2014+ RAM 2500 owners: have you stopped the sway?

[detrick]

Starting with the 2014 model year, RAM 2500 trucks went to rear coil springs instead of the usual leaf springs one might expect to find. This makes for quite a lot of sway with a TC in the bed.

I'm looking for constructive conversation, not rants about how much this truck sucks or why we should get rid of it. Please and thank you 🙂

Short of getting another truck, have any of you improved the ride? Air bags, adjustable shocks, multiple shocks, animal sacrifice? What have you done, and what difference has it made?

For us, in good weather we can do 65-70mph until the sway hits, then dropping 10mph usually makes the sway go away. That said, the sway is enough that it'll consistently make the fridge go out if running it on propane.

Factory stock truck right now with just over 100k on the clock.

[JIMNLIN]

With the camper:
First impression: Wish I could remove them right away, the ride is miserable.
After a while: The pendulum-like swaying did disappear, but the truck effectively has almost no rear suspension. It's like (it is?) riding on the bump stops. This is not the long term fix for us.

Without the camper: everything is okay most of the time, but any decent amount of bump (i.e. going over most bridges) was bad. The rear suspension would compress enough to engage them, and the effect is (unsurprisingly) jarring.

Same problems we had with the older '60 to '72 half 1500/2500 pickups with the trailing arm rear coil option.
Plenty of spring also and sure didn't need any more spring assist but body roll was downright dangerous. The only way to stop it was get on the brakes. The only fix was the heaviest sway bar available on the front and rear and a twin shock setup at the rear corners.
The coil setup on the Ram is light years ahead of those old trailing arm setups.

If you go with a heavy sway bar I would go the the rear first, then the front if needed.

[detrick]

Another vote for swaybar. I put them on everything I buy now, from cars, SUVs to trucks. I would try that. As far as shocks, I've had Rancho, Bilst and Fox. My vote is for some fox's with resevoirs if available.

Sway bars are certainly good to have on most vehicles. The truck has them stock front and rear, but it still looks like a pretty cheap option to upgrade the rear at least to a better one.

I looked at Fox, adjustable reservoir shocks seem ideal. But the price difference between them and ranchos/billsteins is HUGE. There also seem to be an overwhelming number of options with the Foxes. Do you have a recommendation that's a good balance of cost and performance yet still a big improvement over the more standard gas shocks? I will probably end up replacing the shocks at the same time the sway bar is upgraded, and both pretty soon.

[montecarlo31]

detrick wrote:
Tons of great feedback in this thread -- thanks so much for that folks.

Looks like an upgraded sway bar is a solid investment, so we'll go that route. Can't see any reason not to, and some great recommendations here. Solidly leaning towards the BigWig. Rear first, but will consider doing the front, too, depending on how things are after doing the rear and new shocks.

Shocks are definitely in order, truck appears to have the original factory shocks. No leaking and they perform fine even with a heavy load in the bed or a heavy trailer -- but of course the TC is a different kind of load. Leaning towards the Rancho RS9000XL for the adjustability, but Bilstein 5100s seems to get high marks by folks in this thread. Kinda ponder some of the remote reservoir shocks out there, but guessing that the cost outweighs the performance -- especially since so many people seem satisfied with the Ranchos and Bilsteins.

Timbrens -- recommended a few times here so worth considering, but this truck (unsurprisingly) rides like a cinder block when empty or lightly loaded. Still on the fence about these.

Finally, tires. Can't recall what's on now, but they don't have a ton of miles left on them. So will be looking closely at what we replace them with in the near future.

Thanks again for all the advice, it all seems very helpful to me. And I think others may come across it and find it helpful, too.

Another vote for swaybar. I put them on everything I buy now, from cars, SUVs to trucks. I would try that. As far as shocks, I've had Rancho, Bilst and Fox. My vote is for some fox's with resevoirs if available.

[detrick]

Got some Timbrens from jdboss. Took the camper out for a weekend trip, then took the truck out for a different trip without the camper.

With the camper:
First impression: Wish I could remove them right away, the ride is miserable.
After a while: The pendulum-like swaying did disappear, but the truck effectively has almost no rear suspension. It's like (it is?) riding on the bump stops. This is not the long term fix for us.

Without the camper: everything is okay most of the time, but any decent amount of bump (i.e. going over most bridges) was bad. The rear suspension would compress enough to engage them, and the effect is (unsurprisingly) jarring.

Related to this, I have this set of Timbrens to give away if anyone else wants them. Model DRTT3500E.

