Do not buy Carli tuned king coilovers

[gunner_herman]

Dumb question…but there isnt any strut spacers installed, right?

no Sir, no strut spacers. right out of the box from Carli (CJC) and installed on the truck. that and the UCAs anyway. Some people have mentioned that I have load E tires, but I had slightly lower profile load E tires on before this suspension installation and didn't have any of these issues. I also ran those tires at 50psi and had no small bump compliance issues. just putting that out there.

 

[olyelr]

no Sir, no strut spacers. right out of the box from Carli (CJC) and installed on the truck. that and the UCAs anyway. Some people have mentioned that I have load E tires, but I had slightly lower profile load E tires on before this suspension installation and didn't have any of these issues. I also ran those tires at 50psi and had no small bump compliance issues. just putting that out there.

The tires arnt why your front end is riding like garbage…its because you ended up with wayyyyy too much lift, for whatever reason. Too much preload? Incorrct springs? Wrong shocks altogether? I have no clue. Should be an easy diagnosis/fix if you can get it over to cjc/carli.

 

[gunner_herman]

I finally had a chance to get over to Carli in Lake Elsinore and was able to have Dan (VP at Carli) ride (he actually drove) in my truck so I could get a professional opinion on the suspension performance.
Well, a big "issue" I had/have is the way I drive my truck. I drive like an old man and baby my truck. The kit I purchased and had installed is just not the correct kit for me. Dan took some pretty significant concrete gutters and the took absorbed those transitions pretty easily.
I had installed the timber grove airbags in the rear because I don't like how the front sits higher than the rear, so the primary issue with the test drive was the behavior of the rear of my truck. I knew that going into this and was not really a fan of having the airbags installed. I only did that because of the issue I have with how much higher the front is. Dan wasn't sure why the front was higher than the rear but I believe he thought it was more likely that my rear was lower because of my camper shell / topper. That would seem obvious to me as well but the suspension in the front was higher before I put the camper shell / topper on, so I know that wasn't the problem with the lift portion. You can see how much higher the front was in my profile picture as that is how the truck looked shortly after the initial install.
Anyway, Dan was gracious enough to provide me a solid discount on the heavy duty rear springs. I pulled the airbags out last night and will get the heavy duty springs installed as soon as I can. I will report back. I figure that change should at least get the rear level with the front and should give me back the full shock travel in the rear that I couldn't get when the airbags were installed.
I also greased the hell out of the UCAs a couple of weeks ago and that seemed to help a bit. It doesn't so much have that feeling of being on its tippy toes.
All said, I would like to amend my initial observations and say that before one buys a performance kit one needs to understand that it's intended/designed to be driven in a more performance oriented manner, not like an old man on a Sunday drive. The Fox commuter system most likely would have been the more appropriate system for me.
More to follow as I continue to get this system dialed in.

 

[olyelr]

But…why did you end up with so much height increase up front (seems like we figured 3 or 4”)? Their kit isnt designed for that much added height.

 

[hodge-xj]

You have too much lift up front. If your hub to fender is 25 1/4" you're legitimately at what's nearly full droop. Period. My icons droop to 26 3/8" roughly and I'm pretty sure the kings are a little shorter full extended length. I believe king explicitly states a 2" minimum of down travel needs to be maintained to retain ride quality.

After a year I think you've been patient enough, I would really start pressing Carli to make this right.

 

[gunner_herman]

Part of the thinking/hope for putting the heavy duty springs is to shift some of the vehicle weight forward a bit. No idea if that’ll work but it helps when talking tongue weight of your trailer and balancing that weight shift.

If the springs don’t help with getting the front down some I will most likely pay to have the shocks/coil overs pulled so I can rotate the collar to the bottom (only about four threads left to move). This should drop the front 1/2” or so and soften things up a little. Hopefully that will be the final adjustment necessary. I’ll definitely go back to Carli if my front end remains so extended.

 

[olyelr]

Part of the thinking/hope for putting the heavy duty springs is to shift some of the vehicle weight forward a bit. No idea if that’ll work but it helps when talking tongue weight of your trailer and balancing that weight shift.

If the springs don’t help with getting the front down some I will most likely pay to have the shocks/coil overs pulled so I can rotate the collar to the bottom (only about four threads left to move). This should drop the front 1/2” or so and soften things up a little. Hopefully that will be the final adjustment necessary. I’ll definitely go back to Carli if my front end remains so extended.

Changing the rear springs to something longer/taller won't lower the front at all. Rolling a floor jack under your receiver and jacking it up a few inches will prove this to you. Sure, it will definitely help with payload in the rear if they are a higher spring rate…but it wont do diddly for the front.

 

[KYPOTLICKER]

No resolution after reading through a year long post?? Or at the minimum ... I bought the wrong performance kit?? Disappointing

 

[danielmid]

And instead of taking any responsibility or even pulling it in to the shop to diagnose, they sold you more parts?

 

[gunner_herman]

Well, pulling the coilovers off and also putting the softer springs back in the rear. I’ll leave the rear king shocks as those have been pretty great.
The coilovers gave me way too much lift and my front CV axle angles are way off. I’m putting the Bilsteins back on the front and softer king springs in the rear. Hoping that puts me roughly level and back down to just 2”s of lift as I didn’t want a 4-5” lift kit to begin with.
The set up as it is right now looks incredible visually but just doesn’t work for me and isn’t working for my front axles.
Not sure what I’ll do with the coilovers or heavy duty rear springs. I’m just really disappointed all around with this experience.

