Leveling kit for 2012 Cummins

I was recently told that my 2012 Dodge Ram dually needs new front shocks as the current ones are somehow causing the tires to wear unevenly. I'm not sure how that works but I'm just going off what I've been told. I figured I could just have good ole Les Schwab throw on some of their shocks for me or I could actually put something decent on the front and maybe bring the front end up and inch or two. Being that my only suspension knowledge is with the IFS tacoma, I was wondering if anyone here might have any suggestions? It looks like there are a bunch of leveling kits out there but I don't want the hockey puck spacer equivalent - I want something quality as I do use this truck to tow with on a fairly regular basis and would rather not sacrifice ride quality.

Pic of truck:

 

Thanks - I always thought lifting and putting oversized tires on a tow rig was dumb but I didn't think there was anything wrong with leveling it. I really appreciate your insight there. I'll have a look at the bilsteins too. They've been serving me well on the taco so I suppose they'll work on the ram as well.

That load trail is an absolute beast. You can put so much material in that thing it aint even funny! We have two of them.

 

Go to Dieseltruckresource.com forum. Otherwise turbo diesel register (which used to be a subscription)

 

I’ll check them out. Thanks man!

 

I agree with what Chris said above, leveling that type of truck that actually gets used is not a good idea.
Worn shocks can cause uneven wear on tires.
I've personally enjoyed cumminsforum (dot com) for my cummins needs.

 

You can add some leveling springs on it but if it’s primarily for towing, like others said, it may mess things up a bit. With a heavy load it may make the front steering feel light and make you feel a little like the front is drifting. I added a daystar polyurethane 1” spacer on my 2nd gen and it was just enough to cut down on some of the severe rake that my truck had. The spacer is really subtle and you’d never know it’s got a spacer. I ended up adding an adjustable track bar to recenter the axle.

 

I appreciate the input everyone. I think I’ll order a set of 5100’s and call it good. I have no need to lift the truck other than for looks so I’ll just keep it at stock height.

 

Cumminsforum.com

My old 11 was leveled and pulled 8,000 pounds like a champ and it was on 22’s

 

I’ve got 5100’s on mine as well and work/look great for the money. Added a 5100 steering stabilizer as well. Fox has shocks for these trucks as well I believe. Got mine from shock warehouse as they had the best price at the time. Even though it’s a lot older than yours here’s a pic for reference

 

Clean second gen. Makes me miss mine

 

Thank you! Had a pristine 3rd gen (05) and sold it to a friend with 8k miles. This was after it was 6 years old! Yes I know that’s crazy. After a few years I missed having a diesel but didn’t want something too nice. This is probably the most favorite truck I’ve ever owned. It’s loud, steers like crap but I love it!!! Looks like yours was setup really nice too!!! Hope the current owner is loving it!

 

Put the 4th gen steering arms under the front of it and it will drive like a 2018. Lol. And yeah he paid me 20k cash for it with 240k on the clock. Fully built trans studs turbo injectors programmer exhaust all the bells and whistles. Sold it in 4 hours on Craigslist. Bluebook at the time was 13k lol

 

Yeah luckily the later 2nd gen knuckles will accept the 4th gen aka 3rd gen factory replacement. Also with the 3rd gen wheels (17”) it cleared the larger ball joints. Also adjustable track bar gets rid of the factory track bar with ball joint on drivers side. 10x better than it was but still wanders a little - but no biggie. I may install DOR tube control arms down the road. I have programmer, intake horn, CAI but stock turbo and I think the injectors are still stock. J hooked the turbo also and I’ve hit 32# but I don’t want to grenade the trans. I paid 19k for mine as the good ones command a huge premium. 108k miles. In the first week of owning it 3 people asked me if I wanted to sell it. No way!!! I think RV275 injectors will happen too. Replaced the lift pump too so it’ll support the additional fuel. Sorry for the hijack OP.

 

No worries man! We gotta have some place to discuss our diesels!

Side note: is anyone familiar with deleting 6.7’s? I don’t know if that is something I should be doing or not. I’ve been told of higher mpg’s and more power but I don’t know if there is a huge downside that I’m missing.

 

I deleted mine at 80k with a 5” exhaust turbo back and a used h and s mini max. Obviously efi live is better than a box programmer. I had the custom Rudy’s diesel trans tunes as well (68rfe). Trans shifted better didn’t seem to hunt gears as much being a 6 speed auto and all. Deleted the egr using a sinister diesel block off kit. Power wise deff worth the money. Shifting wise deff worth it. And best part your not sending all that bad shit back through your motor. I was happy with mine. Good power. I daily drove it on the mild 60hp tune

If I did it over. I’d go with efi live from hpp or hardway. Both very knowledgeable on the 6.7. Join cumminsforum.com loads of info on deleting

Trans tuning makes a hell of a difference

 

I deleted our 2013 (pictured above) with an MM3 from double R diesel, cab and Chassis EGR delete kit, and race exhaust insert and muffler.
Having no DEF is awesome, way better throttle response (from the tune software) and slightly better economy when unloaded (according to the computer we average 16 empty, around 8 with a trailer) but we are running stock power tunes because the trailer is 8K lbs, machine is 11K, and attachments are around 2K.

Of course we only run it off road*

*as legally required.