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'13+ Ram 1500: Lowering Guide, McG "economy" kit & AirLlift review

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#1 ·
'13+ Ram 1500: Lowering Guide, McG "economy" kit & AirLlift review

There have been several posts relating to '13+ 1500 lowering,
and customers not getting the advertised "drop" from the aftermarket kits...

First you need to determine which “Ride Height” package your truck is originally equipped with.

There are (at least) 2 options: XZMP ‘Standard Ride Height’ and XZNP ‘Raised Ride Height’, with an approximate +1” lift at all 4 corners. Ram achieves this lift by installing taller coil springs on XZNP trucks.

(Generally) trucks with the “Base” 17” wheel/tire package were equipped with the XZMP ‘Standard’ package, while ‘optional wheel/tire’ package trucks received the XZNP ‘Raised’ package.

It appears most aftermarket (McGaughy’s, Belltech, etc.) lowering kits were designed for the XZNP ‘Raised’ trucks.

When installed on a XZMP truck, there will be 1” LESS drop than designed / advertised / anticipated!!

My truck is an HFE and therefore is a 17” model, and is equipped with the XZMP package, as confirmed on my Build Sheet.

Like most stock 1500s, my truck had a 2” rake back to front, with STOCK measurements as follows:
(always measured with a full tank of gas, measured from the ground to bottom of wheel well lip)

Back 37.25” Front 35.25”

Following installation of the McGaughy 22451 kit - advertised as a 4/2 drop - my truck *was* lower – but only 2/1 (1” rake):

Back 35.25” Front 34.25”

After trimming one full coil from the rears and 1/3 coil from the fronts, I had a 2.5/2.25 drop:

Back 34.75” Front 33.0”

I was happy with the front drop, but not the rear.
So another ½ coil was cut from the rears, AND AirLlift 1000 #60824 (Durango application) bags were installed inside the cut rear springs.
With bags set at 6-7 psi (minimum recommended is 5 psi), I have a 2.75/2.25 drop:

Back 34.5” Front 33.0”

Another ½ coil cut from rears, bags still at 6-7 psi, gives a 3/2.25 drop

Back 34.25” Front 33.0”

I then got truck aligned (it was WAY out !!), which somehow lifted the front ¼”, so I have a 3/2 drop:

Back 34.25” Front 33.25”

I then swapped the front 265/70-17 for 255/65-17 (both RS-A), which are 1” lower. My current ‘ground to wheelwell lip’ measurements are:

Back 34.25” Front 32.25”

Effectively a 3/3 drop now with the shorter front tires. Lol looks like I got my 2” rake back.

When trying to align the truck, it was necessary to shorten the tie rods as they were ‘bottoming-out’ in the tie rod ends, and weren’t allowing enough toe-in to be set.
I sliced ½” off each side with a cut-off wheel. This took me approximately an hour to back both tie rods out, cut off and dress both ends, then thread back in.

I *highly* recommend installing the Airlift 1000 bags when you lower the rear, even if it's just a 2" / level drop.
It's a nice kit, easy to install, and the added spring stiffness mostly eliminates bottoming out in back ..

Raising the pressure in the rear Airlift bags from my normal 6-7 psi to 30 psi (recommended maximum is 35 psi) raises the back end merely ¾”.
With the extra air in the rear bags I pulled a 2500# 20' travel trailer 100 miles no problem and the rear showed almost no squat.

The McGaughys kit included shorter rear sway bar links and the panhard bar relocator.
Installation was straightforward, and the quality of components in the kit is very nice
EXCEPT the bolts the provided for the sway bar links are SAE (not metric) and 1/2" too long...

lol once I wash my truck I will get some pix...
 
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#6 ·
Update:
Last Fall I swapped the front 255/65-17 RS-A over to the rear, removing the OE 265/70-17s there...
AND I bought 235/65-17 General Altimax HP for the fronts;
these are 1/2" shorter than the 255/65s,

so... new measurements:.
Back 33.25” Front 31.75”

overall a 4/3.5 drop now with the springs & tires ...

I did drive this when there was snow, slush and ice on the roads.

The staggered (different front & rear) tire sizes had NO EFFECT on the traction control, antilock brakes, or stability control.
ALL the systems functioned as expected,
exactly as they did before the tires were swapped...
 
#7 ·
Thank you for the detailed write up...do you still have the truck? Any updates? Did you have any tire rub with the OEM tire size?

I am going to do something similar to mine...look forward to getting it to a ride height and stance like yours!
 
#8 ·
yes I still have it,,
I have just recently gone back to 255/65 front & 265/70 rear RS-A and have no problems with tire rub..
the smaller tires looked great but wore fast and delivered lower fuel economy

longer term,
stiffer lower springs do make the truck RIDE MUCH WORSE
but also
make the truck HANDLE MUCH BETTER so..

it's a big trade-off :)
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the update!

I have had my 2/4" drop from BellTech in for a couple months and am very happy! Rear Hellwig sway, Spohn panhard, moog/hellwig end links and the BT SP shocks that came with the 964SP kit.

I will drive it as is for a while more, but it does still need "something"...but from the stock the truck handles WAY better...
 

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