Hey yall with spring right around the corner I'm siked to be pulling the Ram out of storage soon! Been planning and gathering all winter, as soon as the truck comes out the work begins. Got the pieces to fix the dash, doing a custom headliner and sound system and every single light is going LED. Got Mopar valve covers to put on, rims are getting cleaned up and painted and getting new tires. Got some paint correction to do and got a new grille to put on. Getting rid of the noisy drop in bed liner and doing a roll on type and redoing the exhaust.

But most excited about my new find. Got a disk brake rear end for it! So that's going in and also doing a gear swap with big brake upgrade all around then getting the tranny and tcase built. After all that it goes to the dyno for some fine tuning on the FRP tune!

Looking for some input tho. It needs shocks. It's a 4x4 street truck on street tires on a small lift. I know it won't ride like a Cadillac but I don't want a rough ride. I like to drive it hard and want it to handle better in braking and cornering. For example, SensaTracs I think would be too soft, gas magnums would be too stiff. I'm thinking about Bilstein 4600s or 5100s, anyone run these? What are your thoughts on them? Any other shocks that would fit me well?

Also, who runs 33s and 4.56s? How's the power? Top end? Highway rpm, not too bad? From my understanding 4.10s and 33s are close to the stock ratio of 28s and 3.55s, so the power advantage would be less compared to the 4.56s and 33s.

Anddd want to find some kind of traction unit for the rear. No air or electric locker and don't want to deal with clutch packs....burnouts, donuts, hard launches and runs down the track will be done. Truetrac maybe?

 

I was contemplating going with Bilsteins but went back to the Rancho 5000's. If you do some searching you get mixed reviews about Bilsteins. Plus i don't like the color of them! Yellow and blue on a black truck? 5100 where a little on the pricey side and didn't want to take the gamble. You may want to consider the adjustable shocks. If you convert to leds get a electronic flasher or you will have problems with the flash rate. I would definitely go with the truetrac.

 

I have the truetrac and love it. The manufacturer recommends nonsynthetic and no friction modifier lube which is getting harder to find. There's lots of research out that supports this although many run synthetic without any issues. My installer put mopar synthetic in and I recently switched to non synthetic. Really can't fell a difference, but I feel better going with the manufacturers recommendation.

 

Yes I've seen the mixed reviews on the Bilsteins, it's either all praise or all hate which is why I'm leery of them. I've had the 5000's on a jeep and they rode like crap and didn't last very long. I also have the flasher unit covered for the leds. And been doing more research on the truetrac and it's looking better and better.

 

I'll be re gearing my truck to 4.56 gears soon and am currently running 33s. I do plan on stepping up to 35s but not till fall. That being said 4.56 gears with 33s at 70mph would run right around 2200 rpm. Really isn't too bad, your transmission will love it and run cooler.

On a side note, I'm going to be running 4.56 gears and 31" tires on my rat rod. At 70mph I'll be turning around 2500 rpm. A little more than normal but not terrible. Hell my GTO turns 2700 rpm at 70!

 

Ya I don't see an issue with it! Some people make a big deal about the raise in rpm. Right now with the 33s and 3.55s @ 70 it kicks down and cruises at about 1800. So a couple hundred more doesn't seem like a problem. Plus I'm only on the highway a couple times a month if that, and not for a long period of time either.

​​The tcase and trans are getting beefed up- better converter, shift kit, better internals, good size cooler etc with Mag-Hytec trans n diff covers front and rear so it'll be happy and so will I haha. Also doing gauges too- air to fuel, trans temp and rear end temp. I think the 4.56s are going to be great!