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Rear leveling kit available

10K views 43 replies 9 participants last post by  rarichard 
#1 ·
I saw this somewhere else on here but wanted to repost as I can't find it again and seems like alot of people are looking for this. A 2" rear drop/leveling kit is available from a company called otto-max (you can use google and email them). I emailed them and they emailed me back in about 10 minutes.... here's what they said:

ME "Hi, do you make rear lowering springs for the 2010 ram 1500 quad cabs? I'm looking to level off my truck by dropping the rear about 1.5" to 2" instead of using a leveling kit on the front. If you do have them could you send me more info, pricing, possibly pictures? Do shocks or anything else need to be replaced as well? Will it effect payload/towing? I'm not worried about ride comfort, although I wouldn't think it would change much. Thanks in advance."

THEM "Hi Sean, we have the kits in stock, it is a 2” drop which includes shocks and does increase your payload somewhat, and your cost would be 390.00 for the kit plus freight."

Not a bad price including shocks, and an increase in payload, win win win... All things considered I'll still probably try cutting my stock springs first as I'm a cheap *ss, and if it's screwed up I'll buy these lol.
 
#2 ·
I'm considering the same myself but am torn on getting ridetech airbags or hellwig airbag, althouh truly I want a combo of the both, hellwig has nice no cut required brackets and ridetech requires cutting off the top hat of the lower spring perch. It doesn't affect the mounting of a spring, but I just can't stand cutting up oem stuff.

I'm thinking of just cutting the rear stock springs myself. I happen to have a crew cab though, really don't think there's a noticeable difference even if I did end up getting a set for a QC. I wouldn't want to be the guinea pig either.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the info. I've been waiting on groundforce to come out with their qc/cc 2" drop kit. When I called last year they said "early this year" but still nothing. maybe if more people keep calling them they will see that there is a market for it.

I'll do some googling and see what kind of reviews I can find on Otto-max.
 
#6 ·
I couldn't see on the site the last update so I wonder if they actually have these yet. The first link with the $338 price has wierd description for the part including the words lower front end. I can't buy from a site that doesn't know the products well.

I wonder what the hell is taking these companies months to produce the simplest spring upgrade ever imagineable. the part literally takes a half hour to remove and install once the truck is jacked and wheels off. Why does it take so long to produce these?

Let us know when you get them and how they turn out. I was very close to just ordering an extra set of factory springs for $150 for the pair and just cutting them down. Keep the stock shocks and all. Just replace them a couple years down the road when they get worn.
 
#7 ·
The company Otto-max emailed me telling me they had them a week ago, so according to them they currently have them in stock, I'm not sure about that website posted above... If I were going to buy them I'd call otto-max and order directly through them, and make sure you get the right product for a few extra bucks, and then I'm sure they could help you out if you had any issues with it as well.
 
#8 · (Edited)
ok. I just ordered mine from SDtrucksprings. $363 shipped. I called Otto-max first and explained my reservations about ordering from SDtruck b/c of their website write up. The otto-max guy said it's been messed up for a while and he's asked them multiple time to fix it but "they are really busy" but rest assured I will get the right kit. I didnt' find out a shipped price direct from Otto-max but it prob would've been a lot higher b/c they are in Canada. SDtruck is in NY.

anyway, the otto-max springs are rated at 257 lbs/inch vs the factory 220 lbs/inch...so the springs are about 17% stiffer. he went on to say that ride quality is unaffected but the little bit of rear-end sag some get with heavier loads is eliminated. Being such and easy swap I'll install these ASAP and let you all know.
 
#10 ·
Kit arrived today! Springs are powder coated black and a little heavier than the stockers. Shocks are Sensatrac. Overall quality looks good.

Order placed the night of the 10th and UPS delivered on the 16th and it's even the correct kit!

So I started by measuring the rear height at the wheel-well center...38 1/4. I know I should've taken a before picture but I guess I can use one of the ones I already have.

Next, I chocked both front tires and jacked up the rear about 6" placed jackstands under the frame rails as far aft as possible right up against the fwd control arm mount.
The tires came off next and then the lower shock bolts came out. Keep in mind I left my floor jack under the rear diff this whole time too. Next, I started to lower the floor jack to let the axle drop so the springs could be removed. I did this slowly and rechecked the jack stands just to be safe (I ended up using 2 jackstands per side for a little overkill). You just have to keep lowering the axle and the spings will fall right out.

Reuse the rubber tops on the coils and install the new springs. Slowly start to raise the floorjack rechecking the coil alignment. This requires going back and forth a few times.

Once I had the springs seated it was time to remove the upper shock bolt on each side. These two bolts were the biggest PITA ever. The nut on the inside is in a very small space. I don't have any stubby wrenches so I had to cut one of my 13/16 boxend wrenches in half. It's also pretty hard to seat the boxend on the nut. Anyway, once I figured it out I got the hang of it.

