Thuren Suspension UPDATE for 2014+ PW's

[Mr.Smith]

Mr. Smith did you ever get a new steering set up? Just do the Thuren fab drag link and TRE or find something else?

Hell yeah Bud! Thuren DL assembly & driver TRE, best setup I've driven!
Danny...temporarily frustrated, but I got off cheap comparatively, affordable lesson learned.

[djgaston]

I read this particular post as MoparToYou asking both Don or myself to build these things, if I read that wrong then just disregard - not trying to start anything new with you Don. I'll have more info than already posted in our vendor section soon.

Build us a set of rear control arms with good solid johnny joints instead of the big soft rubber bushings that allow the axle wrap / hop to occur. Make the arms adjustable, and able to be used both on stock trucks and on lifted trucks. And make them stout enough to be used for towing and hauling, which we still do with our Power Wagons.

Already in progress. Had to have the ball centers machined and should have them in a couple of weeks. I have my machine shop backed up pretty good right now. Stout won't be a question.

Build us a set of high clearance front radius arms that have bushings with a higher durometer material, and articu-links with a higher durometer material, to help prevent front axle wrap / hop, which is just as bad as rear axle wrap / hop on these trucks. Have the front radius arms incorporate a skid plate on the front to protect them from damage, because the stock radius arms hang way down there, and function as a rock magnet the way they are now. Make the radius arms usable on both stock and lifted trucks, or sell two versions, for stock and lifted.

Already done, we have a bunch at a local powder coating place right now and I'll take pics when we get them back. Too big for our oven, but I have a new oven being built to fix that. Ours are good from stock to 6" lift, they are high clearance, adjustable axle position and adjustable caster. Johnny Joints at the frame and for the upper arm. Looking at coming up with some bushing replacements for the axle but we're a ways out on that. Radius arms are a rock magnet regardless, but you will never put a dent in these. All 3/8" construction, fully boxed and gusseted. 96 lbs each. lol Seriously. We're also working on a long arm/4 link setup that will bolt in, no cutting required. That will be the hot ticket for ground clearance and off road performance.

When you build a lift for these trucks, keep in mind those of us that haul or tow with our trucks. I looked at the trip meter on my digital dash computer that shows how many miles I have had a trailer hooked up to my truck, and since purchase of the truck, fully 1/3 of the miles on my truck have been with a trailer on the back. I don't want a lift that lifts the front of the truck a lot more than the rear of the truck, because those lifts make our trucks look like a girl dog squatting to pee when we hook a trailer to it. Build a lift with two different rear lift options if you must.

Totally agree with that; I fight it a lot. "Level" is different to people. To me, the rear sits about 1" to 1.5" higher than the front, so when you weigh the back down, you aren't brodozing all over the place. Nose high makes the steering floaty and makes wheeling hard, it's already hard enough to see over the hood when you are climbing over things. Every suspension we make has a little rake where the rear is higher, unless a customer asks for something different. With all of the "stance" diesel trucks now, a lot more customers seem to want the front about 2" higher than the rear, but I try to keep them from doing it as much as I can. Function is way more important than having a certain look.

Danny...temporarily frustrated, but I got off cheap comparatively, affordable lesson learned.

Glad that Don got you squared away, sorry again for not sticking to the build/ship times. Thanks for being cool about it.

And thanks everyone for the mature discussion here. It's a nice change from other forums and is a big part of the reason I signed up on here years ago.

[MoparToYou]

Thanks for the reply. A set of these for the rear end would probably stop rear axle wrap.



Also interested in seeing those front radius arms when you get the pictures taken.

[2wagons1driveway]

Thanks for the reply. A set of these for the rear end would probably stop rear axle wrap.



Also interested in seeing those front radius arms when you get the pictures taken.

I'm surprised everyone is having so many issues with axle wrap

Is anyone even aired down?

The radius arm wagons I've gone with latelly all seem to be fine if aired down


Sent from Canada

[2wagons1driveway]

Thanks for the reply. A set of these for the rear end would probably stop rear axle wrap.



Also interested in seeing those front radius arms when you get the pictures taken.

I'm surprised everyone is having so many issues with axle wrap

Is anyone even aired down?

The radius arm wagons I've gone with latelly all seem to be fine if aired down


Sent from Canada

[Mopar6.4]

So with a 220 lb front replacment bumper and Thuren's 3/4 ton diesel coils I should be looking at 1" or less of lift, correct?

[SheepdogOutdoorsman]

So with a 220 lb front replacment bumper and Thuren's 3/4 ton diesel coils I should be looking at 1" or less of lift, correct?

Sounds right ... 3/4"-1"

[Reloaderguy]

So with a 220 lb front replacment bumper and Thuren's 3/4 ton diesel coils I should be looking at 1" or less of lift, correct?

1.5"

Don has some things in the works.

[Mopar6.4]

So with a 220 lb front replacment bumper and Thuren's 3/4 ton diesel coils I should be looking at 1" or less of lift, correct?

Sounds right ... 3/4"-1"

Your bumper is in that weight range +/- too isn't?

[Mopar6.4]

So with a 220 lb front replacment bumper and Thuren's 3/4 ton diesel coils I should be looking at 1" or less of lift, correct?

1.5"

Don has some things in the works.

I'll drop him a line, he's always been very helpful.

[Reloaderguy]

CJC did a full lift using Thuren front Diesel coils on a PW. When I spoke with them they said 3.5" in the front. Don estimated the same.

