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Best leveling kit

37K views 47 replies 18 participants last post by  Czarmarz 
#1 ·
Just bought 2021 tradesman 4x4 diesel with the 5th wheel and camera package. Off-road with billsteins also. Put nitto ridge grapplers 35 12.50 18 on stock rims. No level yet. Doesn’t scrub at all. What’s the best level for this truck. I want to keep it driving as close to stock as possible. Thanks in Advance
 
#5 · (Edited)
On a 4x4 leave the stock springs they are tougher than any aftermarket spring if all your doing is leveling it. Any kit with under 4” will be suffice because essentially you are not changing the geometry. The Cummins motor is heavy!!! I can’t tell you how many sets of springs I’ve thrown in the scrap bin and replaced them with 3500 stock springs. If you want new springs call mirage motor sports and give them the specs and the weight. If not your going to have a tire eating headache. Here is mine front 2.5” coil buckets rear stock / 20 “ rims / 35” toyos




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#7 ·
I had 2" spacers on my 2017 and 2.5" Rough Country spacers on my 2020 with the off road package with factory Bilstein shocks.

Couple weeks back I installed a Carli 2.5" with Fox shocks on my 2017 and what a difference. Night and day in how the truck rides. So much so I am thinking about doing it on my 2020. Also installed the Carli trackbar while doing the level. It wasn't cheap, didn't want to go any higher as the truck just fits in the garage, but am I ever glad I spent the money.
 
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#8 ·
Fox shocks is about 15 miles from my house I’ve been dealing with them for 20 years they dampen the ride nicely for urban off roading / city driving ….. bilstein is also here in town……. They are valved for more of an off road application. Spacers on a straight axle vs a-arms are two different worlds. Like I said 4x4 straight axle coil buckets/spacers stock springs and shock relocator . the truck will ride like the day you drove it home for under $500.
 
#12 ·
My 2007 2500's stock front springs and all shocks were overwhelmed by my 2200# Northstar popup. I was really disappointed as the weight was well within my regcabs load capacity. I've had Kore VR's and Don's Kings since 2008 and the combo works well. In retrospect some stock snowplow springs would have been a good experiment.
 
#15 ·
@bwilkerson

You have mentioned this "mirage racing springs" a few times and just out of curiosity I wanted to look them up to see what they are all about. I can not find any mention of them on the web. Is it Mirage Racing Products?
 
#16 ·
One of our biggest sellers is going to be Thuren. Carli is second. The reason why Thuren is first is because the price is cheaper then Carli and they use less parts to make their kits work which is awesome!

In order to do it properly you will need front springs, front shocks and an adjustable track bar. However you can get away without a track bar but you will want to updgrade sometime in the future. You will get a buttery smooth ride and you will be super impressed! I run thuren on my personal truck and absolutely love it.

Feel free to holler at me or the page anytime if you have any questions as we are all happy to help.

Clayton
 
#31 ·
One of our biggest sellers is going to be Thuren. Carli is second. The reason why Thuren is first is because the price is cheaper then Carli and they use less parts to make their kits work which is awesome!

In order to do it properly you will need front springs, front shocks and an adjustable track bar. However you can get away without a track bar but you will want to updgrade sometime in the future. You will get a buttery smooth ride and you will be super impressed! I run thuren on my personal truck and absolutely love it.

Feel free to holler at me or the page anytime if you have any questions as we are all happy to help.

Clayton
The reason that Thuren offers a cheaper level is that they don’t use tuned Fox shocks, and their track bar uses a polymer joint on the frame side. Still super solid stuff, but I’d favor the Carli since they use tuned, unique part number shocks and a slightly significantly quality frame side joint on the track bar. Those little things make a big difference!
 
#24 ·
Thuren and Carli can't miss. I truly believe that Thuren is the better choice for a RAM/Dodge, that's their MO. Like others have said, Carli is great but you're paying a premium for the name, they don't do a single thing better or different for the extra money over the Thuren. Bigger company, more overhead, more money spent on advertising, equals higher prices, it's that simple. That said, I don't fault anyone for choosing Carli, it's great stuff.
 
#25 ·
Simply not true. We started in Ram and continue to dedicate ourselves to the platform. We offer for Ford and Jeep no different than Thuren offers for Toyota, Jeep and GM trucks. We increased our building size, as did they. I believe our and their HQ are the same size. Neither of us are 5-man shops anymore. We don't spend, nor do any advertising - this is on retailers (CJC's awesome YouTube channel, as an example) but this is out of their pocket, not ours.

