The Dominator is pinnacle offering in boasting front Carli Signature tuned, King 3.0” remote reservoir shocks so large, we needed to engineer mounting systems front and rear for them to cycle properly. As the old adage goes, there’s no replacement for displacement. In an effort to provide customers with the best product, we do not sell off-the-shelf King 3.0s. 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 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.
In the front, the shocks utilize a 3.0″ King with a large Pintop Bushing to secure them to the factory location.
The front, lower shock mount – we provide a 1/4″, boxed replacement for the weak, factory stamped, half-welded mount. The top index included in the side specific mount servers to locate the shock mount off the axle’s radius arm mount. Once the factory shock mount is removed, the Carli shock mount will be welded in place providing peace of mind and as much space as possible to cycle the 3.0″ diameter cylinders of the Dominator shocks.
Even slightly offsetting the lower shock mount, the factory brake lines that come over the top of the radius arm need to be relocated to prevent the wiper cap (blue cap on the bottom of the shock body from which the shaft extends) contacting the factory lines. We provide extended Stainless Brake Lines and routing brackets to clear the brake lines from the shocks completely.
Another weak point…. The factory coil buckets offer very little support for the isolator – and thus, the coil – beyond a small hole to index its fitment. Combine this with a lower coil seat that’s angled forward and inward creating a spring pressure that induces both forward bowing and slipping coils. It’s not uncommon to see flattened isolators and springs that look like they’re going to slide forward and out of the bucket. Compound this factory shortcoming by adding big shocks, extended travel, and a heavy right foot off the pavement and additional support for the coils becomes cheap insurance against a coil re-installation off-the-grid! Machined from a solid piece of mild steel, these supports require front suspension disassembly, cleaning of the factory coil bucket, welding, priming and painting. Once in place, they appear factory as they’re nearly completely covered by the factory isolator. With these installed, your coil spring will not budge.
In the rear, The shocks bolt into the factory location on the axle but the upper “Pin” style shock mount requires a bit more beef to hold up to the abuse of which a 3.0″ Shock is capable. Cut off the factory stud, bolt these to the the two holes that exist in the factory shock mount with the provided hardware to locate them and weld along the frame. Primer, Paint and you’re ready for the Dominator Shocks!
There you have it, Folks! Everything needed to SAFELY install 3.0″ shocks on your 2013+ 3500 already equipped with a Commuter, Backcountry or Pintop Systems.
