Peace not War - Shock Question

[Allnew2Me]

I am going to buy new shocks and was wondering, if I lift my front end 2" to level the truck, will that make the 2550/2549 shocks unusable? Are they sensitive to such a small difference? Also, if I do go ahead and get the leveling spacers, does that affect wheel alignment? Thanks for the info.

 

[Joe Mc]

I am going to buy new shocks and was wondering, if I lift my front end 2" to level the truck, will that make the 2550/2549 shocks unusable? Are they sensitive to such a small difference? Also, if I do go ahead and get the leveling spacers, does that affect wheel alignment? Thanks for the info.

Great question. When I asked this of someone with spacers I was told if your not pounding the heck out of it off road I'd be fine. When I looked in the front wheelhouse of his 01 he had spacers and the standard 2550 or 49's, which ever is for the front. He's had them on for many miles.

 

[DHorstman]

Here is what I'm running. In the front skyjacker D25 coils that do give 2. 5" of lift, Bilstein 7100 series shocks with 10" of travel. On the rear the springs are stock and using the Bilstein 5150s with piggyback resevoir. Love the ride in the front but haven't noticed much on road difference with the 5150s. Should have went with 7100s all around. Prices were $170/ea for the 7100s and $99/ea for the 5150s. The 5150s work much better on washboard surfaces and high speed woops on the dunes but on the highway the feel as soft as the stockers for individual bumps.



IF you go with either 5150s or 7100s ask about the 14mm bushings and rod ends. It would have saved me alot of time and headache. Bistein has these available but not all suppliers are aware of them.

 

[Joe Mc]

Why and what

IF you go with either 5150s or 7100s ask about the 14mm bushings and rod ends. It would have saved me alot of time and headache. Bistein has these available but not all suppliers are aware of them.

Why would you need and what are the 14mm bushings and rod ends? What do they do?

 

[DHorstman]

Why would you need and what are the 14mm bushings and rod ends? What do they do?

The shocks are sent with hardware for 1/2"(13mm) bolts. The stock shock bolts on 2nd gen rams are 14mm(9/16"). The 7100 series uses heim joint rod ends while the 5150 use rubber bushings with steel sleeve similar to stock. I must say the down side to the 7100s is that the shock and resevoir bodies are not properly coated for year around eviornments. For the price they should be powder coated. I clear coated mine to maintain the shine but regular paint might hold up better over time.

 

[Cummins Thunder]

How did you attach the heim joint end on the 7100's?



CJ

 

[DHorstman]

How did you attach the heim joint end on the 7100's?



CJ

Well I'll do my best for a verbal explaination, but it was pretty simple.

I used the stock upper mount and made an adapter, dimensions are approxamite since I can't recall exact right now. Took some solid steel round stock, ~1. 5" diameter and 1. 125" long. Machined a . 125" tall step about 1. 00" in diameter into it. Drilled and tapped a thru hole 3/4-16NF, then welded two tabs oppisite end of the step for a thru bolt to mount heim joint. The stepped end fits inside the hole on the factory mount and the 3/4 bolt and washer holds it in place.



The resevoir hose just clears and fits between the support rods. With the D25 coils the shocks are about 1" too long at compression. For now I attached a 1. 125" tall nylon blocks to the factory bump stops, longer bump stops can be bought but I plan on trying to make some new upper mounts about 1. 5" taller to get all of my compression travel. Since I am running 33s fender clearance doesn't seem to be an issue, now 35s may.



If I had a CAD program(and knew how to use it ) a print would be simple.

 

[biggy238]

Any recall of what the part #'s are on your 7100's? I've got a pretty good grasp on your adapter and would like to give it a shot. . resevoirs are the @#$% right now and not many people are trying to run them on dodges.



Thanks for any info.

 

[DHorstman]

Yes, AK7110R06, 360/80(should be valving). That's what is on the box anyway. Adapter is simple if you have access to a lathe. I was gonna mill it out of solid 4150 round stock but those deep ears were gonna be a PITA and time consuming. Had the ears TIG welded but MIG should be just fine. Mounting the resevoirs was a PITA also. I have the RH hose clamped to the battery tie down and the LH is wire tied to the inner fender well for now.



Kyle,

Your LH should be easier to install and mount. My ABS cr@p gets in the way.

 

[biggy238]

That's something I need to take a look at on my towers. Indexing the hose to where I want it. I'd like to weld a bracket to hold the resevoirs up against the fenderwell, but visible. . give it that performance look.

I don't like the ford and chevy guys being able to display their mods so well and me not do the same.



I think I can come up with the machine work if need be. I'm going to look into other options also. I think it would be a cool project though. Maybe a popular mod to get "the look". And Functionality ofcourse.

 

[Lorenz]

1/2x9" piece of steel, some self taping screws, and hose clamps for the resi. you can mount them anywere on the frame. I like mine hidden...



I was using industrial zip ties for a while because thier easier to remove when I was revalving

 

[CMNS PWR]

Are the 5100s still on national backorder? ORW keeps moving the arrival date back.