Looking for the Right Shock

[Cliffman]

2020 Ram 3500 Dually 4WD Long Bed Longhorn Mega Cab. Looking for shocks that will improve my OEM ride when pulling my 22K 5er with 3K pin weight and when running unloaded. Looking at Rancho's and Bilstein's.

 

[Tuesdak]

Are you still running the railroad iron wheels, aka Factory Firestone (or whatever the DRW gets) tires? I put a set of Cooper ATP II's on and forgot about doing major suspension work because the ride was so much improved over the OEM trash tires even at air pressures for the scale weight. The Cooper's do not have as much squirm as soft ride Michelin tires do.

I wouldn't stop with just looking at the off the shelf shocks like you listed. You might consider going all out on the shocks and other ride control depending on what you want.

@AEdelheit has good advice on here and the https://www.thurenfabrication.com/ site is a good read about the RAM suspension and what is possible.

Although I was ready to put some serious money on shocks, springs, etc. the difference in tires was night and day enough alone. The DRW you have may take some more work for a better unloaded ride.

 

[hotram9203]

I love my 5100 Bilstein's from Geno's garage, great ride quality!

 

[Cummins12V98]

First thing what rear tire pressure are you running with the light 3k load? I will wager you are running 65psi???

 

[Topzide]

X2 what @Tuesdak is saying about tires. I put a set of Laufenn made by Hankook on mine about 6K ago, and such a different/better ride the the OEM tires whether they are Firestone or the Nexen. I had Firestone and my FIL had the Nexen on his '20 DRW. He's said that when they wear out, they're gone! Then the next thing would be as @Cummins12V98 mentioned is the sir pressure that you're running. Look at load charts for what would be the pressure needed for your load. Now that you've looked at these, have you gotten weight tickets with all the load weights? (Total - drive - steer - trailer). Then go ahead and invest in the suspension whether that is shocks, sway and anything else. Hope this will help with the decisions that you'll be making. Spend wisely with everything being more pricey now!

 

[SnoKing]

I went up and down on the rears of my 2015 SRW so many times that I start using my clip on air chuck without a hose connected to it to go down for 80 PSI to 42 PSI, I could tell by the sound of the air escaping when I was getting close to 42 PSI.

 

[Cliffman]

I love my 5100 Bilstein's from Geno's garage, great ride quality!

You must have a lift kit for the 5100. I'm all stock so I order the 4600's

 

[Cummins12V98]

What rear psi are you running??????

 

[AH64ID]

I love my 5100 Bilstein's from Geno's garage, great ride quality!

They are a fantastic shock, but aren’t made for a stock height truck. I’d really like to run them on my ‘22 as they were great on my ‘05 and the wife’s 4Runner but I can’t find the proper ones for stock height. I’ll likely end up with 4600’s.

 

[Cummins12V98]

I run the 4600's on the front of my DRW. They were a mild improvement over the OE that were not bad at all. Rears are OE specific as I have Factory Rear air Ride. Mine were replaced under warranty and the replacements have been great.

 

[Regcabguy]

2020 Ram 3500 Dually 4WD Long Bed Longhorn Mega Cab. Looking for shocks that will improve my OEM ride when pulling my 22K 5er with 3K pin weight and when running unloaded. Looking at Rancho's and Bilstein's.

The Bilstein's will beat you to death.

 

[Regcabguy]

I love my 5100 Bilstein's from Geno's garage, great ride quality!

Mine beat me to death. I have a regular cab with a 300# shell and 200# of bagged gravel in the back. The front's like rocks. I'm running 50 psi front and 40 psi rear.

 

[AH64ID]

Mine beat me to death. I have a regular cab with a 300# shell and 200# of bagged gravel in the back. The front's like rocks. I'm running 50 psi front and 40 psi rear.

Such a rare response to the 5100’s, it makes me wonder if you ended up with improper valving.

 

[crispyboy]

I have been running Bilstein 4600's on my truck for years, close to 90k miles - been very happy with them.

 

[BigPapa]

I liked the 4600’s on my ‘98. I also have them on my Avalanche and my daughter’s Ranger.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Cliffman, curious why you have not revealed the psi you run in the rear duals???

"Looking for shocks that will improve my OEM ride when pulling my 22K 5er with 3K pin weight and when running unloaded."

Appears you are looking for advice on getting a better ride loaded and unloaded. FIRST thing to consider is the most basic and free remedy. Air pressures are the most basic that many never consider.