[mr_goodbar]

We have a 2016 Ram 2500 HD Cummings short bed and AF 811. I have air bags and a Helwig sway bar and that seemed to do the trick. Prior to the air bags, I had a lot of sway with a smaller Palomino TC which was the reason for the install. After the airbag install, everything seemed to calm down and was very stable. We added the sway bar when we moved up to the AF 811. I did upgrade to the E series tires which I may have to go even heavier. I will be able to tell your more after hunting season. 🙂

[zcookiemonstar]

You may want to talk to the people at Kelderman. I think the specialize in this. Don't just look at the web size call or email them with your issue and see what they say.
kelderman.com

[Travels_with_Yo]

We had a Ram 1500 Big Horn with the rear coils. They are known to ride almost like Cadillacs unloaded. With the heavy travel trailer I was getting a mushy feeling at the rear so I added a set of Timbrens. They fixed the problem but without the trailer, the truck was almost uncomfortable to drive so I removed them and sold them. Separation joints on bridges were ridiculous !

[3_tons]

Tembrens when installed properly (i.e. standard tembrens with about 3/4” max clearance to axle) will not cause unladen or lightly loaded truck to ride any stiffer - this is due to an absence of axle contact.

[detrick]

Tons of great feedback in this thread -- thanks so much for that folks.

Looks like an upgraded sway bar is a solid investment, so we'll go that route. Can't see any reason not to, and some great recommendations here. Solidly leaning towards the BigWig. Rear first, but will consider doing the front, too, depending on how things are after doing the rear and new shocks.

Shocks are definitely in order, truck appears to have the original factory shocks. No leaking and they perform fine even with a heavy load in the bed or a heavy trailer -- but of course the TC is a different kind of load. Leaning towards the Rancho RS9000XL for the adjustability, but Bilstein 5100s seems to get high marks by folks in this thread. Kinda ponder some of the remote reservoir shocks out there, but guessing that the cost outweighs the performance -- especially since so many people seem satisfied with the Ranchos and Bilsteins.

Timbrens -- recommended a few times here so worth considering, but this truck (unsurprisingly) rides like a cinder block when empty or lightly loaded. Still on the fence about these.

Finally, tires. Can't recall what's on now, but they don't have a ton of miles left on them. So will be looking closely at what we replace them with in the near future.

Thanks again for all the advice, it all seems very helpful to me. And I think others may come across it and find it helpful, too.

[jdboss]

We have a 2014 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi SB 4x4 with a Camplite 6.8 on it and frequently tow various toys (21' Yamaha Jet Boat, Sea Doo jet ski or trailer with a Yamaha YXZ1000R with assorted spares) Initially we had a ton of sway. Got some Timbrins.... fixed.... but way too harsh when the camper wasn't on it. Removed the Timbrens (you can have them if you want them - PM me)
Added a Hellwig Swaybar, Bilstien 5100s and wireless airbags (separate circuits) and all is good.... except 90k miles later the Bilstiens are showing their age.... so have some 4600's inbound. Hellwig has apparently since come out with a "Big Wig" for this particular truck and am thinking of trying it. Oh and tires seem to make a big difference - the stock Firestones must have weak sidewalls.... lots of sway. Had a set of Nitto Terra Grapplers for many miles and then got some Nitto Ridge Grappers (best tires so far!).

[Grit_dog]

3 tons wrote:
Coils in the rear are difficult to overcome, but without throwing lots of moola at it I would start with Tembrens which are super easy to install and have a full satisfaction and lifetime guarantee...I’ve had them on a 2500 and a 3500 DRW and they worked well...These just may be the ticket...

3 tons

Yes, the aftermarket stuff is lacking for the coil Rams. Settin her down on Timbrens would be my first step, having had a coil spring Ram and a heavy camper (although that truck never hauled the camper).
Heavier coils may help alot, but I havent seen them for the rears.

[wanderingbob]

Detric , I have the same truck , 2014 CTD , 4 wheel drive , long bed and the same Lance , the 815 . Small world !Are you also married to an evil woman ?
I experience no sway , I do have Firestone air bags with 40 lbs in them !

[Travels_with_Yo]

We have a 2016 Ram 2500 HD crew cab, 2WD with the 6.4L Hemi. The stock rear sway bar was 7/8ths inch in diameter. I ordered a Hellwig bar to replace it with. At first I questioned my decision because the Hellwig is just 1 1/8 inches in diameter, not much bigger. Then I discovered that the stock Ram bar is hollow and weighs a fraction of what the solid steel Hellwig bar weighs. The Hellwig has 3 different attachment points at the end of the bar so that you can adjust the range of stiffness as necessary. I paid $237 for it back in 2016 and I see it's gone up to $268 now. Still a great investment. Our 2016 Adventurer 80RB was not a heavy camper weighing about 2400 lbs loaded and we traveled over 10,000 miles with the set up. I had the bar mounted in the middle hole which would allow me to either stiffen or soften it as needed. Turned out to be perfect. Never had any feeling of sway at all even traversing rough, undulating hilly forest roads.
Ram 2500 Hellwig Rear Sway Bar

[3_tons]

Coils in the rear are difficult to overcome, but without throwing lots of moola at it I would start with Tembrens which are super easy to install and have a full satisfaction and lifetime guarantee...I’ve had them on a 2500 and a 3500 DRW and they worked well...These just may be the ticket...

3 tons