Maximum Performance

The Bilstein 2.65 9100 series shocks offered by Carli Suspension come with Jounce Stops at the base of the shaft. This is a specially designed durometer rubber stop that assists with the final 2.5 inches of compression dampening.

What you feel is an even smoother transition from compression dampening to full bump travel. These are intended to augment the current bumpstop, whether that is factory rubber stops, or Carli's hydro-pneumatic bump stop. It's just one more layer of protection from massive compression events and an additional seat of your pants improvement and increase in comfort.

Both front and rear 9100 series shocks are offered with Jounce Stops.

Bilstein 2.65 vs. King 3.0

In the spectrum of performance and comfort, choosing between these two shocks really comes down to one thing, preference. They'll deliver more dampening than you'd want to put up with, and both are incredible performers. The difference is initial dampening response and feel. The Bilstein piston builds pressure immediately, where the Carli/King piston ramps up smoothly - so what this translates to is seat-of-your-pants feel. The King is smoother on initial compression dampening, so some of the small road chatter or cracks and uneven surfaces aren't even felt - where the Bilstein makes your truck feel so glued to the road, it's a more "active" ride. So it really is a matter of how you want your truck to feel when you're driving, once you get off the pavement, these two could very well have a knock down drag out brawl and there will not be one clear victor. Choosing your shock in this case is matter of considering how you want your truck to ride where and how you drive it. Some people don't like a super alert BMW-esq feel, where other's prefer it. Another area where this can be compared is when you turn in quickly and weight has to transfer in corners and adjustments; the Bilstein delivers an immediate response and the King feels a split second behind, but, comes in with a smoother compression curve. Both shocks are right there when it comes to street/dirt performance and each has it's own individual ride signature, how do you want your truck to feel?

In The Press

The first desert test of this system staggered an audience, including Off Road Magazine who published a full spread about what went down in the dirt, in their October 2008 issue. The location was the Hungry Valley OHV area in Gorman, CA. Kevin Blumer was the photographer and editor of this article and the day was nothing but eventful. You'll find that the days account started out with a little bit of pucker factor as my Megacab grabbed a rock and shot it through Kevin's passenger window from over 100 feet away... but after that, it was all business for the Bilstein 2.65 system.

Kevin set us up with a few hoops to jump through, including a nice huck and winding up with a blast over big whoops at freeway speeds. The Bilstein shocks responded faultlessly to something that we've never done before and that's stay on top of big humps, run after run, after run. The editorial even makes light of the type of vehicle we're dealing with where most of the general population would consider a 1-ton diesel truck a "tow rig", rather than an off-road toy that you can pound whoops with.

The system was put through every activity an experienced driver or racer would voluntarily encounter in a Dodge Ram off-road. The two-page money shot here shows the incredible cornering ability at high speed while throwing wheelbarrow loads of dirt behind the vehicle, with the steering wheel at full lock, in the opposite direction the truck is turning in. That kind of confidence doesn't come to a driver when the suspension system isn't up to the task.

The article topic was a chase truck - that's almost as fast as a race truck! The day went on like this and on the final page of the write up, Kevin had to mention the incredible performance of the passes through the deep whoop section. Even the crowd of recreational ATVs and trucks paused their afternoon to watch what was going down on this day.

It would be rude to blow up the images and give you all of the juicy feedback that was published in Off Road Magazine, but this wasn't no Disco Truck. The basis of the entire build is function, from the custom dash mounted GPS, tig-welded tube bumper, spare tire mount, AFE motor upgrades and a Smarty Programmer from Mads Electronics just to make sure we're throwing close to a 1,000 foot pounds to the dirt floor.

Shown to the left is the family of Carli Suspension company trucks... a little bit of everything to work with, Sage's 2500 Hemi, Mike's 2500 CTD and my 2500 CTD Megacab. This day went to the Bilstein 2.65 and all this makes us do is keep pushing the envelop with bolt-on Dodge Ram Suspension systems. Driving an 8,000 diesel truck over the top of 3' whoops wasn't something that you would even consider... well, wouldn't have considered before this day. There is much to go on from where this system showed the industry it's business side as well. More tuning and accumulated knowledge will certainly benefit 2.65 system owners.

In appreciation to Kevin Blumer and Source Interlink for providing the media and allowing us to use their photography.