Lowered towing success story and insights

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aRBee4863

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Military
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Location
Boise, ID
Ram Year
2005
Engine
5.7
Hey all,

Seems like a lot of questions about how to pull this off, so I just want to chime in with what worked for me and some thoughts about lowering in general.

Setup: 2005 RAM 1500 RWD Rumble Bee Edition
Engine:
5.7 Hemi
Transmission: 545RFE
Differential: 9.25" AAM 3.92
Wheels & Tires: 305/40/R22 SRT-10 clone wheels
Lowering Kit: BellTech 2" Front lowering springs / 5" Rear axle flip kit
and most importantly...
Leaf Springs: General Spring KS heavy duty 5(4/1) leaf springs (It's got 4 leaves, plus 1 overload leaf) 2200lb capacity

Any time you lower the vehicle (except for spindle drop kits), you have to jack up the spring rate to keep from bottoming out. You definitely notice it on the front coils, but the leaf springs are pretty hard already so no change necessary for street driving. But since I noticed the leaf springs sagging and I figured I'd be doing some towing in my future, I decided to replace the stock springs with heavy duty. Good move, turns out! The heavy duties actually make the rear sit up an extra inch from level, and then when you load up it drops into level. Total weight for truck + trailer + car + motorcycle + a ton of tools was over 10,000lbs (I checked at a CAT scale, just for giggles). Not bad for a lowered 1500!

20210622_122522.jpg
weigh ticket lowered - Copy.jpg

How does it ride? Like a truck. It's pretty stiff all around but I like the way it handles and there's minimal body roll. The lion's share of ride quality is based on your spring rate, so that comes with the territory. I'm still using the BellTech shocks, and actually when the lower shock bushing bracket broke I sent them a message and they sent me a brand new set of shocks with much beefier shock bushings. This isn't "lowering specific" but with where the powerband is on the Hemi you have to really "put 'er in the ketchup(high revs) to get the whole thing rolling on the entrance ramps. I never felt like it was underpowered though. Rear gear ratio and slightly smaller tire diameter compared to stock helps.
If you have any suggestions, questions, or recommendations, I'm totally open!
 
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aRBee4863

aRBee4863

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Military
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2005
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5.7
Rear height with bell-tech 2"/5" front-rear lowering kit, and General Spring KS heavy duty leaf springs. --Using bell-tech's drop shackle on the rear leaf spring perch--
20220302_102512.jpg

Re-install factory rear leaf spring shackle-- back to level :cool:
20220417_154508.jpg
 

StickyLifter

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Location
TN
Ram Year
2014
Engine
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Good info! I've got a 4th gen RCSB and want to lower 2" on both ends in the hope that I can still tow my 20ft enclosed trailer and racecar. Thinking 4" in the rear will be too much with the way I have to load the trailer for extra tongue weight.
 
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aRBee4863

aRBee4863

Junior Member
Military
Joined
Apr 1, 2022
Posts
23
Reaction score
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Location
Boise, ID
Ram Year
2005
Engine
5.7
Good info! I've got a 4th gen RCSB and want to lower 2" on both ends in the hope that I can still tow my 20ft enclosed trailer and racecar. Thinking 4" in the rear will be too much with the way I have to load the trailer for extra tongue weight.
Good question. IIRC 4th gen are on coil spring rear so it may be easier to lower in smaller increments than with leafs, because ours are a flip kit on the rear.

F=kx calculations aside, I think what'll happen is the 2"F/4"R kit will put you level so you'll sag when you're loaded up, but a 2"F/2"R kit will sit a little higher all the time and be level when you're loaded.

For me it only takes 30 minutes to swap shackles (and it's free) so I put on the tall ones before I tow(2x a year) and swap back to short for around-towning.
 

StickyLifter

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2020
Posts
146
Reaction score
121
Location
TN
Ram Year
2014
Engine
5.7L
Good question. IIRC 4th gen are on coil spring rear so it may be easier to lower in smaller increments than with leafs, because ours are a flip kit on the rear.

F=kx calculations aside, I think what'll happen is the 2"F/4"R kit will put you level so you'll sag when you're loaded up, but a 2"F/2"R kit will sit a little higher all the time and be level when you're loaded.

For me it only takes 30 minutes to swap shackles (and it's free) so I put on the tall ones before I tow(2x a year) and swap back to short for around-towning.

A 2"x2" drop is really what I want but no one makes a kit, just have to buy a 2/4 kit and then the seperate 2" coils that might not be valved for the springs.
 
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