Dodge Performance 2.5 System, Diesel, 2003-2009

Description

The Performance 2.5” is Jack-of-all trades long arm system. Sure, the Pintop rules the bang-for-the-buck but converting these trucks to long arms opens a whole new world of ride quality and corrected geometry. Pair the balanced suspension travel (6” up and 6” down) with a 2.5” King for which we developed a new, long-arm specific, piston and tuning profile and you’ll wonder how you ever lived with short arms. This is a very balanced on-road system and will slay any trail to which you point it. If you’re not seeing daylight under your tires on the daily, this is the perfect kit.

The Details:

With the release of the 3″ Long Arm, comes the Long-Arm equipped Systems. The decision has been made to discontinue the older, short-arm variation of the Performance 2.5″ in favor of a Long-Arm equipped, extended travel version at which you’re looking now. This system requires customers to cut off the factory control arm mounts in favor of the Carli Drop Brackets to house our internally gusseted, fully fabricated Long Arm System. These arms are over 50% longer than the factory arms boasting 3/16” construction, internal gusseting, extended travel capability, more linear travel stroke and a better ride quality given their length and position parallel to the ground.

To take advantage of the Long Arm’s capability, we’ve included a 6.25” tall, slide over-design shock tower to ease installation and accommodate the longer (12” Travel) shocks. Included 1” front bump stop drops and limit straps ensure customers can dish repetitive beatings to their King 2.5” shocks with confidence of full & safe utilization of the shock’s travel. In a short arm truck, it’s not uncommon to see 7” of up-travel (metal to metal) and 3” of down-travel. The combination of the long arm system’s 6.25” tall tower and 1” bump drop allows for our 12” travel shock and shifts the front axle’s operating range down 1”; the result, 3” more down-travel when compared to a short-arm system only sacrificing 1” of up-travel. This is a far more balanced setup spec’d with 6” of up travel and 6” of down-travel ensuring the front end maintains contact over rough terrain.

This system boasts Carli specific, blueprinted, Long-Travel King 2.5” shocks on all four corners. For the Long Arm system, we designed a second, off-road-oriented 5-Port custom piston opposed to the 3-Ports in a short-arm Pintop 2.5” System. This piston and long arm tuning profile alters flow of the pressurized shock oil displacing a wider surface area of the tuning shims to increase bottom-out on sharp hits while providing a predictable, comfortable street ride.  We round off ALL our King shocks with shafts machined and polished from a solid piece of 17-4 Stainless. Unlike King’s standard shafts, there is no coating to wear off, weather is far less likely to hurt them and if there is a small chip, you can round the edges with emery cloth to ensure the seal housing isn’t damaged as they’re not brittle like the stock, hardened shafts. The shocks are finished with King oil good to -55* F. Note that all King shocks are built with a plated steel body. If subjected to inclement weather for extended periods, we recommend wrapping your shocks in 3M to provide a moisture barrier that’s replaceable.

Your truck will sit 3”-3.25” higher in the front (year/cab configuration dependent) with 70% more suspension travel than the factory platform thanks to the taller, linear rate coil springs. These systems require the extended travel capability of the linear spring as the free-height of the multi-rate coils was too short to reach the droop potential.

As this is a high-performance, no compromise system, it includes the Carli Torsion Sway Bar and Full Progressive Leaf Springs (No option for extended sway bar links or add-a-packs). The Carli Torsion Sway Bar removes the entire factory sway bar assembly replacing it with a torsion bar supported by fabricated drop brackets and delrin bushings. Fabricated sway bar arms and dual 5/8” FK heim end links round off the package.

The Full Progressive Leaf Pack lift the rear 1.5-2” by replacing the entire factory leaf spring assembly increasing travel and drastically increasing comfort throughout the entire usable travel stroke at the cost of a 15% payload reduction from a standard 2500. This payload reduction can be supplemented back to factory 3500 SRW capacity with the addition of the Long Travel Airbags for the best of both worlds; ride quality and payload capacity/load control.

When lifting the front end of a straight axle truck, the front axle is pulled off-center unless the proper linkages are addressed. Three inches of front lift equates to an axle shifted toward the driver’s side ¾” and back toward the cab ½”. This system includes an Adjustable Track Bar to push the axle back toward the passenger side and provide a stronger link with less deflection for the lifted application.

Wheel and Tire: This system will fit up to a 37”x12.5” tire with on 17”-18” wheels with 5-5.25” of backspacing. If considering Fiberglass Fenders, a 4.5” Backspacing on a 9” Wide wheels will fit up to a 37×13.5” wide tire. This system was tuned with 17” wheels on, 37” Toyo M/T at 40F/35R. The more rubber, the better the small bump compliance will be at proper inflation pressures. The ride will firm up as you go larger in wheel diameter. For more details, see our article on wheel and tire selection and tire pressures: