Carli 2014+ Dodge 2500 Pintop Air Ride 2.5 System
2500 Diesel Air Ride!
The Ram 2500 evolved into something different in 2014. The days of an upper overload on the rear leaf spring pack and higher rated door sticker being the only separation between a 2500 and 3500 are long gone – hell, a 2500 isn’t even straight forward anymore. We live in the age of the internet – long before hitting a dealership, people hit the web in search of their next, new vehicle. Afterall, there’s enough information online from which one could learn all they’d need to know – dealerships are selling a commodity, pricing is really all that sets them apart (think Dave Smith Motors, for example). Bargain shoppers narrowing their truck search by price and available rebates, with no knowledge of the available rear ends and their respective applications, may find themselves purchasing a vehicle 180° from their intended purpose. Conversely, people duped by the allure of “air ride” purchasing the specialty model in starry-eyed remembrance of the childhood cruise in the backseat of grandpa’s 1989 Lincoln Towncar will be sorely disappointed in the lackluster ride of an air-ride HD truck. It aint your grandpa’s Lincoln…
We’ve done a TON with the coil spring rear ends – everything from Fox 2.0″ Shocks (Commuter) for the truck that stays on-road all the way to the 3.0″ Kings front and rear (Dominator) for a truck equally comfortable passing side-by-sides in whoop sections as it is on the tarmac. The only shortcoming of this platform is its ability to haul. A quick search on enthusiast forum reveals inumerable complaints of stock trucks with sagging rear ends and rhythmic sway on the highway when loaded near capacity. Ram must’ve realized the shortcomings of this platform and, in preparation, designed the Air-Ride.
Hands Down this is the best riding/best performing/most complete 3" system on the market for the new 2014+ Ram 2500's! This system was developed for outstanding on-road and highway performance while offering King Off Road Racing shock with our custom pistons and valve profile. Off road performance takes a huge step up, while maintaining our signature street ride. Your truck will sit higher, level, have more wheel travel, plush ride quality and OEM towing and weight carrying capacity.
The Pintop is the Backcountry on steroids, take the description for the Backcountry and throw an exponent on it. This system is our Jack-of-all-trades system from which every Ram owner would benefit. Raising the Ram platform then adding the 2.5” diameter shocks will support the argument that these trucks should come equipped with 2.5” shocks from the factory. This system is our most popular, all around suspension system. It was tuned and rides best with 18” wheels and 37” tires. Both of the aforementioned are recommended.
This system boasts Carli specific, blueprinted, King 2.5” shocks on all four corners. In an effort to provide customers with the best product, we designed a custom piston to determine proper base flow rates to ensure the shock works well in the heavy duty truck platform; we then tuned the shocks around the custom pistons based on the only thing that matters to us, seat-of-the-pants feel. We round off ALL our King shocks with shafts machined and polished from a solid piece of 17-4 Stainless. Unlike King’s standard shafts, there is no coating to wear off, weather is far less likely to hurt them and if there is a small chip, you can round the edges with emery cloth to ensure the seal housing isn’t damaged as they’re not brittle like the stock, hardened shafts. The shocks are finished with King oil good to -55* F. Note that all King shocks are built with a plated steel body. If subjected to inclement weather for extended periods, we recommend wrapping your shocks in 3M to provide a moisture barrier that’s replaceable.
Your truck will sit 3”-3.5” higher in the front (cab configuration dependent) with 50% more suspension travel than the factory platform thanks to the taller, lighter rate coil springs. The rear is lifted 2” via Carli’s Air Bag Spacer Brackets.
When pairing added down-travel with the taller ride height, the position of the factory, front sway bar will need to be altered as well. For this, we offer two options; Billet Sway Bar Drop Brackets or the replacement Torsion Sway Bar. The Billet Drop Blocks shift the sway bar down and forward to ensure the factory end links cycle properly throughout the entire extended travel range. Carli’s optional Torsion sway bar removes the entire factory sway bar assembly replacing it with a torsion bar supported by fabricated drop brackets and delrin bushings. Fabricated sway bar arms and dual 5/8” FK heim end links round off the package. This is the single best bang for the buck, ride-quality upgrade offered by Carli Suspension.
When lifting the front end of a straight axle truck, the front axle is pulled off-center unless the proper linkages are addressed. Three inches of front lift equates to an axle shifted toward the driver’s side ¾” and, in the radius arm equipped Rams, lightened caster and slight rearward axle shift. This system includes an Adjustable Track Bar to push the axle back toward the passenger side and provide a stronger link with less deflection for the lifted application. We also include Radius Arm Drop Brackets to recenter your caster adjustment and shift the axle forward to its new center of travel.
We’re now comfortably versed in this platform. Simply explained, it’s identical to its coil sprung counterpart but swaps the spring for an airbag. Don’t let the simplicity of this change this fool you; this truck is a totally different animal. We tested the truck to capacity – nothing phased it. We hit some hard and fast dirt roads to find there’s nothing magical about these airbags – they ramp up in spring rate very quick like any other; thus, they’re rough in the dirt when compared to the coil spring trucks. Extensive R&D of our 2.5″ and 3.25″ Systems confirmed flawless operation of all air-ride functions with our modifications. As the chassis and geometry is the same, our lifts for the platform are essentially the same up front.
