Dodge 6″ Dominator 3.0 System, Diesel, 4WD, 2010-2011

Description

This is the true, Jack of all trades suspension system offering the most on-road comfort of any system in the Carli lineup. The Dominator rides better than any other system on the road while boasting off-road manners that make the truck feel half its size. This is the end of our “all-around” Suspension Systems; anything above the 3.0” King will sacrifice on-road ride for off-road capability. For the customer looking for the best balance of on and off-road capability, without leaning too far in either direction, this system is the perfect candidate.

The Details: The Carli 6” Systems are an entirely different animal than the 3” offerings. There is no entry level; every system is equipped with a custom tuned shock package and Radius Arm Conversion. The Dominator goes a step further and runs a 1-piece, internally gusseted crossmember. The longer, flatter links cycle more linear travel and offer a superior ride quality over extending a short arm to work with a 6” front lift. Complete with a Driver’s side axle shock, Carli radius arms allow the axle to roll as to not bind during articulation; think of it as the strength of a radius arm and articulation capability of a 4-Link. Further, the drop brackets that affix the radius arms to the frame bolt on with no modification to the existing, factory control arm brackets (ensuring the truck can be returned to stock). The arms themselves boast “X” bracing internal to their gusseted, clam-shell structure and are constructed with 3” Currie Johnny Joints and an internally gusseted, 1-piece Crossmember (Dominator and UnChained only) making them both serviceable and nearly indestructible.

The Dominator is the best of our utilitarian style offerings boasting front Carli Signature tuned, King 3.0” remote reservoir shocks so large, we needed bore the factory spring buckets for them to cycle properly. As the old adage goes, there’s no replacement for displacement. In an effort to provide customers with the best product, we do not sell off-the-shelf King 3.0s. We designed a custom piston to determine proper base flow rates to ensure the shock works well in the heavy duty truck platform; we then tuned the shocks around the custom pistons based on seat-of-the-pants feel. 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. 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 6” higher in the front with 60% more suspension travel than the factory platform thanks to the taller, lighter rate coil springs. The rear is lifted 4” via Carli’s Full Progressive Leaf Pack. The Full Progressive Leaf Pack replaces 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 3500 SRW factory capacity with the addition of the Long Travel Airbags (with optional spacer for 6” systems) for the best of both worlds; ride quality and payload capacity/load control. The Full Progressive Leaf Pack requires no block to achieve the 4” rear lift height.

When pairing added travel with the taller ride height, the position of the factory, front sway bar will need to be altered as well. For this, we offer two options; Sway bar Drop Bracket Extended Sway Bar End Links or the Sway Bar Drop Bracket Replacement Torsion Sway Bar. The End links are equipped with ½” FK Rod-Ends and in-house machined 17-4 stainless bodies that are extended over stock to reset the sway bar engagement points. Factory pillow-bushings are re-used to assemble the sway bar to the lengthened link.

Carli’s optional 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. This is the single best bang for the buck, ride-quality upgrade offered by Carli Suspension (in close competition with the full progressive leaf spring upgrade included in this system).

When lifting a straight axle truck, all linkage, brake lines and bump stops need to be addressed. We include extended stainless brake lines, an adjustable track bar track bar drop bracket, bump stop drop brackets, drop pitman arm, and recommend the purchase of a carrier bearing drop bracket in the rear for those running a 2-piece driveline.

Wheel and Tire: This system will fit up to a 37” tire on wheels no more than 9” wide with 4.5” of backspacing. 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: