Hodges 2016 Bilstein Build

[ram1500rsm]

Notes for later

Coilover - 20 3/4" at ride height both sides ( +/- ) 1/16th

3/8-1/2" difference side to side at front fenders.

Rear fenders are the same at 40.5"
Front are :
D- 38.25"
P- 38.75"

Similar difference when measured to frame from gound.

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You'll prob need to turn your driver front 4 times. Then 4 turns again on both sides to put you in the 2.5 range. It's crazy the weigth difference on the Diesel. You should have 13x650lbs springs and that's seems to be enough on the Hemi for 2.5" from the setup Icon ships them from the factory. Either that or the factory setting is good for 2.25" hard to believe the Diesel is about 500lbs heavier or so than a Hemi?

 

[hodge-xj]

You'll prob need to turn your driver front 4 times. Then 4 turns again on both sides to put you in the 2.5 range. It's crazy the weigth difference on the Diesel. You should have 13x650lbs springs and that's seems to be enough on the Hemi for 2.5" from the setup Icon ships them from the factory. Either that or the factory setting is good for 2.25" hard to believe the Diesel is about 500lbs heavier or so than a Hemi?

That's the thing, all the literature I've found says they weigh almost the same. I call non sense 100%. There's no freaking way with the discrepancies between lifts across identical platforms.

I'm gonna measure full droop when I get home and add this to the notes as well. The ride might benefit with a bit of added bump travel as there's about 1.5" before I get into the bump stop on the shaft at most.

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[hodge-xj]

Notes for later

Coilover - 20 3/4" at ride height both sides ( +/- ) 1/16th

3/8-1/2" difference side to side at front fenders.

Rear fenders are the same at 40.5"
Front are :
D- 38.25"
P- 38.75"

Similar difference when measured to frame from gound.

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Updating these numbers @ram1500rsm

I trust my driveway as a beta/controlled environment since I can move my truck back and forth to settle the suspension properly.

Fender heights-
Front-
38 11/16" (D)
38 1/2" (P)

Rear-
40 5/8" Both

Coilovers @ shock body
Ride Height- 20 13/16"
Droop- 23"
2.1875" droop shock travel

Fender @ droop
Approximately 42 1/8"
3.75 (+/-) droop at the wheel

Measured as accurately as I could, moved the truck 4 times and measured after each and took the average.

As per the instructions I can only add about 1/2" more preload into the coils before I'm past their reccomendations and I void any warranty. Factory preload is 1" of exposed threads, they don't recommend any more than 1.5" total. Interesting.


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[MidwestExpress]

I just realized that you're going to need to change this thread title, haha.

 

[hodge-xj]

I just realized that you're going to need to change this thread title, haha.

I mean.....i still have the rear coils for a little longer lmfaoooo

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[4eyedconekiller]

I have the old man emu medium rate coils (660lbs constant load) comin, so it should sit about 1.5-1.7" lift (what I have now) with the extra weight. I just wanna ditch these spacers and get a bit stronger coil for when it does pull truck duty, if anything, the rear is actually too soft and I have some work to do this summer that is gonna require it to be a truck and not a Cadillac with a bed.

After some debating and thinking I'm not gonna get everything I want in a truck unless I build a brand new one and even than wants vs needs equates to compromises, so I'm throwing money into the old girl. I really do enjoy this truck too much to get rid of it. Plus, I can't stomache the idea of 50k when it's almost paid off.

Spring/ summer will be control arms, panhard and likely other odds and ends. I have some Nick nacks coming this week until the next purchase which will be a tune and than the decked system. But those are a bit $$ so I'm giving the wallet a break.

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I’m almost right there with you. My truck is far from paid off, but it’s almost too good to let go. I’m itching for a Cummins, but not really trying to fall face first into that kinda debt. I have one guy looking at mine next week, and we will see how it goes.

Love watching you go through and systematically adjust your truck to fit your needs. Def been an inspiration to me!

 

[hodge-xj]

I’m almost right there with you. My truck is far from paid off, but it’s almost too good to let go. I’m itching for a Cummins, but not really trying to fall face first into that kinda debt. I have one guy looking at mine next week, and we will see how it goes.

Love watching you go through and systematically adjust your truck to fit your needs. Def been an inspiration to me!

I should say, I could pay it off if I wanted, but my money is better suited as a cash asset vs being paid off but cash broke. Especially with this time of year for me. Work is totally at the mercy of weather.

I had a Cummins, it was awesome when I NEEDED the 1 ton capacity but 99% of the other times the 1500 is far better suited to normal day to day. Especially since mine cost me 25k almost new and now they're triple that. No thanks on that cost.

I'm glad I can at least help a little. My needs and wants are always so fluid so it's ever changing. What I do know is I'm hurting for extra space right now so I'm pricing the decked drawers and my tax money is buying them. I want my cake and to eat it too.

Once I sell the jeep the truck is gonna get a bunch of love thrown at it.

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[hodge-xj]

S-maxx 1300-L links and futomo ez drain oil plug are in. Waiting for the sun to thaw the driveway so I can get to doin some stuff.

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[hodge-xj]

Links are in and I dialed 2 turns into the coilovers.

I wanted to see how bad they would be to turn and curious to see how much I would net. Front came up to 39" from the ground and about 23.5" from the hub. 1 1/4" of thread on shocks. Passenger front is a touch lower but I'm not gonna mess with things since it's within a 1/4" and that very well could be my driveway.

No change in ride and for the minimal gain I don't think I'm gonna mess with them much again. I got somewhere around 3/8-1/2" lift with 2 turns.

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[ram1500rsm]

Links are in and I dialed 2 turns into the coilovers.

I wanted to see how bad they would be to turn and curious to see how much I would net. Front came up to 39" from the ground and about 23.5" from the hub. 1 1/4" of thread on shocks. Passenger front is a touch lower but I'm not gonna mess with things since it's within a 1/4" and that very well could be my driveway.

No change in ride and for the minimal gain I don't think I'm gonna mess with them much again. I got somewhere around 3/8-1/2" lift with 2 turns.

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Cool so 4-5 turns will be 1" in this Icon application.

 

[hodge-xj]

Cool so 4-5 turns will be 1" in this Icon application.

Yessir. I've got 2 turns left before I'm maxxed.

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[hodge-xj]

So driving in 4wd on the highway I get a vibration when accelerating. Only in 4wd and only when accelerating. I've seen reports of this before but I've never had to do full round trip commutes in 4wd.

Out of curiosity I dropped the 2 turns of preload I put into the coils out of it. Truck is back down to the initial 38 3/4" drivers and 38 1/2" passenger. I'll see if this makes a difference. I don't think it will but worth a shot and takes like 30 seconds to adjust. I'm using a different point of reference than the original set screw point was at, but it allows me to keep track of my rotations easier.

I'd rather the rear come down to match level than continue to bring the front up. I'll be adding a 1.5 BL for sure this summer to hopefully gain the bit of height I want for aesthetics. Boring, but worth noting.


My driveway isn't level so these numbers are purely for me to be consistent with my measurements. I'll see if there's a level spot I can check these numbers out soon.

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[ram1500rsm]

So driving in 4wd on the highway I get a vibration when accelerating. Only in 4wd and only when accelerating. I've seen reports of this before but I've never had to do full round trip commutes in 4wd.

Out of curiosity I dropped the 2 turns of preload I put into the coils out of it. Truck is back down to the initial 38 3/4" drivers and 38 1/2" passenger. I'll see if this makes a difference. I don't think it will but worth a shot and takes like 30 seconds to adjust. I'm using a different point of reference than the original set screw point was at, but it allows me to keep track of my rotations easier.

I'd rather the rear come down to match level than continue to bring the front up. I'll be adding a 1.5 BL for sure this summer to hopefully gain the bit of height I want for aesthetics. Boring, but worth noting.


My driveway isn't level so these numbers are purely for me to be consistent with my measurements. I'll see if there's a level spot I can check these numbers out soon.

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Curious about your alignment Hodge. Also I'm surprised you're getting those vibes with just an extra 1/2" lift.. Maybe one of the wheels have lost the weight on sticks or something ? i doubt 1/2" will make your front DS vibrate like that. I thought you'll get into those issues maybe past 3" ?

 

[hodge-xj]

Curious about your alignment Hodge. Also I'm surprised you're getting those vibes with just an extra 1/2" lift.. Maybe one of the wheels have lost the weight on sticks or something ? i doubt 1/2" will make your front DS vibrate like that. I thought you'll get into those issues maybe past 3" ?

I'm due for an alignment so I won't rule that out. I've read alot of complaints on the ecodiesel forums of guys with the 4auto t case having vibrations after a level, but I've never had it. I've also been commuting 150 miles round trip in weather I don't normally experience so I've been in 4hi ALOT. It's not bad, but it's noticeable under acceleration from toll booths and stuff. I haven't since tried it after removing the preload, but I'm sure mother nature has plans for more snow soon.

I know my low buck CV shafts are not happy, so I'll dig into it more when things warm up, for now it's not a huge problem.

 

[hodge-xj]

Well OME/ARB coils are gonna be a no go. Nick@gotexhaust has been great with help trying to find me a coil that fit my specs.

I've been looking at all my options while trying to retain my 28" fox rear shocks. Can I have my cake and eat it too.....well fingers crossed.

www.synergymfg.com/jeep-jt-gladiator-rear-lift-coil-springs.html

8865-20 coils to be exact. Specs seem right on for what i want.
20.3" long, dual rate with a 259 in/lb rate, and hopefully settle to about 1.5" with my planned added weight.
After seeing ram1500rsm and revit run Gladiator coils I knew there had to be an option that fit my wants. Think i found them. Got the order in with Nick so when they come in I'll be able to compare vs what else we've seen.

I decided to stick to a lower suspension lift height of about 2" front and 1.5" rear. I'll be adding a 1.5 zone body lift here when the weather warms up to get me a bit more height and make room for me to fab some rock sliders.

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[hodge-xj]

Got the coils installed. Drivers side measured out a 1/4" longer than passenger side at just over 20.5" vs 20.25" ish. Pulled bilstein coils and spacers and I've lost about an inch or so overall in height. Sitting about 40.25-40.5" depending on variables. Had to compress them to install, but I also didn't unbolt anything. With the dead coils up top they stay seated at full droop so I'm happy.

Rake looks much more proportional now. Ride is a bit "firmer" and less like a marshmallow. Phones acting stupid so no pics of install, but....its coils. Same as ram1500rsm highlighted, just shorter lol. I'll update once I figure camera issues out.

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[ram1500rsm]

Got the coils installed. Drivers side measured out a 1/4" longer than passenger side at just over 20.5" vs 20.25" ish. Pulled bilstein coils and spacers and I've lost about an inch or so overall in height. Sitting about 40.25-40.5" depending on variables. Had to compress them to install, but I also didn't unbolt anything. With the dead coils up top they stay seated at full droop so I'm happy.

Rake looks much more proportional now. Ride is a bit "firmer" and less like a marshmallow. Phones acting stupid so no pics of install, but....its coils. Same as ram1500rsm highlighted, just shorter lol. I'll update once I figure camera issues out.

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Very nice you've got the new springs. So what are they and why you said you lost 1" overall? You wanted to go down in heigth?

 

[hodge-xj]

They're Synergy Gladiator coils. I linked them a bit farther up. Synergy had a couple options.

2"/3"/4" 259in/lb rate

I opted for the 2" ones since they're long enough I could run my 28" rear fox 2.0s. The higher spring rate is very nice, and the top dead winds keep the coil seated at full droop. Have to toss isolators in to quiet the clack clack, but it was 10* when I did them and I wasn't THAT worried, I'll do then this week once the coils get some wear in the paint so I can put them exactly where needed.

I wanted to lose a little height, I was running close to 3" of rake after I went to icons and they settled. I'll check when I get home and update with some pics but I believe I'm at about 2" rake with these heavier coils. It just doesn't look like a stink bug lol. Next is decked drawers so the rear might drop a bit more.

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[ram1500rsm]

They're Synergy Gladiator coils. I linked them a bit farther up. Synergy had a couple options.

2"/3"/4" 259in/lb rate

I opted for the 2" ones since they're long enough I could run my 28" rear fox 2.0s. The higher spring rate is very nice, and the top dead winds keep the coil seated at full droop. Have to toss isolators in to quiet the clack clack, but it was 10* when I did them and I wasn't THAT worried, I'll do then this week once the coils get some wear in the paint so I can put them exactly where needed.

I wanted to lose a little height, I was running close to 3" of rake after I went to icons and they settled. I'll check when I get home and update with some pics but I believe I'm at about 2" rake with these heavier coils. It just doesn't look like a stink bug lol. Next is decked drawers so the rear might drop a bit more.

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So Gladiator coils to the rescue one more time Are they a tad bigger at the top like the Claytons ? i'd think so since they're Glad coils. Man fix that camera and post some pics lol. That's another coil for the database.

 

[hodge-xj]

So Gladiator coils to the rescue one more time Are they a tad bigger at the top like the Claytons ? i'd think so since they're Glad coils. Man fix that camera and post some pics lol. That's another coil for the database.

Idk why my phone won't flipping focus on anything. They are for sure bigger, and these things are awesome. I'll tell ya......the front and rear feel so much more balanced now, the rear had been very wallowy compared to the firmer icons. This combo makes for a super nice daily driver.

The clack doesn't bother me, but leaving work today I noticed they make quite a racket for sure. I'll need to pull my fender liners to get into there better so that's gotta wait a while.



Side note, added 4 turns to the drivers coilover and 3 to passenger. It had settled to a touch under 38.5" front and was actually riding a bit too low. 4 turns brought me to just above 39" drivers side and just under passenger side with both tanks full. I figure it likely levels out once I'm in it, nice thing is, it takes longer to get my Jack out than it does to adjust them. I may have to lower it a bit once I add the drawers but I'll see how it goes first.

Rear is sitting about 40.25-40.5" so a much more reasonable 1.5" rake compared to the 2.5 I was running. Boring with out pictures but you'll just have to trust me [emoji16]

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