The Carli 2nd Gen Pintop System is the do it all setup to dramatically improve ride in your 2nd gen Cummins whether it's on or off road. When it comes to bolt on suspension performance, this is the best of the best.
This system is our most popular, all around suspension system. It was tuned and rides best with the Full Progressive Leaf Springs. The Pintop is a 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. The improvement in capability on and off road simply can't be understated. It's night and day!
We recommend adding a track bar with this system. You can either use the Thuren 2nd Gen track bar or DT Pro Fab track bar. If you wish to maintain your factory sway bar, use the DT Pro fab track bar as the Thuren isn't compatible with inverted 94-98 cobra style sway bars.
On 1994-2002 trucks, we recommend you check the bolt size to ensure the correct arms are purchased. We recommend taking a 14mm wrench and putting the open end against the threads of the lower control arm bolts. If it matches, the 14mm arms are the correct arms to order. If the bolt size is bigger than the open end of the wrench, the 16mm arms are the correct arms. If you have any questions in regards to this process, feel free to give us a call!
The Details:
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 2.5”-3” higher in the front (year/cab configuration dependent) with 50% more suspension travel than the factory platform thanks to the taller, lighter rate coil springs. The rear is lifted 1”-2” via the customer’s choice of a Progressive Add-A-Pack or Full Progressive Leaf Pack. The Progressive Add-A-Pack replaces the factory overload with a 5-Leaf, progressive pack that changes the final rate of the spring pack keeping the rear planted while increasing traction and predictability. The optional Full Progressive Leaf Pack is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as it’s with what this system was tuned. This spring pack replaces the entire factory leaf spring assembly increasing travel and drastically increasing comfort throughout the entire usable travel stroke at the cost of a 15% payload reduction from a standard 2500. This payload reduction can be supplemented back to factory 3500 SRW capacity with the addition of the Long Travel Airbags for the best of both worlds; ride quality and payload capacity/load control.
This system fits Dodge Ram 2500 and Dodge Ram 3500 4x4 trucks from 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002.
NOTE: 2.5” Rear Piggyback Reservoir shocks should be drained of nitrogen and cycled to their collapsed dimension to ensure the reservoirs clear all under-bed crossmembers. These shocks Mount body down, shaft up, reservoirs point AWAY From the axle. The passenger’s side will require a 3”x 1.5” Section to be removed to clear the shocks. Once confirmed, put installed rear shocks to full extension and charge to 225psi of Nitrogen.
Wheel and Tire:
This system will fit up to a 35” tire with Extended Control Arms – We recommend wheels with 5.75-6” of backspacing. The more rubber, the better the small bump compliance will be at proper inflation pressures. The ride will firm up as you go larger in wheel diameter.
Base Kit Includes:
| Multi-Rate Coils | |
|
Carli Tuned King 2.5" Remote Reservoir Pintop Shock Package with Reservoir Mounts & Limit Straps, Stainless Shafts Extended Sway Bar End Links, 0-3" Lift, 1994-98 Progressive Add-A-Pack, 1" Lift |
| Front Lift | Rear Lift | Front Travel | Rear Travel | Shock Diameter | Tire Fitment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0″ | 1″ – 2″ | 10″ | 10.6″ | 2.5″ | 35″ x 12.5″ |
NOTE: the 1994-02 Ram 2500/3500 trucks are notorious for a driver’s side lean up to 1.5″ (lower on the driver’s side than the passenger’s side). Carli Coil Springs and Leaf Springs for the 1994-02 are designed side-specific to lift the Driver’s side more than the Passenger’s side to lessen/eliminate this common lean. However, we’ve had trucks require the taller spring be installed on the passenger’s side to achieve a level stance and trucks that require the same height springs be installed on both sides to achieve a leveled stance. These trucks are not an exact science and were designed long before CAD programs and design standardization. For this reason, we cannot guarantee the truck will sit level side to side nor is the corrective action a “warranty”. Our choice was either discontinue the product line OR present the customer with the design oddities so they know what they’re getting into. As there are not many performance options for the 2nd gen trucks, we elected to keep the product line as the side to side correction can be alleviated with the use of small spring spacers with NO performance degradation.
