DATE: 09/09/2007

Canada Reports

"Getting your truck airborne is a piece of cake - getting it back down in one piece takes a specialized suspension system." Toronto Sun Article, by Jack Kazmierski, Sept. 9, 2007

Tuning from Mild to Wild

If you own a truck, you know that there are two ways to off-road - carefully and insanely fast. The careful version is where you let your truck climb over obstacles and traverse cavernous ditches and pools of mud and water at a calculated, slow pace. The insanely fast version is the stuff you see on TV where trucks race through rugged off-road desert terrain at top speed in order to reach the finish line first.

But getting your truck to off-road like a Baja racer is no easy feat. Attempt it in a stock vehicle and you'll likely end up picking up pieces of your suspension from off the ground, and your teeth from off the floor mats. To do it right you need a suspension that can handle the bumps and leap through the air while keeping it all together.

To find out how to do it properly I contacted a well-known guru in this field - Sage Carli, president of California-based Carli Suspension Inc. Carli has long had a passion for building tough off-road racers, and back in 2002 decided to turn his love into a business.

Today, although his company will work on, and improve the performance of, any truck on the market they only build custom suspensions for one specific truck - the 4-wheel-drive Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500. Why the Ram? "It was a market that hadn't been touched," Carli says. "Everyone was building parts for Ford and Chevy so we decided to focus on Dodge."

Fortunately, the principles Carli and his team use to make the Ram soar through the air apply universally to pretty much any other truck...just as long as you're using the right parts for the job.

Getting Started

Before you start jacking up your truck and tearing things apart Carli suggests sitting down to figure out how mild or wild you want to go. "We're able to improve the drivability, handling and overall ride quality of the vehicle with some minor or major suspension changes," he says, "depending on how much off-roading you want to do and what the truck will be used for."

If your truck is mostly a daily driver and you like to take it on gravel roads now and then you might want an entry-level system that simply makes the freeway ride more car-like and allows for full control on rough washboard roads.

From there you can progress into bigger shock systems. "The shocks are the main part of the performance picture," Carli says. "The bigger shocks have more volume and will offer you better control."

Finally, if you're after a truck superman would be proud of, Carli's team can make that happen too. "There are guys out there who want to do absolutely everything with their trucks," Carli says. "For them we offer three-inch diameter race series shocks. It's a fully bolt-on suspension system with years of proven race history, and it rides like a Cadillac on the streets. You don't diminish ride quality by going to a bigger shock - it's all in the way you tune it."

Step-by-step

How much of the stock suspension you'll have to rip out depends on how wild you want to go. For starter, the factory springs have to go - front and rear - because the rates on them aren't up to par with what your new truck will be able to handle.

"We go to a progressive style in the rear," Carli says. "The more you compress it the higher the rate goes, but when it's unloaded it's going to have a nice smooth rate. We match that with the coil springs in the front so the truck is really well balanced, without the bucking effect."

For the Ram, Carli and his team have come up with a recipe that's simply perfectly tuned and gives the truck the right amount of lift - 3 inches in the front and 2 inches in the rear. "That lets us maximize wheel travel," he says. "You're going from five-and-a-half to six inches - which is factory - to 10 inches front and rear."

This recipe allows the Ram to enjoy maximum wheel travel with just three inches of lift, which also keeps the centre of gravity low and helps with performance. Carli spent six months fine turning it to make sure it's perfect.

"We replace the shock mounts so we can run our bigger shocks," Carli says. "We replace the control arms for greater articulation, better movement and more strength to can handle the high speed impact of the landing."

DIY

Believe it or not, Carli says his kits are simple enough to install that a capable do-it-yourselfer to tackle the project on his or her own. "Everything comes with directions," he says. "As long as you know how to use hand tools, jack stands and a jack, you can install our whole complete system."

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