2014 RAM 1500 Express Crew Cab

[hodge-xj]

Strong sidewalls and still the rage in the Jeep community for their price/performance, more aggressive thread than my KO2's so I'll see what's up. Mostly I wanted to downgrade from the 37 size and these fitted the bill at $226 each. They seem to be going up in price so I figure I wanted to snatch a set while they're still cheap. I'm surprised at the Fallen AT3w for example. I paid low 200's for them as well couple of years ago now they're more expensive than KO2's in the same 315 size

I'll be due for tires here sooner than later myself and I was surprised as well at the prices. Once the off name brands proved to be decent it's like they doubled in cost. Pics or it didn't happen btw

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[ram1500rsm]

Truck feels lighter again. The Patagonias are just 1 lb lighter than the KO2's but moving the smaller size is easier for my 3.92's and 6 speed trans. I only lost 1/2" ground clearance to the rear diff.
2020-06-18_03-41-53 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-06-18_03-42-56 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-06-18_03-42-31 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-06-18_07-03-46 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[MidwestExpress]

Those look mean!

 

[ram1500rsm]

Took the family out for a couple of nights camping and put close to 500 miles for the the official Patagonias break-in. Zero issues so far with the tires. I'm running them at 39 psi.
20200619_145020 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

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2020-06-21_03-08-43 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[ram1500rsm]

Switched from Smaxx stock sway bar links to the L's
2020-06-21_05-34-02 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Stock
2020-06-21_05-33-55 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Long
2020-06-21_05-34-10 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[ram1500rsm]

Accutune came up with an update today and told me Fox is not shipping my shocks until mid-late October.. What a freaking bummer, no air bumpstops, no freaking bumper with winch, and now my shocks are maybe 4 months away hahahahahahaha. At least i was able to change my tires lol WTF ????

 

[ram1500rsm]

I sent them an email asking for a refund or see if we can do something with Kings. I'm not going to wait 5 months for damn shocks.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Aight so it seems they'll be able to do something with Kings although that's another 6 weeks wait because it'll be a new order. I can live with that. I'm just waiting for the new options. Knocking on wood.

 

[ram1500rsm]

A little update. After spending some time doing a little research, Ty @revitupmoto33 for the leg work of finding out how the pinion angle start deteriorating past 29" and up, i did a little digging with emails conversations i had with Dirt King about their rear bypass length specs and found this note in one of them:

"Hello,
We do have a custom rear bypass set up for the 09-18 Ram 1500s. We developed a custom tube layout and valving for this specific rear suspension.
The front OE kings can go a bit more extended but actually do not use all of the collapsed lenght. The rear end will bottom out on the rear bump stop before the shock fully collapses. Our spec rear bypass is a 28.75" / 18.55". As for the extended length you can't really go any more due to the pinion angle. You can possibly push it another 1/4 to 1/2" but would most likely run into drive line issues."

So with that mind i asked Accutune to spec me King 2.5 rear shocks with those specs. 28.75" as to not upset the rear pinion angle, and anywhere between 18-18.5" compressed will be fine by me. Tomorrow i'll know if it's possible, they said King can make anything the sky is the limit extra $100 per shock because it's custom length. Hate to go through the 6 weeks waiting period again but it's what it's.

 

[ram1500rsm]

A note about the smaxx links. Didn't like the way the truck was riding for the past 3 days since i did the switch to the L's per post #845 so i switched back to the Smaxx factory length as a test this afternoon and the ride feels right again. Something i noticed is that with the L's the angle on the sway bar is actually more positive as expected, so in theory that should be better offroad, but the sway bar going more positive makes the truck sway more pronounced as well on the street. As a matter of preference the stock length one feels just right for my application and it's the one i'll be using without a doubt.

 

[hodge-xj]

A note about the smaxx links. Didn't like the way the truck was riding for the past 3 days since i did the switch to the L's per post #845 so i switched back to the Smaxx factory length as a test this afternoon and the ride feels right again. Something i noticed is that with the L's the angle on the sway bar is actually more positive as expected, so in theory that should be better offroad, but the sway bar going more positive makes the truck sway more pronounced as well on the street. As a matter of preference the stock length one feels just right for my application and it's the one i'll be using without a doubt.

Dude that sucks about the shocks. Especially after waiting so long only to find out. The custom kings are going to be **** though! Are you going to be changing the valving around with the new coils?

In regards to the smaxx links. Did you notice any ride quality change aside from the added sway. I know that's subjective, but I'm wondering if they are worth a shot or not on my setup. Being bilstein is digressive vs your progressive setup I'm curious if that would help offset some added sway and help with small bump compliance.

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[ram1500rsm]

Dude that sucks about the shocks. Especially after waiting so long only to find out. The custom kings are going to be **** though! Are you going to be changing the valving around with the new coils?

In regards to the smaxx links. Did you notice any ride quality change aside from the added sway. I know that's subjective, but I'm wondering if they are worth a shot or not on my setup. Being bilstein is digressive vs your progressive setup I'm curious if that would help offset some added sway and help with small bump compliance.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

I sent them the spring rates yesterday afternoon along with the lenght specs i'm looking for.