Take a look at the parts we offer for the new Ram platforms and you'll find we offers kits specifically tuned to the 14+ coil spring trucks and air-ride trucks in two lift heights, the 13+ Ram 3500 leaf-spring and air-assist AND Power Wagon Specific kits. All these have custom King or Fox Shocks (986 part number Fox shocks indicating we've completed the proprietary shock program with Fox, not using ANY oem Foxes). No one has the commitment to this platform to match Carli's.
 
#26 ·
Been fabricating trucks for over 3 decades. Carli and Thuren is nothing but China junk steel. You can get away with the junk on smaller rigs but when lifting a truck with weight you need to do your homework.
The research and development that has gone into ram has been a process of thousands of hours.


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#27 ·
Been fabricating trucks for over 3 decades. Carli and Thuren is nothing but China junk steel. You can get away with the junk on smaller rigs but when lifting a truck with weight you need to do your homework.
The research and development that has gone into ram has been a process of thousands of hours.
I guess everyone's entitled to their opinion, no matter how baseless. Regardless, there's ZERO Chinese Steel in our facility. We've done Italian steel but that's the only time we've gone outside USA to source.
 
#30 ·
Bwilkerson: 10 years with original Thuren 3” soft ride coils and the rest of everything he sells and Carli hard parts. Zero sag and this truck has thousands of hard off roading miles and towing miles. Literally nothing on my truck is eating tires or driving/towing poorly. Take a step back and stop misinforming people about Thuren or Carli suspension



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#32 ·
Well, not true on Thuren Fox’s. Not going to get into a pissing match here either. Thuren Fox’s are tuned by Fox for Thuren coils per Thuren specs. As for the track bar, Thuren’s delrin joint is plenty strong and long lasting and simple. Sometimes simple is better. Thuren is also priced better and his parts don’t go through many changes over the years because they just work. Carli makes quality parts as well. It’s a personal choice. But just wanted to clarify the Fox shock statement.
 
#34 ·
I’m no expert, but Thuren’s Fox shocks use the same part number on the bottom seal as the off the shelf shocks from Fox for Ram trucks, while Carli’s use a completely unique part number to signify a different tune from the Fox factory.

That said they still ride fine, but from what I understand based on the part numbers I think Carli is the only company with unique part number Fox 2.0s for these trucks!

Keep in mind I have Thuren on my 2nd gen and Carli on my third gen so I’m not exactly biased!
 
#33 ·
I honestly recently ordered a Thuren set up, Carli is awesome, and i stole some knowledge from @OCVeloMan because you would be an idiot not to listen to him. The man knows his stuff. I probably would've had a much harder decision on Thuren VS Carli if Carli had offered the level in a height i wanted, but being that they didn't that kinda sealed the deal with me. I don't think anyone with any actual knowledge on the products, or durability of the either Thuren or Carli could argue with their quality control. There is a reason they are the 2 most widely respected suspension companies for our trucks and many many more. But my parts should be coming in soon, bought at DDP from the dude himself, great guy. Although one of these days i ought to BS with some of the others, at this point in time i just need to find an excuse to get to Texas and share some whiskey with @Dude_57
 
#35 ·
I get what your saying, but custom part numbers does not dictate how the shock is made for Thuren. I know your trucks and they are saweeeet! Just don’t want misinformation going out there to the uneducated.


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#36 · (Edited)
I get what your saying, but custom part numbers does not dictate how the shock is made for Thuren. I know your trucks and they are saweeeet! Just don’t want misinformation going out there to the uneducated.


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By no means am I trying to misinform, but last I checked nobody is taking standard part number Fox shocks, opening them, re-valving them, and then shipping them out again? There is no way a shock would have custom tuning from the Fox factory without a unique part number to distinguish that. I think it’s false to say that the shocks are custom tuned.

Any 2.0 shock from Fox that starts with a 986 indicates a custom spec tune and valving. If it doesn’t have a 986 designation, then it isn’t a custom tune no matter what sticker is on the outside. I just did some digging and it looks like Cognito and Synergy also have 986 designations like Carli, which means they too have custom tuning different from the standard 985 part number non-tuned shock.
 