Installed the new shocks and there was a little bit of side-to-side play. Luckily I have tons of extra hardware so I put a washer on each side of the shock to shim it up. Randy did say that some people were having to shim the shocks but he thought it was only on the '10 and '11s. Seems like they should fix this if they know about it. Lastly, put in the lower shock bolt and reinstall the wheels.

I thought it was going to be about an hour but with the upper shock bolt being a PITA and cutting a wrench in half it ended up taking about 2 hours. Initiall measurements only show about 7/8" drop. I'll wait about a week and remeasure to see if they settle some.

Pics of the stock and new springs side-by-side and of the truck to follow tomorrow. It was too dark when I finished up.
 
#11 ·
Very interesting! Seems like an easy swap, and not all that expensive either. I'd guess that they will settle in some, and it may end up that you need to put some weight in it a couple of times before you see the end resultant ride height. I'm very interested to see the pics, I'd actually much rather have a 1" or 1.5" drop in lieu of a 2" drop...
 
#14 ·
thanks for the update, please let us know if they settled some with driving around. I'd only be worried you don't see them at at least 1.5 inches in a week or two. I can't imagine it will settle more than a half inch over a longer stretch. Hopefully you'll see the level stance that you wanted. i still undediced on things at this point. I think I may just cut the stock coils cause I can get a replacement oem set for $150 if I need to go in for service and don't want them to see it. I figure the shocks would wear quicker but can be replaced with aftermarkets in a year or two.

If you say that the ride overall is teriffic in comparison, maybe you'll sway me. Let us know. thanks
 
#15 ·
I may have just reset the time for settling b/c I had the truck jacked up today to reseat the springs. long story but here is a link if interested.

http://www.ramforumz.com/showthread.php?p=530698#post530698

I would say that the ride is just slightly stiffer. since it only lowered 1" (for now) I might put the stock shocks back on for a while to see if there is a difference. would I do it again....that is still to be determined.
 
#16 ·
love the new stance bud!!!! im still undecided if i want to lower the back and put some 24's on or level the front
 
#17 ·
think I found the noise. here is a cut and paste from the other thread.

it's the 8' of E-brake cable running down the drivers side. It has been flapping and would sometimes hit the frame. I must have inadvertantly rotated part of the adjuster where the metal rather than the foam would hit the frame.

would any with a qc or cc mind posting a pic of their cable. the area I'm talking about is right below the rear driver door. thanks.
 
#20 ·
thanks for the pics. I made a little rig to isolate the cable movt and I am still getting my noise so it back to the troubleshooting. I'll let you all know when I figure it out. It's gotta be something simple b/c I've gone over every suspension piece multiple times.
 
#21 ·
I'm guessing it's like someone else posted, a bushing is tweaked from jacking it up so high, I'd loosed all the bushing in the rear and retorque them. Next thing I'd try is the springs rubbing where they are seated...good luck. Otherwise, any other opinions on the kit? Would you in fact do it again?
 
#22 ·
yeah I'd prob still buy it again. I'm just getting irritated with this sound I can't locate. I'm sure I'd write a more exciting review if it wasn't driving me nuts.

I'm going to get someone else to look. A fresh set of eyes might catch what I'm missing. I might break the torq and retorq the control arms but it looks like a real pain in the but. The rear bolts of all 4 arms are kind of hard to get to where I would be able to put 225 ft-lbs on them. there's just no consistancy to the noise.
 
#24 ·
Another "to do" for tomorrow. I started to the other day from work but it was too early in the morning. Called SDtrucksprings and they couldn't help. Ottomax is West coast and after a couple hours at work I just plain forgot. See what I mean...I'm so focused that I'm forgetting the logical things first.
 
#25 ·
lol, you'll get it figured out, they seemed like good people when I talked with them. Then after you do get it figured out, we all can learn from you're experience, isn't it fun being the guinea pig!? lol:hah:
 
#26 · (Edited)
went back to the stock shocks and problem solved!! I've been in contact with Randy and I'm trying to get as much info as I can collect for him so we can figure this out. His Dodge contact told him the crewcab trucks ALL have the same rear spings but when I pulled my stock springs they have different part numbers (driver vs passenger side). So I would like to see how much the 2wd and 4wd vary with regards to ride height. He said they measured the 4wds at 39". I told him when I started mine sat at 38" to 38 1/4".

can you guys help me out? if you could measure from the ground up the wheel center to the bottom of your wheel-well and state year and if you are 2wd or 4wd.

example:

my truck is a 2wd, 2009, 20" wheels and measures 37" driver side and 37 3/8" passenger side now with the Otto-max springs.

I took some pics for him and collected all the part numbers I could. So lastly, I like to give him some 2wd vs 4wd ride stock ride height data. Thanks!
 
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