 

[olyelr]

Well, pulling the coilovers off and also putting the softer springs back in the rear. I’ll leave the rear king shocks as those have been pretty great.
The coilovers gave me way too much lift and my front CV axle angles are way off. I’m putting the Bilsteins back on the front and softer king springs in the rear. Hoping that puts me roughly level and back down to just 2”s of lift as I didn’t want a 4-5” lift kit to begin with.
The set up as it is right now looks incredible visually but just doesn’t work for me and isn’t working for my front axles.
Not sure what I’ll do with the coilovers or heavy duty rear springs. I’m just really disappointed all around with this experience.

Yea i bet, what a drag! Spend the big bucks on what is supposed to be a quality product and legit get screwed…id be pissed to say the least. Cant believe cjc couldnt make it right for you.

 

[hodge-xj]

Well, pulling the coilovers off and also putting the softer springs back in the rear. I’ll leave the rear king shocks as those have been pretty great.
The coilovers gave me way too much lift and my front CV axle angles are way off. I’m putting the Bilsteins back on the front and softer king springs in the rear. Hoping that puts me roughly level and back down to just 2”s of lift as I didn’t want a 4-5” lift kit to begin with.
The set up as it is right now looks incredible visually but just doesn’t work for me and isn’t working for my front axles.
Not sure what I’ll do with the coilovers or heavy duty rear springs. I’m just really disappointed all around with this experience.

Call Accutune and explain the situation to them once you have the coilovers out. They can fix them if you want to keep them.

 

[gunner_herman]

Truck looked great but things just weren’t right.
Pulled everything off the front and put the softer springs back in the rear. The truck sits almost perfectly level; very slight rake. Put the Bilsteins back on and the factory springs. The truck is exactly the height I wanted originally. Truck actually rides much better and doesn’t feel over extended when going over speed bumps.
I know I made a poor financial decision all around. I have too many back and knee issues to do this kind of work anymore, so I had multiple labor/installation bills changing this stuff around and getting the alignments. The shop that reverted my truck almost back to stock took the front coilovers, UCAs and rear heavy duty springs in trade for the labor. Their bill was about $1,150. I know I paid much more than that and probably could’ve sold them for more, but I was just so disappointed and couldn’t have sold them to anyone without disclosing how they behaved.
I’m so much happier with how my trucks rides now. Also, I really needed it at no more than 2”s of lift in order to stay within my warranty parameters. The lifetime Mopar warranty allows up to a 2” lift. The Carli kit gave me just over 4”s of lift.
The Internet has lots of haters and I’m sure I’ll get beat up by some people. Everyone has a right to their own opinion.
My primary purpose of this thread is for people to think twice before pulling the trigger on this type of purchase. I strongly recommend you ride in a vehicle with the exact kit you’re thinking of buying before you drop this kind of money. I know that I should’ve.
I was also able to air my tires back up a bit and my mileage over the last 500 miles since reverting back has gone up 2.5 MPGs. I’m sure some of that is aero but probably more so tire pressure.
Good luck to all.

 

[ginandtonic]

Wow, this is crazy to read! Very unfortunate and disappointing that they didn't make this right. 4" of front lift from Kings does not sound like a driving habits issue and like someone else already pointed out, raising the back a bit isn't going to load the front. Particularly surprising that they said 700lb for both the hemi and diesel half ton

 

[TotallyHucked]

I just read through the whole thread, what was the PN# for the kit you bought? I'm genuinely curious, I don't understand how they can sell something for these trucks that gaines 4" of lift without drop brackets/a whole front lift kit.

 

[olyelr]

I just read through the whole thread, what was the PN# for the kit you bought? I'm genuinely curious, I don't understand how they can sell something for these trucks that gaines 4" of lift without drop brackets/a whole front lift kit.

Their kings dont normally give that much lift.

 

[TotallyHucked]

Their kings dont normally give that much lift.

Exactly. I'm mechanically inclined and do all my own work so I'm genuinely confused as to how this whole situation is possible

 

[olyelr]

Exactly. I'm mechanically inclined and do all my own work so I'm genuinely confused as to how this whole situation is possible

Yep, i think we all are about his particular situation lol. Very odd for sure.

 

[BlackSheepRebel]

Following this thread, hoping this gets resolved. I know the Carli kits are one of the top choices for the HD guys. Surprised CJC hasn't been more helpful.

i did bilsteins all around + ucas and imo it rides like crap, or to be more accurate not as good as stock. going over bumps at reasonable speed just doesn't feel balanced. i figured it had to do with the fact they are not tuned for the truck.

have been saving coin for carli since they have one of the best reputations for ride quality. the whole point of getting the new 1500-specific kit is that everything from the shocks to springs are tuned for the 1500! i can not imagine needing another vendor to re-tune, something must be wrong.

really sorry you are going through this, but also thanks for sharing! i can't believe it was a year-long fiasco and no solve. i guess i will be looking at other kits, but also very surprised it happened at all (no one here has a good idea of why the frontend sat so high, and even the carli ceo seemed to have 0 insight?) given the price of this kit, vehicle-specific tuning and customers raving about the brand.

i would be very PO'd if i spent $6k on a kit that rode worse than the bilsteins. definitely going to do a lot more research and try talking to more 1500 customers before investing. regardless of the reason, customer service story overall was extremely disappointing. not surprising today, i guess.