#39 ·
By all means this is not personal. Just want to confirm myself as that is what we advertise and so does Thuren as "custom developed progressive valving" shocks. I don't think Don has been lying all these years. But, to state that "they don't use tuned Fox shocks" as the reason for cheaper level kits may not be correct and people believe what they read here. This is a large group, so I just want to make sure, as you do, to state facts.
 
#41 ·
Don Thuren replied. A little history. Thuren's original steel body Fox 2.0s had his custom tuning inside, but as OCVeloMan stated, those shocks took forever to get and were expensive. Those did have Thuren's own part number. Fast forward to today. The Fox aluminum body shocks came out and Don started looking into those. Come to find out, these new aluminum body shocks had the same valving design as his custom steel body Fox 2.0s. So, he took it as Fox liked his custom valving and applied it to their shocks. So, yes they are off the shelf Fox's, but with his valving design in them. Kinda of a weird deal and Fox is allowing him to run his Thuren stickers on them as his own line. Thuren will have his own part numbers again on these exact aluminum body 2.0 shocks, just waiting on Fox. I guess Thuren can take that as a compliment from Fox.
 
#42 ·
Fox doesn't "allow" it; those stickers are applied after the fact, not at Foxes facility. They have no control over what someone does with their product once it's out of their production facility.

So you're saying, coincidentally and without Don's permission, they threw his valving (of which he offered several "stages") in ALL their OEM IFP and R/R aluminum shocks?

I've spoken to the higher-ups at Fox about this subject when i heard these claims as you're not the first to hear this; understand I'm only asking a question to which I already know the answer. This is absolutely NO disrespect to anyone; we've worked our butts off to HAVE the relationship and custom-catalog with Fox that we have. We also know the inner-workings of Foxe's organization including R&D/engineering and Race divisions responsible for their vehicle-specific valve profiles in their OEM lines.

Anything else I'll say will sound combative; as much as I want to speak further on it, it's not my place as a competitor but it's frustrating to bite my tongue being he company putting in the time and work to have the program with Fox and hear other's make the same claims when we know better. I'll bow out of this.
 
#43 ·
I get it Dan. I’m a messenger at this point. You can say whatever you feel. But, we are talking 2.0s so there are not many “stages” in that valving. Just one. Fox uses the same valving design as Don’s, but I doubt it’s stealing Don’s. I have nothing else to add.


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#44 ·
I have install Rough Country 2.5" or 3.0" level kits on my last 3 trucks and like the ride and stance. Instead of the 1" spacer on the rear, I have installed air bags with remote compressor for my heavier trailers. Very good pricing on the RC kit, less than $500 with upgraded shocks. Love my Nitto G2 Grapplers - had 3 sets and get 45K miles consistently.
 
#46 ·
I'm curious to see how this whole convo lands with regards to the shocks. I just recently traded-in my '15 Laramie Megacab for a '21 Limited Megacab. My '15 was fully set up to mall-crawl by the previous dealer (Pro-Comp 6", 37s, etc). As my '21 is stock, and I knew I wanted to go a leveling kit + 37s and not a full lift, I looked at both Carli and Thuren. I ended up going with the Thuren kit, via a local shop, who as of yesterday said that Thuren should ship out by the end of next week (fingers crossed).

Between the Bilsteins that are on my new rig (Off-Road Package), and the Fox shocks I am waiting for via the Thuren kit, I know that both of them will be 1000 times better than the garbage Pro-Comp) from my last one.

Consider me an interested party on this topic for sure!
 
#47 ·
I can say I recently installed a thurem set up with fox 2.0 shocks. I can say the following.

On road experience, not noticeably different. Smooth ride with stock and and thuren, no complaints with either set up, this is on nice paved roads.

Rough roads, noticeable difference. The thuren fox set up runs great. Washed out roads are smooth. I can't say how much better or if any a Carli set up would be. I honestly would expect better from them but I don't know how. The thuren system rides great on and off road, and that's what i wanted. Whether or not the valving is custom or not, it doesn't matter to me. I don't know how the ride could be better, but knowing the OCD of Carli I would expect it to be better, and maybe one day when my pocket book can afford it, I'll try a Carli kit. All I know is the thuren set up is a good set up, and works great so far. So I have no regrets in getting the cheaper of the two best regarded suspension set ups
 
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