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Holly Crap - Thank You Carli...redone King's

4K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  HSrider 
#1 ·
I don't even know where to start on this but all I can say is after a 6 hr ride in my truck today with the newly refurbished/corrected King shocks HOLLY CRAP. Now that is what a $4K setup should ride like. I'm by no means an expert when it comes to trucks or suspension systems. I've owned 7 trucks in my lifetime and this is the first one I ever did a suspension system on. As you can see in my signature I have the Carli Pintop 2.5. I've had this kit on now a little over a year. I thought the ride was better than stock when I first put it on but the longer I drove the truck it just seemed like it should be better. OCVeloMan offered for me to send them back and they would send me temp shocks to run while they looked at them. Well I totally forgot about it and wrote it off to me being crazy. Then the more reviews I read about guys with the Kings and my butt ride caliper I knew something wasn't right. So OCVeloMan offered again and I took him up on the offer. He said Carli wants their customers to be happy and I was the first one that didn't like the King shock ride.

So off come the Kings when the Bilstein 5100s showed up and then the wait begin. As I said earlier the Kings were better than stock and I was wanting to accomplish getting rid of the front axle hop and rear end hop and change the look of the truck. So OCVeloman(Dan) told me when removing the Kings just bleed off the Nitrogen and collapse them to ship, so I did. What I found was inconsistency in the amount of nitrogen that come out of each shock and the front drivers side just did a pst and even with valve core removed wouldn't bleed off anymore or collapse and stay collapsed. So I knew there was at least a problem with that shock. Carli got the shocks and I think Dan said Pat tore into them and found that there was some inconsistencies and also that the valving in my set of Kings was Carli's older valving. He said Pat went through them and they were on there way back to me and I should be very happy with the ride. So before the rest of the story let me give a quick review of the different shocks. Maybe Dan can add to this in a more technical way.

Stock shocks was all over the place on rough roads or hitting manhole covers felt like the front wheel was falling off and rear end would hop around a bit. I figured the King's would help with this and they did but I still had some front wheel hop but the back end wasn't to bad but still a bit of hop in really rough road stretches. The Kings had very little body roll as well. Yeah I know its a 250HD but I tend to drive it like a sports car here and there.

Bilstein's go on and I drive the truck for the next week and noticed in some areas the ride seemed a bit plusher/smoother than the Kings but I noticed more wheel movement in the front and a little more in the back. Also the body roll was more noticeable with the Bilstein's. Hitting big bumps was a bit jarring but not as bad as the stock shocks.

So now for the rest of the story. I get my Kings back on Tuesday night and plan on installing them on Wednesday and everything went as planned. I purchased a nitrogen tank and a regulator/filler valve setup so I could make install easier by bleeding off the nitrogen like Dan suggested. The install was smooth minus a few cuss words trying to open back up the lower front shock mount brackets. After they were on and charged to the 225psi I took the truck for a short ride and I could tell a difference, but figured I would wait until today to see how they really feel. Also with the nitrogen tank decided to check high mount steering stabilizer and it was at "0" psi and I was like that thing isn't even working or working like it should. Tried setting it to recommended 150psi to start wouldn't hold so started checking things and valve core was slightly lose, tightened that and it held at 150psi.

Just for info. I am running tire pressure 45psi front and 36 rear. So today on the ride to work I was like WOW this thing is much smoother riding. Then it was off on the 6 hr drive which is 90% highway but man what a ride. Also this is a trip I made a lot over the past year. The redone Kings were WONDERFUL, even my wife said man this thing is smooth. Hitting highway bridges and all it just soaks them up and any rough spots in the road some you feel slightly but not like before, before these same bumps would jar you. The wheels feel more planted and on the ground there is hardly any wheel movement up front like there was before when hitting bumps and rough spots. And the steering is tight and solid now with the steering stabilizer set to 150psi. I was totally blown away by the ride of this F250 Heavy duty truck and yeah the whole setup I did wasn't cheap but man now that it is valved properly and working properly it was worth every penny in my mind.

Not sure if this will be helpful for some that might of started without the Kings or plan to purchase them in the future but all I can say is the ride is unbelievable. And to know that most guys run 40psi ft and 30psi rear I'm sure the ride can be even better if I want to go that low on tire pressure.

I just want to give a big shout out to Carli and the Great Customer Service they offer and for standing behind their product. And huge props out to Dan as well for putting up with all my questions and concerns. I'm on the east coast and don't get to play in the off road stuff like a lot of you but I would of been willing to bet with my original King valving/inconsistencies there was no way my truck would of done what Sage's truck does/did in the video but now with the corrected Kings I have to say I think it would do anything his would do if the driver was capable.

So again Thank You Carli :)
 
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#3 ·
Hey Mark,
Even though it is unfortunate that King put the improper valving in your shocks I am glad that it was rectified. You were pretty much my only customer who wasn't extremely pleased with the Pintop kit and now we at least know why.

Thank you for starting this post about ride differences and your experiences with the crew at Carli!:thumb:
 
#4 ·
George,

I know the differences isn't to detailed or technical but I figured what little bit I noticed might help others that are thinking about a King shock upgrade in the future.

I think I will be happy now :thumb:
 
#6 ·
RH I hope you notice a nice improvement when you get the King's yourself.
 
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