03-15_06-16-14 by RAM RSM, on Flickr


Installed
2020-03-15_06-17-09 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

And because i know i'll forget how to loosen the nuts...
Thighty is down, loosey is the opposite

Freedom Offroad Panhard Tighening orientation by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[ram1500rsm]

Ordered new control arms from Clayton Offroad this morning, Part# COR-1710120.
Nothing wrong with the Freedom ones just in case. I figure given the abuse the truck sees offroad i wanted offroad type bushings that can flex . The FO ones have a slighty harder durometer (Thanks @Tim Garceau for having that Chat with Freedom) and while i really think this FO bushings will fare a lot better than Mevotech, not counting the arms are a lot stronger than that Mevotech, i decided to make the change

This are for the 2020 Jeep JT. I could have ordered Core4x4 but i wanted to open up the market for more vendors to participate and enrich our truck community specifically in the offroad side. I had a nice conversation with Clayton this morning about this Giiro busings. no maintenance, they seem to be similar to the Synergy or Metalcloack DDB so they're flexy, self lubricated and self centering and later on if i decided to do so i can switch to JJ's if wanted changing the heads.

I'll have a set of brand new Mevotechs for sale soon (Rockauto is sending me new replacement arms under warranty and i just shipped the old Mevotechs back to them), and literally brand new set of Freedom Offroad arms for sale as well.

 

[Tim Garceau]

Quite the collection you have, if you need to lighten the shelves let me know!

 

[crazykid1994]

Can’t wait to see the new arms when they come in. I’m in the market for new control arms

 

[ram1500rsm]

Quite the collection you have, if you need to lighten the shelves let me know!

I will, let me know which set you want.

 

[hodge-xj]

You're on top of your game! Clayton is semi local to me and they come to alot of the offroad shows the shop I go to sponsor. Those duro flex joints are the bees knees. I really wish I lived out west, the parks out here are all rocks and mud and buggy friendly. I just wanna go fast.

My mom and my step dad might be moving to Fremont for work, depending on current events. So maybe I'll make my way out there if everything aligns.

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[ram1500rsm]

Brand new Mevotech lowers delivered yesterday and the new uppers will be delivered today. Clayton arms will be delivered 03/25 Woo woooo