Heavy Off-Road Use and Air Suspension

[Dan Weinel]

Hey all. I'm new here. I'm sure the subject matter I'm about to ask about has been asked a thousand times. I'm sorry if this gets repetitive.

I have a 2017 Ram Rebel that has the factory air suspension in it. My truck is going to see quite a bit of time off road and I want to lift it slightly. I'm thinking in the 2.5 to 3.5 inch range. I do an overlanding trip about once a month, so the truck is going to see a lot of dirt.

My first question is, is it even worth keeping the Air Suspension? Or should I just swap it out for coils? If I swap out, what should I be looking at?

My second question is, If I keep the air, how should I go about lifting? Would links and pucks be fine? Or should I not even consider that?

I know I don't even want to considering Rough Country or BDS. I've had horrible luck with those brands in the past. I know I'll need to get UCAs as well. I've done a lot of cheap **** to my trucks in the past and I'm over that at this point. I'm adopting a "buy once, cry once" attitude with this build.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[kurek]

The suspension geometry - basically everything other than the struts/shocks/bags are the same between the air and steel suspension so the same rules apply there.

By rules I mean that anything over about 2" net lift requires new upper control arms with lift-specific geometry correction and you really can't do more than ~2.8" total net lift before you introduce ride and handling problems, in my experience even 2.8 is pushing it and can be felt (negatively) in everyday driving.

All of the larger lifts, 4" plus are the type that relocates the lower control arms & front differential.

I don't have much first-hand experience with the air suspension so I'll let someone with that experience comment on its suitability.

Some people do convert from air to steel suspension and I've casually followed a couple of those threads, it appeared to be about as easy as swapping springs and shocks and telling the BCM to stop worrying about ride height (AlfaOBD).

If you do choose to switch from air to steel suspension you'll want to decide what your end game is so you can head straight for it. As a point of comparison I think I can fairly say I'm an outdoorsman and use my truck to cover rough terrain, jeep trails and get far into the woods + deserts - but I also pack light compared to a lot of people and my RCSB truck starts out a thousand pounds lighter than the majority of trucks. That's meant a comprehensive 2" lift including Bilstein 5100 struts/shocks, quality 33" tires, skid plates and a willingness to choose lines carefully & bring a shovel have taken care of my needs and show no sign of deterioration 5 years in. In a recent conversation on here we saw another user who outran their 5100's and pretty obviously overheated them. A combination of a heavier truck, heavier tires and heavier right foot probably did them in so for that kind of situation it's necessary to go bigger and it'll pretty much be up to you to decide where you land on the spectrum of fast-and-heavy or light-and-surgical.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

Hey all. I'm new here. I'm sure the subject matter I'm about to ask about has been asked a thousand times. I'm sorry if this gets repetitive.

I have a 2017 Ram Rebel that has the factory air suspension in it. My truck is going to see quite a bit of time off road and I want to lift it slightly. I'm thinking in the 2.5 to 3.5 inch range. I do an overlanding trip about once a month, so the truck is going to see a lot of dirt.

My first question is, is it even worth keeping the Air Suspension? Or should I just swap it out for coils? If I swap out, what should I be looking at?

My second question is, If I keep the air, how should I go about lifting? Would links and pucks be fine? Or should I not even consider that?

I know I don't even want to considering Rough Country or BDS. I've had horrible luck with those brands in the past. I know I'll need to get UCAs as well. I've done a lot of cheap **** to my trucks in the past and I'm over that at this point. I'm adopting a "buy once, cry once" attitude with this build.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Where are you in PA?

 

[bfill_rebel]

Hey all. I'm new here. I'm sure the subject matter I'm about to ask about has been asked a thousand times. I'm sorry if this gets repetitive.

I have a 2017 Ram Rebel that has the factory air suspension in it. My truck is going to see quite a bit of time off road and I want to lift it slightly. I'm thinking in the 2.5 to 3.5 inch range. I do an overlanding trip about once a month, so the truck is going to see a lot of dirt.

My first question is, is it even worth keeping the Air Suspension? Or should I just swap it out for coils? If I swap out, what should I be looking at?

My second question is, If I keep the air, how should I go about lifting? Would links and pucks be fine? Or should I not even consider that?

I know I don't even want to considering Rough Country or BDS. I've had horrible luck with those brands in the past. I know I'll need to get UCAs as well. I've done a lot of cheap **** to my trucks in the past and I'm over that at this point. I'm adopting a "buy once, cry once" attitude with this build.

Thank you in advance for your help.

I don’t believe rough country makes a kit for the 4th gen Rebel. BDS does and is the kits most use. Most on here consider BDS to be best option and a great company. However if a prior experience has left you sour on them... I think the only other option without completely removing air suspension and going coilovers is AEV. They made a kit for the 4th gen Rebel and air suspension rams that people seem to like but I don’t believe the company had enough interest and I believe have discontinued the kits. I’m sure of you look though you can find somewhere where they are being sold...

Edit: I found a link to a site who appears to have it:
https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/n0340001ab-aev-4in-dualsport-suspension-for-air-ride-and-rebel

There are a few threads on here of people who have AEV lift and are happy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[brendank]

Dan, if you decide on a 3” lift and would rather swap to springs than deal with the air suspension, check out airdelete.com.

 

[bfill_rebel]

Dan, if you decide on a 3” lift and would rather swap to springs than deal with the air suspension, check out airdelete.com.

Thanks for posting. Never came
Across this site. If my lifetime warranty ever pushes back or doesn’t cover my air suspension and I wanna ditch the system I like this site would customize a kit with Fox or falcon shocks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Quick_Shifter]

Thanks for posting. Never came
Across this site. If my lifetime warranty ever pushes back or doesn’t cover my air suspension and I wanna ditch the system I like this site would customize a kit with Fox or falcon shocks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a list of parts needed to do the conversion but I would not recommend anyone to just drive into it. Leaving connectors exposed etc.
We’ve done a few of them at my shop mostly for the off-road guys so it’s always a 2.5 coil over kit

 

[bfill_rebel]

I have a list of parts needed to do the conversion but I would not recommend anyone to just drive into it. Leaving connectors exposed etc.
We’ve done a few of them at my shop mostly for the off-road guys so it’s always a 2.5 coil over kit

Yea I wouldnt tackle it. My cousin has is a mechanic at a trucking shop. If his suspension guy wasn’t comfortable I’d find a local off road place.

Honestly I’m hoping I never need to convert. Truck is almost paid off (less than a year). Then I hope lifetime warranty continues to pay for itself (so far new 8.4 Nav head unit and most recently fuel pump and assembly in gas tank).

Got plans to get ready for some sort of supercharged sports car... hellcat charger/challenger, Camaro zl1, mustang gt500 something of this sort. Wanting SC whine has at times been only thing keeping me outta trading for a power wagon...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Quick_Shifter]

Yea I wouldnt tackle it. My cousin has is a mechanic at a trucking shop. If his suspension guy wasn’t comfortable I’d find a local off road place.

Honestly I’m hoping I never need to convert. Truck is almost paid off (less than a year). Then I hope lifetime warranty continues to pay for itself (so far new 8.4 Nav head unit and most recently fuel pump and assembly in gas tank).

Got plans to get ready for some sort of supercharged sports car... hellcat charger/challenger, Camaro zl1, mustang gt500 something of this sort. Wanting SC whine has at times been only thing keeping me outta trading for a power wagon...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TRX

 

[ram1500rsm]

There are some threads in Rebel forum that talk about the air to coil spring conversion. Nobody misses the air chit for sure once they have removed it. . Look for the thread that handlename Vhsni created. He covers all the details and have documented the entire experience. Last time he updated his thread was 2 months ago.

Have fun.

 

[Quick_Shifter]

The next one that comes into my shop for a air suspension delete I will make a you tube video with as much information I can pack into it. That will show the whole process and what to expect.