2014+ RAM 2500 owners: have you stopped the sway?

We have a 2014 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi SB 4x4 with a Camplite 6.8 on it and frequently tow various toys (21' Yamaha Jet Boat, Sea Doo jet ski or trailer with a Yamaha YXZ1000R with assorted spares) Initially we had a ton of sway. Got some Timbrins.... fixed.... but way too harsh when the camper wasn't on it. Removed the Timbrens (you can have them if you want them - PM me)
Added a Hellwig Swaybar, Bilstien 5100s and wireless airbags (separate circuits) and all is good.... except 90k miles later the Bilstiens are showing their age.... so have some 4600's inbound. Hellwig has apparently since come out with a "Big Wig" for this particular truck and am thinking of trying it. Oh and tires seem to make a big difference - the stock Firestones must have weak sidewalls.... lots of sway. Had a set of Nitto Terra Grapplers for many miles and then got some Nitto Ridge Grappers (best tires so far!).

Tons of great feedback in this thread -- thanks so much for that folks.

Looks like an upgraded sway bar is a solid investment, so we'll go that route. Can't see any reason not to, and some great recommendations here. Solidly leaning towards the BigWig. Rear first, but will consider doing the front, too, depending on how things are after doing the rear and new shocks.

Shocks are definitely in order, truck appears to have the original factory shocks. No leaking and they perform fine even with a heavy load in the bed or a heavy trailer -- but of course the TC is a different kind of load. Leaning towards the Rancho RS9000XL for the adjustability, but Bilstein 5100s seems to get high marks by folks in this thread. Kinda ponder some of the remote reservoir shocks out there, but guessing that the cost outweighs the performance -- especially since so many people seem satisfied with the Ranchos and Bilsteins.

Timbrens -- recommended a few times here so worth considering, but this truck (unsurprisingly) rides like a cinder block when empty or lightly loaded. Still on the fence about these.

Finally, tires. Can't recall what's on now, but they don't have a ton of miles left on them. So will be looking closely at what we replace them with in the near future.

Thanks again for all the advice, it all seems very helpful to me. And I think others may come across it and find it helpful, too.

Tembrens when installed properly (i.e. standard tembrens with about 3/4” max clearance to axle) will not cause unladen or lightly loaded truck to ride any stiffer - this is due to an absence of axle contact.

We had a Ram 1500 Big Horn with the rear coils. They are known to ride almost like Cadillacs unloaded. With the heavy travel trailer I was getting a mushy feeling at the rear so I added a set of Timbrens. They fixed the problem but without the trailer, the truck was almost uncomfortable to drive so I removed them and sold them. Separation joints on bridges were ridiculous !

You may want to talk to the people at Kelderman. I think the specialize in this. Don't just look at the web size call or email them with your issue and see what they say.
kelderman.com

We have a 2016 Ram 2500 HD Cummings short bed and AF 811. I have air bags and a Helwig sway bar and that seemed to do the trick. Prior to the air bags, I had a lot of sway with a smaller Palomino TC which was the reason for the install. After the airbag install, everything seemed to calm down and was very stable. We added the sway bar when we moved up to the AF 811. I did upgrade to the E series tires which I may have to go even heavier. I will be able to tell your more after hunting season. :)

Got some Timbrens from jdboss. Took the camper out for a weekend trip, then took the truck out for a different trip without the camper.

With the camper:
First impression: Wish I could remove them right away, the ride is miserable.
After a while: The pendulum-like swaying did disappear, but the truck effectively has almost no rear suspension. It's like (it is?) riding on the bump stops. This is not the long term fix for us.

Without the camper: everything is okay most of the time, but any decent amount of bump (i.e. going over most bridges) was bad. The rear suspension would compress enough to engage them, and the effect is (unsurprisingly) jarring.

Related to this, I have this set of Timbrens to give away if anyone else wants them. Model DRTT3500E.

detrick wrote:
Tons of great feedback in this thread -- thanks so much for that folks.

Looks like an upgraded sway bar is a solid investment, so we'll go that route. Can't see any reason not to, and some great recommendations here. Solidly leaning towards the BigWig. Rear first, but will consider doing the front, too, depending on how things are after doing the rear and new shocks.

Shocks are definitely in order, truck appears to have the original factory shocks. No leaking and they perform fine even with a heavy load in the bed or a heavy trailer -- but of course the TC is a different kind of load. Leaning towards the Rancho RS9000XL for the adjustability, but Bilstein 5100s seems to get high marks by folks in this thread. Kinda ponder some of the remote reservoir shocks out there, but guessing that the cost outweighs the performance -- especially since so many people seem satisfied with the Ranchos and Bilsteins.

Timbrens -- recommended a few times here so worth considering, but this truck (unsurprisingly) rides like a cinder block when empty or lightly loaded. Still on the fence about these.

Finally, tires. Can't recall what's on now, but they don't have a ton of miles left on them. So will be looking closely at what we replace them with in the near future.

Thanks again for all the advice, it all seems very helpful to me. And I think others may come across it and find it helpful, too.

Another vote for swaybar. I put them on everything I buy now, from cars, SUVs to trucks. I would try that. As far as shocks, I've had Rancho, Bilst and Fox. My vote is for some fox's with resevoirs if available.

Another vote for swaybar. I put them on everything I buy now, from cars, SUVs to trucks. I would try that. As far as shocks, I've had Rancho, Bilst and Fox. My vote is for some fox's with resevoirs if available.

Sway bars are certainly good to have on most vehicles. The truck has them stock front and rear, but it still looks like a pretty cheap option to upgrade the rear at least to a better one.

I looked at Fox, adjustable reservoir shocks seem ideal. But the price difference between them and ranchos/billsteins is HUGE. There also seem to be an overwhelming number of options with the Foxes. Do you have a recommendation that's a good balance of cost and performance yet still a big improvement over the more standard gas shocks? I will probably end up replacing the shocks at the same time the sway bar is upgraded, and both pretty soon.

With the camper:
First impression: Wish I could remove them right away, the ride is miserable.
After a while: The pendulum-like swaying did disappear, but the truck effectively has almost no rear suspension. It's like (it is?) riding on the bump stops. This is not the long term fix for us.

Without the camper: everything is okay most of the time, but any decent amount of bump (i.e. going over most bridges) was bad. The rear suspension would compress enough to engage them, and the effect is (unsurprisingly) jarring.

Same problems we had with the older '60 to '72 half 1500/2500 pickups with the trailing arm rear coil option.
Plenty of spring also and sure didn't need any more spring assist but body roll was downright dangerous. The only way to stop it was get on the brakes. The only fix was the heaviest sway bar available on the front and rear and a twin shock setup at the rear corners.
The coil setup on the Ram is light years ahead of those old trailing arm setups.

If you go with a heavy sway bar I would go the the rear first, then the front if needed.