Carli's 2.5" Performance System is engineered to be the ultimate bolt-on, dual-purpose rig. The Performance 2.5″ King custom shock project tames anything the road, freeway, or dirt trails have to offer.

CARLI SPECIFIC FRONT COILOVERS

Several limitations and mounting constraints resulted in a coilover that’s NOT adjustable for more lift height. The 600lb rate on which Carli landed with the spec’d preload provides exactly 2.5″ of front lift on the Hemi, and 2″ on the EcoDiesel (non-Rebel). Another 1/2″ turn of the collar will result in a coil bind. That said, there’s a decent amount of room to thread the collar back. Conversely, the coil would remain under tension even if the collar were to be backed off to the top-cap (i.e., if a rear-high stance is preferred). The way the coilover comes out of the box is the height at which Carli recommends running it and to what they tuned; again, 2.5″ of front lift. To the end user, that means these CANNOT be preloaded to make up for lost height if you’re adding weight (large bumper/winch) to the front end of the truck

ADDED DOWN TRAVEL

When comparing this to the previous generation Ram 1500 Performance 2.5, the 2019 system sees 2″ more down travel stroking a total of 9″ up front with the rear cycling 12″ at the wheel. Same wheel travel overall, BUT, a far more balanced travel stroke as the 2009-18 were starved for droop. This added down-travel makes the Carli Control Arms a MUST; thus, they’re included in the Performance 2.5″ System to avoid topping out on the factory ball-joint upper control arm.

MULTI-RATE COIL SPRING

In the rear, they swap in their multi-rate coil spring. This went through several iterations. The 2019+ came with an all-new spring that had us back to the drawing board. Carli wanted a spring that would maximize suspension travel while providing a supple yet predictable ride on and off the pavement. Further, they didn’t want to deviate too far from the factory load capacity. Their rear springs are shot-peened & pre-set for the longevity of the coil (it won’t ever sag), then powder coated to ensure the finish quality is as good as the spring’s performance.

This multi-rate coil provided 1 -1/4″ of rear lift on the Carli Hemi test truck and 7/8″ on the EcoDiesel. The initial, softer rate is blocked out at ride height. This is NOT designed to be some super soft on-road rate – think of this as a “tender spring”. They wanted predictability in ride and handling so the truck would run on the 2nd rate unless the rear axle droops (offroad). Further, when loaded, it ensure sag is not exaggerated by initial collapsing of a softer rate. Take it in the dirt and, once the axle droops, the initial rate opens to keep the coil tight to its mounting perches while the extended travel shocks are pushed to the bottom of their longer stroke. As travel was extended in the rear, the Carli extended sway bar end links are used to maintain the factory sway bar through the extended range.

KING 2.5" SHOCKS

Extended travel King 2.5″ Shocks round out the rear of this system. That’s right, NO track bar drop on the 2019+. Again, where it’s not needed, they don’t include it. The redesigned factory track bar position and length of the 2019+ platform showed no increase in rear yaw (side to side movement of the rear axle) through the extended travel stroke so Carli felt no need to address it.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

• The Ram 1500 Platform has an elliptical shaped cavity engineered into the back of each steering knuckle. This cavity engages the lower control arm steering stop as the suspension travels with the wheels turned. It’s purpose – to protect the tie-rod ends from binding and breaking at the extreme angles encountered when turning at the outer ends of the travel stroke. It’s perfectly normal to see some metal on metal-on-metal contact or hear a clunk when holding the wheel cranked in a turn encountering obstacles. This is, again, a factory protection Carli does NOT recommend modifying.
• Diesel Power Products suggests reading this article to see if your truck is equipped with a Multi-Function Tailgate or Ram Box which will let you know whether to choose the Rebel Specific Spring