The rear is the same sans rear coil springs, plus airbag riser/spacer, extended sensor position link, and swaps the factory 7/8″ bump spacer for a slightly longer bump stop drop to ensure the airbag cycles correctly. On the 3.25″ systems, we also needed to shorten the travel of the rear shocks by about 1.5″ – from our extended travel design used in the coil spring platform – to keep the airbag in place. Now, we’re getting into the “WHY” we’ve never cared for airbags as a primary means of suspending an HD truck. So, there’s slightly less uptravel and substantially less down travel when compared to the coil spring trucks and they won’t make dirt roads disappear underneath you. The upside, the truck will level any load within its stated capacity and haul it down the highway without ever knowing it’s there. This is something we’ve never experienced in the 2500 platform.
In the coil sprung trucks, we got super creative. We tried to engineer long-travel airbags but the space constraints made it impossible. Going in-board the frame where we normally mount the bags puts us at the coil spring – any more inbound and they’d be worthless, too close to the center for support. Outboard the frame-rail – too close to the tire for the size of the bag needed to support the load of a 2500. Only remaining option, between the axle and frame in place of the factory bump stop. Issue here, the collapsed dimension of an airbag with an internal bump-stop (required as you’re replacing the factory bump) with the mounting brackets exceeds the size of the factory bump stop by several inches. This translates into LOST up-travel. We went outside the box to develop a load-leveling system and ran out of time to devote to it.
I digress… Now that we’ve completed the Air-ride platform, it all makes sense; for those with moderate loads chasing the best on and off-road ride, the coil spring truck is perfect offering the best ride we’ve experienced in an HD truck to date. Those that are not concerned with the softest ride or hard-charging dirt-road performance; those who bought their HD Ram to be consistently hauling while not necessary knowing what will be in the back of the truck or how heavy it will be – the air ride is the truck.
Everything is included to support flawless operation of all components. We include bump stop drops to ensure the shocks are cycling in their designed travel range as well as a rear track bar drop bracket minimizing the rear end “wag” associated with opposing track bar suspension designs.
For the best overall ride we suggest 35-37" tires on 17-18"s wheels. Contact us for tire pressure recommendations based on the planned vehicle use and tire selection.
FEATURES:
- (2) Front King Pintop 2.5 Remote Reservoir Shocks (Carli Tuned)
- (2) Rear King Pintop 2.5 Piggyback Shocks (Carli Tuned)
- (2) Front Reservoir Mounts
- (2) 3" Front Linear Rate Coils
- (2) Rear Air Bag Spacers
- (2) Rear Suspension Level Sensor Links
- (1) Front Adjustable Chromoly Track Bar
- (1) Rear Track Bar Drop Bracket
- (2) Radius Arm Drop Brackets
- (2) Front Bump Stop Extensions
- (2) Rear Bump Stop Extensions
- (2) Rear Sway Bar End Links
DODGE RAM FITMENT GUIDE:
- 2014+ Ram 2500 4wd Trucks with the factory Air Ride System (will not fit the 3500's)
Part Numbers
- CS-DPT25-1419-D-AR | Diesel
Altered Vehicle Characteristics:
- 3.25" of front lift (varies slightly with different cab configurations)
- 2"of rear lift (varies slightly with different cab configurations and the amount of stock spacers installed)
- Level Ride
System Notes:
- Wheels - Carli Recommends a 17"-18" Wheel, no more than 9" wide with 5.75" of Backspacing on Leveling Systems
- Tires - 37", E-Rated Tire Fitment is Recommended. Recommended unloaded Tire Pressure 45F/40R
- Recommended Configuration - Carli Systems are Designed and Tested on Vehicles with 17"-18" Wheels with 35", E-Rated Tires. Stock wheels and tires or running a larger wheel diameter will result in a stiffer ride.
- Endlinks - Factory front endlinks are retained where as the rear endlinks are provided with the kit for cleaner travel.
- Torsion Sway Bar - Selection of the Torsion Sway Bar Replacement will not require use of the front sway bar drops.
- Fitting 37" Tires - 37" Tires will fit with the above wheel specifications.
Sway Bar Options
- CS-DSBD-14 - Front Sway Bar Drop Brackets
- Machined from solid billet Aluminum and Mil-spec Hard Anodized
- Relocates and drops the front sway bar for fit and correct geometry
- Eliminates End Link bind which could lead to premature failure
- OR
- CS-DTSB3-14 - 3" Torsion Sway Bar
- Easily the Best "Bang for the Buck" Upgrade for ride quality
- Allows front suspension to move freely without giving up Control
- Heavy duty chromoly arms and end links with 5/8 race series heim joints
Radius Arms
- CS-DFRA-14 - Fabricated Radius Arms
- 1/4" Cold Rolled Steel
- Internal X-Bracing
- Serviceable Spherical Joints
- Improved ride quality and control
- Quad Wrap Limit Straps & Hardware