2003CDRW

I'm new to the Dodge world, but a long time diesel owner. I just sold my 06 Super duty, and bought an 03 Ram (in sig). Things I've noticed since getting the truck home is that it rides like it has no suspension compared to my Ford and the headlights really suck. Even with those issues, the Cummins and the NV5600 have me smiling from ear to ear .

Here's the deal with the suspension as I see it. It looks stock, except for the rear air bags in the rear and puck style leveling kit in the front. In thinking of ways to improve the ride as I bounce down the road, I feel like I should remove the airbags, as I don't really need them at this point, and return the front to stock ride height. Will this be worth my time and improve the ride enough?

The air bags are set at the minimum, 5psi

Headlights, there are sooo many options, I can't find one that I want to go with. I want bright, but I don't want to be 'that' guy, blinding every oncoming car either. I live in the mountains, and there are very few street lights. It looks like the headlight cans are after market, but still only require the 9007 bulbs. Something was retrofitted in the fog lights, as there are splices in the wires (one of them is MIA too). Any help here would be great, because I actually feel like it's a bit of a safety hazard, as bad as the lighting is

Thanks

.boB

The first thing to check is tire air pressure. Some people think it's better to run max pressure all the time.

The air bags and front lift probably are not haveing any real effect on suspension performance.

What shocks do you have?

I repalced my head lamp bulbs with Sylvania Silver Stars. A small to moderate improvement, but not very expensive, either.

And, if your front end has been lifted, the lamps may need an adjustment.

2003CDRW

Thanks Bob.

I set all the tires to the spec on the door, which is 65psi. Too much? I don't want to lose any fuel mileage though

I don't know what shocks are on the truck. I'll look tonight

I adjusted the heck out of the headlights, but they don't ever seem to be in the right place when I'm driving. I'll play with it some more tonight

Grit Dog

Empty airbags and a leveling kit will not make it ride any rougher.
65 psi is ok for the front if OE size tires. Too much pressure if bigger tires. Empty rear psi should be considerably lower to improve ride quality.
IMO 3rd gens don't ride any stiffer than Super Doodys. I have both sitting in the driveway.

2003CDRW

I should have added this to start, but it is a dually too. The tires are slightly oversized, but I don't remember the size off the top of my head. I wanna say, 285/75/17

steelblitzkrieg

I run mine at 50-55 front and 40-45 rear, although I have 35X12.50.

When I had factory sized tires I ran 55 front and 50 rear if I recall correctly.

.boB

Exact proper tire pressure depends on tire, vehicle, and load. The sticker in the door jamb gives you a pretty close number. I generally run about 10psi greater than listed, and that works well according to tire temps.

2003CDRW

Maybe I'll take the pressure down to 60 fr and 55 RR. I also removed the airbags last night to see what that does. They were simple to remove, and 15 minutes, with two babies crawling all over me, haha

soulezoo

Ultimately, these are rough riders... especially compared to Chevy. However, the two things you can do that will make the most difference are shocks (many folks are happy with Bilstein 5100's) and sulastic shackles. Those shackles are a big difference especially on the little chatter bumps. Do a serach for a thread on that here.

2003CDRW

The changes I made worked well! I just made the tire pressure 55psi on all 4 corners. Don't get me wrong, I want my truck to ride like a truck, but not to shake the fillings from my wife's teeth. I can't find any kind of markings on the shocks though. All I know is that they're black, LOL. When I lose a shock, I was planning to replace them with 5100's. Ill search for those shackles too Soulezoo

Thanks guys

2003CDRW

I have to start saving my pennies for a set of those shackles