Rear Shocks 3500 with Air Suspension

[EZeis]

Actually the opposite is true, air ride trucks have less travel but on the 3500's the leaf spring is the limiting factor in down travel, I have a good bit of time with the rear suspension on these and there are much better shocks out there then what comes on them from the factory.

More or less travel and/or different valving. It doesn't matter which. Something is definitely different. They wouldn't spend the time and money to have different shocks for the waste if it. Also while the leaf springs do control some of the lower limit, the shocks should act as stops on the low and bump stops on the upper.
Has anyone compared the two different shocks for compressed and extended lengths? That would easily answer the difference. If the same lengths, it's valving. But it could have different valving and different lenght. I'm sure a good high quality aftermarket shock would be better if it fits correctly. I wouldn't want to risk over extension of the air bags by using a shock that has the wrong lenghts.

Earl

 

[Cummins12V98]

Earl don’t question it seems to work. You are bringing too much logic to the topic.

 

[AEdelheit]

More or less travel and/or different valving. It doesn't matter which. Something is definitely different. They wouldn't spend the time and money to have different shocks for the waste if it. Also while the leaf springs do control some of the lower limit, the shocks should act as stops on the low and bump stops on the upper.
Has anyone compared the two different shocks for compressed and extended lengths? That would easily answer the difference. If the same lengths, it's valving. But it could have different valving and different lenght. I'm sure a good high quality aftermarket shock would be better if it fits correctly. I wouldn't want to risk over extension of the air bags by using a shock that has the wrong lenghts.

Earl

Right, well just an FYI I work for a suspension company that deals with these trucks alot and we have hundreds of thousands of dollars of King and Fox shock on the shelf and we work directly with them on a daily basis. The stock shocks do have a little different valving but its not enough rebound to control the rear air ride, trust me Ram does not spend much money on shocks and there is plenty of room for improvement there.

Earl don’t question it seems to work. You are bringing too much logic to the topic.

Logic is looking at how things work and learning what works, not saying well the book doesn't say it works so it must not fit.

 

[NonFord]

The stock shocks do not have enough rebound for the air ride setup, glad you did a little thinking for yourself and upgraded to a much better ride!

Yep me too!. Love how it handles now!

 

[Cummins12V98]

Maybe it's a SRW thing as my DRW rear stock US Made shocks work well.

 

[AEdelheit]

Maybe it's a SRW thing as my DRW rear stock US Made shocks work well.

Glad you are happy with them though I suspect if you were to run a really good shock you would be surprised how much more controlled the rear end is.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Could be, let me know when Bilstein has them listed for the rear air. The rear is solid with ZERO rebound.

FYI the Bil's made a small difference on my fronts. Now on my 11 they made a huge difference. 11 OE's were Made In Brazil and completely shot at 5k.

 

[kthaxton]

The rear is solid with ZERO rebound.

Lol! You're rear end doesn't rebound eh? Apparently you are not familiar with the term rebound as it applies to suspension.

 

[Wiredawg]

Seems a Rancho adjustable shock would be the answer. I had them on my 02 Ram 3500, not air ride but LOTS of difference between level 3 empty and max level (7 or 9, I forget).

Any hoo, just one more suggestion on the burn pile.

Cheers, Ron

 

[lpennock]

Seems a Rancho adjustable shock would be the answer. I had them on my 02 Ram 3500, not air ride but LOTS of difference between level 3 empty and max level (7 or 9, I forget).

Any hoo, just one more suggestion on the burn pile.

Cheers, Ron

Firestone used them on the R4Tech suspension. They were actually tied into the air bag line so damping would increase with load.

 

[AH64ID]

Seems a Rancho adjustable shock would be the answer. I had them on my 02 Ram 3500, not air ride but LOTS of difference between level 3 empty and max level (7 or 9, I forget).

Any hoo, just one more suggestion on the burn pile.

Cheers, Ron

I've ran Racho's on several rigs over the years and NEVER will again. They are overpriced and over hyped junk, IMO.

 

[Wiredawg]

I've ran Racho's on several rigs over the years and NEVER will again. They are overpriced and over hyped junk, IMO.

I have to admit old information is of little value. It was 2004 when I replaced them on my 2002 with great service until I sold the truck in 2013.

Just curious, was it the last ones you had that you decided they were over priced junk? Sounded like "several rigs over the years" at some point you thought they were good.

My last Ram, an 09 4500 4x4, the factory shocks still were good after 9 years, but only 70K miles. I don't expect to have to replace shocks on either my 2017 Ram 5500 or my wife's 2019 Ram 1500 for a few years.

Anyhoo, always good to hear about others experience with products.

Cheers, Ron

 

[AH64ID]

I have to admit old information is of little value. It was 2004 when I replaced them on my 2002 with great service until I sold the truck in 2013.

Just curious, was it the last ones you had that you decided they were over priced junk? Sounded like "several rigs over the years" at some point you thought they were good.

My info is also old, but the bad taste is still there.

Dad and I bought into the Rancho adjustable hype in the late 90's on a couple of Chevy's. At the time they seemed awesome, but hey what did we know... OEM shock's were really really bad.

I then put them on a couple different Toyota's, based on what I knew at the time, and even switched between 9000's, 5000's, and one of their other models and was never quite happy with them.

I broke down and spent the money on Bilstien... night and day in my experiances.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Lol! You're rear end doesn't rebound eh? Apparently you are not familiar with the term rebound as it applies to suspension.

Maybe instead of being a smart AZZ you should tell me what it means.

 

[kthaxton]

Rebound is when the suspension/shock extends after compressing. Rebound damping in a shock slows/controls the extension to eliminate the pogo effect.

 

[TFucili]

Too much rebound damping, and your shocks "pack up", not returning fast enough after compression. Too little rebound damping, and you get the pogo or donkey kick.
Top shelf shocks will also have a high speed, and low speed circuit for compression damping. The high and low speed refer to the shaft speed, not vehicle speed.

 

[Cummins12V98]

All I know is the potholes when hit with the rear simply absorb the impact and instantly return to normal without any aftershocks.

The fronts did some and the Bil's did improve that some.

kthaxton, thanks for the explanation.

 

[Ozymandias]

I had them all - and they are all junk compared to an High End Shock that is valved for the exact application.
A truck with such shocks is like a flying carpet, perfectly smooth but the same time firm on the road.
Uncomparable.

Ron you said you have money to waste - so waste it for a set of custom valved King or Fox and you'll feel the difference, and in the end the money will not be wasted. You would be amazed how much better your truck drives.

 

[Cummins12V98]

I don't think the rear shocks have much to do with how the truck "drives". Rides yes.

Curious have you ever had a set of the US Made shock that i have on my truck from the factory? I 100% agree "TYPICALLY" OE shocks are JUNK but these are not.

 

[Tunnel Vision]

I have a 2018 3500 DRW CC with the factory air ride and pull two types of RV's and this is what I have learned. The air ride seems to ride nice, but with my slide -in truck camper (5000 lbs) and my boat (7000 lbs) bounces going down the highway and at times can be white knuckle to drive. To me that can be cured with shocks with better rebound. The other RV is a 40' fifth wheel toy hauler (18k) that tows like a dream all day long!

One other issue, the "Kneeling feature" of the air ride system sometimes won't work and I get the message "the load is too light", heck I have a 5k camper sitting back there! Any ideas? Eventually I can get it to lower but takes some screwing around, shut the truck off, pull forward twenty feet, etc.

What say the brain trust and if it's shocks what brand?