[Mopar6.4]

Yeah that's way more than I want, I'll see how much the bumper effects it and go from there.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Will]

CJC did a full lift using Thuren front Diesel coils on a PW. When I spoke with them they said 3.5" in the front. Don estimated the same.

3.5" over the stock 2500 height, right? In the past, most of their measurements are based from a stock 2500. The 2.5" coils lift the standard 2500 diesel 2.75" so it sounds like 3/4" more on the PW from a stock height 2500, not PW height. Not sure on the 4.5 gen stock lift but the 4 gen PW is 1.5" over stock 2500 in front. If that's the same now, the 2.5" diesel coils lift the 4.5 gen PW 2" more in front.

[14PowerWaggy]

Here is a pic of the CJC wagon... I never got an answer if those are 35's or 37's... If they are 37's then that is way more lift than I am looking for... Does anyone know what size tires are on that wagon?

[Will]

Looks like 35's to me..

[14PowerWaggy]

So just ended up having a PM convo with the owner of CJC on Facebook... Here is what he told me about the CJC Wagon they built

*Truck is on a Carli Pintop 2.5 2500 System with the front Carli coils replaced with the Thuren Diesel Coils
*Truck is on 35" Nittos with 17" wheels with 4.75" backspacing
*Truck is using the Carli shocks that came with the Pintop system... They did not have to adjust the shocks...
*Said you would still need to trim to pinch seam and wheel liners to run a 37 or 38" tire...
*Said with the added weight of an aftermarket bumper that the front should come down about .5" (Depending on which bumper someone went with) and be spot on...
I told him I already trimmed my fender liners and pinch seams to fit 37"s on stock suspension and he said I would have no issues running my current set up with this suspension system and that the truck would drive significantly better than stock...

Man... I wish I wouldn't of had that conversation with him... Ha...

[Reloaderguy]

Here is a pic of the CJC wagon... I never got an answer if those are 35's or 37's... If they are 37's then that is way more lift than I am looking for... Does anyone know what size tires are on that wagon?

35's.

[Reloaderguy]

CJC did a full lift using Thuren front Diesel coils on a PW. When I spoke with them they said 3.5" in the front. Don estimated the same.

3.5" over the stock 2500 height, right? In the past, most of their measurements are based from a stock 2500. The 2.5" coils lift the standard 2500 diesel 2.75" so it sounds like 3/4" more on the PW from a stock height 2500, not PW height. Not sure on the 4.5 gen stock lift but the 4 gen PW is 1.5" over stock 2500 in front. If that's the same now, the 2.5" diesel coils lift the 4.5 gen PW 2" more in front.

The Thuren coils get 3.5" over a stock 2500 from what CJC said. Don estimated +1.5" on PW. The radius arm PW is about 2" taller than a stock 2500 (some say 1.75" but whatever). CJC said they added Carli diesel rear coils to compensate for the additional height of the front but did not specify total lift in the rear. The best solution is for one of you guys to order a set of Thuren diesel front coils and install them.

Originally Don was going to install a set of his diesel coils on my truck to determine ride quality and height. That plan has been scrapped for something else. You might want to wait a little while.

So just ended up having a PM convo with the owner of CJC on Facebook... Here is what he told me about the CJC Wagon they built

*Truck is on a Carli Pintop 2.5 2500 System with the front Carli coils replaced with the Thuren Diesel Coils
*Truck is on 35" Nittos with 17" wheels with 4.75" backspacing
*Truck is using the Carli shocks that came with the Pintop system... They did not have to adjust the shocks...
*Said you would still need to trim to pinch seam and wheel liners to run a 37 or 38" tire...
*Said with the added weight of an aftermarket bumper that the front should come down about .5" (Depending on which bumper someone went with) and be spot on...
I told him I already trimmed my fender liners and pinch seams to fit 37"s on stock suspension and he said I would have no issues running my current set up with this suspension system and that the truck would drive significantly better than stock...

Man... I wish I wouldn't of had that conversation with him... Ha...

Take a close look at the space between the fenders and the tires in the picture above. Notice the gap in the front compared to the gap in the rear? I think diesel rear coils still only net +1 over a stock gas 2500 which is -1" on a radius arm PW.

[Mopar6.4]

Don seems to think my factory springs will handle the bumper without any issues and I should only drop a very minimal amount. I guess it will just boil down to the look I want and if spending the money on new coils is worth it for me. I can't say enough good things about Don and his honesty, he could easily sold me a lot of parts that I might not need or want. Very refreshing to deal with a company like that.

[black_hawk8888]

I too have had a very pleasant experience communicating with Thuren. I know they have something in the works for gas truck (not sure exactly when) but I think reloaderguy is on to something. Maybe the diesel coils will actually be a better option for PW owners than a hemi coil that is designed to provide 2.5" of lift over a regular 2500...that would only net about a half inch for the PW and wouldn't factor in the extra weight of the winch to boot...

[Reloaderguy]

[Reloaderguy]

Gas front coils, stock rear.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGm7p93R1M6/

[14PowerWaggy]

Thought that was your truck when I saw that pic on Instagram... Looks great...

[Reloaderguy]

I'm out of town so I am seeing it at the same time you are.

Rear coils will go in tomorrow, it is expected to sit a little lower in the back. I have a truck cap, full size spare, and tire carrier so it should be completely level when it's done.

[black_hawk8888]

That is gorgeous. Bet you are glad you waited - it sure paid off!