Carli Pintop King Shocks Review - Ram 2500 in Arizona

Since acquiring a 2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon, we at Shock Surplus have slowly upgraded the suspension with different shock packages, ranging from Rancho, Bilstein, Fox, and now King Shocks.

We’re often in the mountains of Colorado, the red rock trails of Utah, and touring the lakes and forests of the Eastern Sierras - all of which could be classified as scenic touring. Although this Power Wagon definitely gets rowdy at events like King of the Hammers, Baja 1000, and other open desert get togethers with the community of SoCal.

We wanted to figure out the nuanced differences between shock systems on the same application, and what it means for different types of drivers. If you tow, the Bilstein is well equipped to improve handling under load. If you want a softer feel overall, but still need optimal handling in certain situations, the adjustable Rancho RS9000XL may be a better bet. Better off-road capability and infinite life await you with the Fox 2.0.

Through 60k miles of different shocks on this Ram 2500, we’ve uncovered what really sets these different brands apart. Our goal is to give as much information as possible behind what these shocks actually feel like in the cab of your vehicle. Demystifying the marketing jargon.

For the staff at Shock Surplus, real world use cases are the best way to experience the suspension, and on a recent trip to Arizona, this Power Wagon got to see a full 1,000lb load for a week in the southwest. The truck was equipped with 2.5 King Shocks, tuned by Carli for this trip. From what we gathered from Carli Suspension and other Pintop owners, the ride quality could be characterized as ‘sharper’ than the backcountry kit on the Fox 2.0 Reservoir Shocks.

Sharper can be thought of as the suspension responding faster and quicker from driver inputs than another option. For instance, the King 2.5 are sharper than the 3.0s, as the 3.0s are more characterized as ‘Pillowy’ - closer to Cadillac than race-car.

Product Description

This is what brings us to the King Shocks 2.5 Pintop kit from Carli Suspension. The system is a modest 2 inches of lift over a factory height Power Wagon, but comes equipped with coil springs that fully utilize the amount of available travel on these Ram trucks to provide lots of room for the different shock packages to work their magic.

In laymens terms, the springs are longer, and softer, providing both lift and comfort.

Not very many suspension systems can allow these 8,000 pound trucks to boogie through high speed desert terrain. This Carli Suspension pintop kit is the shock upgrade these trucks need. These King Shocks are specifically tuned by Carli Suspension, built specifically for their springs and kit as a whole.

Install Process

Installation was a breeze and nothing unusual from the normal process of installing reservoir shocks on these trucks, the reservoirs mount above the front coil springs at the top of the fender in the front. While the rears are a piggyback reservoir shock, with the reservoir sitting against the main body, mounted to the factory rear shock mounts.

Special Notes

One factory that distinguishes the Shock Surplus 2020 Power Wagon is that its not a pure high-speed desert runner or chase vehicle. This truck sees more mountain trails than the rough and tumble terrain of the desert. Comfort and handling are the leading priorities, with performance trailing third.

This truck is also equipped with the Carli Torsion Sway bar, instead of the factory electronic sway bar that came on this vehicle off the lot. We wanted to unlock as much offroad potential as possible, and decided on the torsion sway so that in higher speed offroad conditions there was more flexibility to the front axle.

This also allowed us to install a steering box brace, and in the near future, a new steering box and hydraulic steering assist system.

Ride Review

General Handling Impressions

• Off the bat, the 2.5 Kings felt tighter immediately, compared to the Fox 2.0 and King 3.0 options that this Ram has already experienced. Feels like a noticeable improvement to body roll down driveways, and on curvy roads under a heavy load.
• The handling prowess of this vehicle changes dramatically from the stock 33” tires and Bilstein shocks, to 37” offroad KM3 tires on a 2” lift kit that’s meant to a ride much more comfortable than stock. With the larger and softer tires, theres an inherent decrease of road feedback, there’s more turnover of the tire when initiating turns, and more body sway when sitting 3-4” taller (tires + suspension) than factory height.

On-Road Performance

• What we like about the 2.5 Kings is the tighter handling. After talking with many other Ram owners that went with the Pintop Carli System, the increased road feedback and overall sportier ride was surprising. Most people that purchase a set of expensive King Shocks expect the ride to be buttery smooth - they forget these shocks are tuned for speed.
• Carli understands that their customer is using their heavy duty truck for a wide range of activities; towing, offroading, construction site navigation, hauling heavy loads or family, all overlapping with the daily use and commute. There are certain performance metrics to keep in mind such as keeping the vehicle handling well under those loads, allowing it to romp through off-road terrain at moderate speeds, while delivering a pretty good level of comfort on-road.

Off-Road Performance

• On the trail and in the dirt is where these King Shocks begin to shine. The much larger 60mm piston of the King 2.5 Shocks, in comparison to any 46mm piston as found in a Bilstein 5100 or Fox 2.0, allows the suspension to do the same amount of work, but with far less effort.
• Those unexpected wash outs or ruts on the trail are no longer a pucker factor for the driver and passengers, the King Shocks hit those anomalies and move on without skipping a beat. They achieve this through excellent rebound damping, so there’s much less front end or rear end bucking coming out of those harder hits.
• In the high speed fast stuff, as found in Johnson Valley, CA - or the Vegas to Reno off-road race, these Kings can take a beating. While not able to take UTV or Race-Truck sized whoops, this Ram 2500 doesn’t need to slow down in the moderately difficult stuff. Kings need to be driven hard to see their full potential, if you let up when it gets tough, you’ll easily get caught in the hole and then you’re in for a bumpy and unsettling ride. We like to hit the gas when the bigger bumps become visible.
• As Brett King of King Shocks say - “when you see those bumps, you want to go harder into those bumps, because that’s the way the suspension works better.”

Future Plans

This was our first real long-range trip with a substantial gear loadout on these 2.5 King Shocks, and while we weren’t surprised by their feel, it was a welcome improvement over the 3.0’s more pillowy and softer ride. We’ve now been on all 4 Carli Suspension shock packages; Commuter, Backcountry, Pintop, and Dominator. A full review and comparison of these systems is coming.