Regarding the links asides from the extra sway around corners my front felt a bit bouncy on small fast little bumps for the past 3 days. Imagine a very light case of bumpsteer though the truck wasn't swerving around. It's hard to explain. I had control of the steering at any time but the front felt kind of bouncy around those small road bumps. No issues with the normal speed bumps or humps or dips etc. Don't know if it's because I'm now driving with tires at 40 psi or the progressive nature of the shocks with less sway bar effect given the longer links. I only started noticing this change after the L's so I switched back to stock length and without a doubt the front feels smoother around those small bumps. I took the same route yesterday twice to test hitting literally the same spots with the L's first since ive had them in there already then with the stock length. The feeling was bothering me because i've been driving the truck to the gym every day and everything was great and smooth until i did the switch and in those 3 days i had the L's the riding experience changed and i wasn't liking the feeling.

The difference in the links length is only 1 inch. I'm stumped as to why the ride feels smooth everywhere with stock length ones...

 

[revitupmoto33]

A little update. After spending some time doing a little research, Ty @revitupmoto33 for the leg work of finding out how the pinion angle start deteriorating past 29" and up, i did a little digging with emails conversations i had with Dirt King about their rear bypass length specs and found this note in one of them:

"Hello,
We do have a custom rear bypass set up for the 09-18 Ram 1500s. We developed a custom tube layout and valving for this specific rear suspension.
The front OE kings can go a bit more extended but actually do not use all of the collapsed lenght. The rear end will bottom out on the rear bump stop before the shock fully collapses. Our spec rear bypass is a 28.75" / 18.55". As for the extended length you can't really go any more due to the pinion angle. You can possibly push it another 1/4 to 1/2" but would most likely run into drive line issues."

So with that mind i asked Accutune to spec me King 2.5 rear shocks with those specs. 28.75" as to not upset the rear pinion angle, and anywhere between 18-18.5" compressed will be fine by me. Tomorrow i'll know if it's possible, they said King can make anything the sky is the limit extra $100 per shock because it's custom length. Hate to go through the 6 weeks waiting period again but it's what it's.

Really good info from dirt king, here is a picture at full bump on the shocks. with my current shocks (18” compressed +-) I have 1.5” of the oem bump stop showing. (Note that is with the coil spring removed). I finally ordered the wheeler bump stops and planning on mounting them so they will be fully compressed roughly 1/4-1/2” before the shock bumps out.

 

[hodge-xj]

I sent them the spring rates yesterday afternoon along with the lenght specs i'm looking for.

Regarding the links asides from the extra sway around corners my front felt a bit bouncy on small fast little bumps for the past 3 days. Imagine a very light case of bumpsteer though the truck wasn't swerving around. It's hard to explain. I had control of the steering at any time but the front felt kind of bouncy around those small road bumps. No issues with the normal speed bumps or humps or dips etc. Don't know if it's because I'm now driving with tires at 40 psi or the progressive nature of the shocks with less sway bar effect given the longer links. I only started noticing this change after the L's so I switched back to stock length and without a doubt the front feels smoother around those small bumps. I took the same route yesterday twice to test hitting literally the same spots with the L's first since ive had them in there already then with the stock length. The feeling was bothering me because i've been driving the truck to the gym every day and everything was great and smooth until i did the switch and in those 3 days i had the L's the riding experience changed and i wasn't liking the feeling.

The difference in the links length is only 1 inch. I'm stumped as to why the ride feels smooth everywhere with stock length ones...

Interesting! I'm surprised, since in theory it should have been opposite, in my mind any way. I know exactly the feedback through the small chatter/choppy garbage you're referring to. I'll leave well enough alone then. If it freed up some comfort in the name of a bit of body roll, so be it. But I don't need to go backwards in ride quality for a non issue part.

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[hodge-xj]

Really good info from dirt king, here is a picture at full bump on the shocks. with my current shocks (18” compressed +-) I have 1.5” of the oem bump stop showing. (Note that is with the coil spring removed). I finally ordered the wheeler bump stops and planning on mounting them so they will be fully compressed roughly 1/4-1/2” before the shock bumps out.

View attachment 213092

View attachment 213093

Wonder what the compressed length of the coil would be at full coil bind. With how long the coils are i wonder if you could reach full shock bump before the coils bind?

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[ram1500rsm]

I think the coils can close an extra 3" from here which is almost my max before the entire coil will bind in full. I have an extra 1" bumpstop and they look like this when resting against the pad. I think Zach is also running 1" extra bumpstop, but i tihnk they have space to close to factory compressed leght (16.5") if you had shocks that could be compressed that much.
2020-05-09_08-30-54 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[ram1500rsm]

New order with the new specs should be sent to King tomorrow. I've been busy as chit today so I didn't have the time to check my email until now but I just approved the new Accutune SO order with the specs I wanted and sent the reply back to them with the verification.

 

[hodge-xj]

New order with the new specs should be sent to King tomorrow. I've been busy as chit today so I didn't have the time to check my email until now but I just approved the new Accutune SO order with the specs I wanted and sent the reply back to them with the verification.

Very nice. So at this point you're essentially running the dirt king rear setup minus the bypass spec shocks correct?



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[ram1500rsm]

Very nice. So at this point you're essentially running the dirt king rear setup minus the bypass spec shocks correct?
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Correct.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Had a little free time after work this afternoon and i did relocate my Amazon rear camera to the rear license plate
2020-06-26_08-08-00 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

Mostly cause i really need the bed space, and having it in the bed uses a lot of real state.
I told the wife she's going to have to get used to extra lenght again if she wants to drive my truck I can't use the factory camera cause the view is obstructed by the tire carrier so having a 2nd one comes handy.

2020-06-26_08-09-26 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2020-06-26_08-09-34 by RAM RSM, on Flickr