Carli 3" Hemi Coils

[coder]

Experiences, thoughts, opinions problems, with these coils, are they worth the extra $440.

My PW coils are a little stiff with my King 2.5 pin-tops and I was wanting to smoothing things out a little without sacrificing off-road performance.

I am not interested in the Thuren coils because I here they sit higher and I want as little lift as possible in the front.

[MSparks909]

I ran the Carli Hemi coils for about 15K miles. The progressive rate is nice but it is slightly stiffer than the OEM PW coils. At least I thought they were...it may have been the King 2.5's that made it feel stiffer. I really liked the performance of the coils until I started pushing the truck very hard. I found myself bottoming out too much for my liking so I upgraded to Thuren's diesel coils. This helped the bottoming out problem. I feel they are worth the money.

[coder]

I ran the Carli Hemi coils for about 15K miles. The progressive rate is nice but it is slightly stiffer than the OEM PW coils. At least I thought they were...it may have been the King 2.5's that made it feel stiffer. I really liked the performance of the coils until I started pushing the truck very hard. I found myself bottoming out too much for my liking so I upgraded to Thuren's diesel coils. This helped the bottoming out problem. I feel they are worth the money.

Thanks for the feedback!

Interesting that you thought they where stiffer than the PW coils, when I talked to Carli Tech Support they said their coils would be softer.

Also interesting about bottoming out more I almost never bottom out with the OEM coils unless I hit really hard.

Good food for thought.

[AceMan]

Miles,

Thanks for the feedback as well!

Can you elaborate on how you were pushing it hard to bottom them out? And can you compare the bottoming out to when you had the OEM on the truck?

[Skyd Ram]

I ran the Carli Hemi coils for about 15K miles. The progressive rate is nice but it is slightly stiffer than the OEM PW coils. At least I thought they were...it may have been the King 2.5's that made it feel stiffer. I really liked the performance of the coils until I started pushing the truck very hard. I found myself bottoming out too much for my liking so I upgraded to Thuren's diesel coils. This helped the bottoming out problem. I feel they are worth the money.

Thanks for the feedback!

Interesting that you thought they where stiffer than the PW coils, when I talked to Carli Tech Support they said their coils would be softer.

Also interesting about bottoming out more I almost never bottom out with the OEM coils unless I hit really hard.

Good food for thought.

The bottoming out is generally due to a combination of coil spring rate, shock valving, and driving style. Alhtough Miles went to Thurens diesel coils he may have been able to solve the bottoming problem with a shock valving change as well. I have quite a few customers running the Carli Hemi coils along with Carli valved shocks that are reporting great results.

[azracer]

I ran the Carli Hemi coils for about 15K miles. The progressive rate is nice but it is slightly stiffer than the OEM PW coils. At least I thought they were...it may have been the King 2.5's that made it feel stiffer. I really liked the performance of the coils until I started pushing the truck very hard. I found myself bottoming out too much for my liking so I upgraded to Thuren's diesel coils. This helped the bottoming out problem. I feel they are worth the money.

Thanks for the feedback!

Interesting that you thought they where stiffer than the PW coils, when I talked to Carli Tech Support they said their coils would be softer.

Also interesting about bottoming out more I almost never bottom out with the OEM coils unless I hit really hard.

Good food for thought.

The bottoming out is generally die to a combination of coil spring rate, shock valving, and driving style. Alhtough Miles went to Thurens diesel coils he may have been able to solve the bottoming problem with a shock valving change as well. I have quite a few customers running the Carli Hemi coils along with Carli valved shocks that are reporting great results.

I believe the Carli coils are a little more compliant over the very small stuff. They do seem to be more resistant to bottoming out than OEM coils (stiffer on the large stuff). I suspect the progressive spring is why that is. If you do not want lift and don't require more bottoming out protection then just look at doing the valving in your pintop Kings and just stay with the power wagon coils as the difference is minimal. I wanted more resistance to bottoming out and about 3/4" more lift to level out the truck and I got exactly that. If you don't want or need either then get the valving done to your liking and be done with it.

Another thing to consider is the nitrogen charge. While any PSI changes will in no way change the valving of the shock... A high pressure like 200>PSI will have resistance to initial movement (stiction) that can give a harsh ride (like tires too high in pressure feel) Dropping that pressure to 80>100 PSI can help quite a bit in providing a smoother ride (similar to low tire pressure). With the lower pressure you negate some resistance to oil cavitation at higher shaft speeds but if you are not running all out it will not be an issue for street and trail use (just don't flog it over 100 miles of fire roads and boil the oil is all). The Nitrogen pressure keeps the oil from cavitation and boiling just like a radiator cap does. You have 9>31# caps for radiators depending on the designed in temperature ranges and the need to prevent coolant from boiling at those temperatures. Same thing for shock oil... Higher oil temperatures require higher nitrogen pressures.

Where did you get your Kings and what valving did you get? If it is an off the shelf King then the valving is not even close to what is needed on your truck. If you got the Carli valving you can give them feedback on what you like or don't like and let them do their stuff. I know for sure either Carli or Thuren can provide a Cadillac ride while still controlling that massive axle and chassis weight.

You might consider adding the clicker resi to allow them to valve for the most compliant ride and yet allow for adjustment of compression rate for more spirited or demanding driving. I'm glad I got them for the front because I get a great ride 90% of the time but can dial in more compression control to allow for faster runs on fire roads and such. Sort of a street/sport tune like on some sports cars.

[coder]

I have Carli's King 2.5 pin-tops. My expectation is to get a smoother ride on the small stuff, more protection on the larger stuff, and 3/4" lift is acceptable. That's what I was told I would get, so I was just looking for some real world confirmation. And to find out if there's enough difference to justify spending almost $500.00 to get them.

[azracer]

I have Carli's King 2.5 pin-tops. My expectation is to get a smoother ride on the small stuff, more protection on the larger stuff, and 3/4" lift is acceptable. That's what I was told I would get, so I was just looking for some real world confirmation. And to find out if there's enough difference to justify spending almost $500.00 to get then.

It sounds to me like an OEM spring is a better choice for you. You can get Carli to valve the shocks a little softer or try the nitrogen pressure adjustment I spoke of and see what you get. I run mine at 80PSI front and 60PSI rear and I still can hammer it for short runs w/o issue. If I plan a trip to Baja back country I will adjust the nitrogen PSI to 150 front and 100 rear. If I go and chase for an off road race I will do 200 front and 150 rear because of the heat and shaft speeds I might generate doing those types of running.

I think the change in spring rate for those is too minimal to correct your issues and will not be worth it for you. So if improved bottoming out protection and 3/4" in lift are not needed then shock tuning is what you need. The nitrogen pressure change for me was night and day difference on the small stuff but minimal effect on the bigger hits. My clickers are a dream come true as I can dial in more stiffness any time I think I need it.

One last point is that the Carli springs have more resistance to flex/articulation at the extreme limits when compared to the OEM single rate coil. IE: It takes more torsional loads to flex them as far because they are stiffer at or near full compression. Thuren Diesel coils are similar with respect to this as they are stiffer diesel coils.