Often times, Baja off road trucks take their factory default suspension for granted. Racing through the back desert country on the Baja peninsula in California is an exhilarating experience, for sure. However, without the proper setup, it can be the first and last thing a brand new truck ever gets to do – at least before being laid up in a repair bay for awhile. Here, we get a chance to see the point of view of the actual shocks and suspension of a turbo diesel 2012 Ram 2500 with a 6.7 L Cummins engine. It’s a thing of beauty to behold. Powerful, great acceleration and handling, and the ability to show off the best parts of the Dodge Ram 2500 heavy duty pick-up.
Red Cloud Mine Road in a 2012 Ram 2500 Cummins
The Red Cloud Mine Road is a great stretch of Californian back country on the Baja peninsula. For a great bird’s eye view of the area – this guy took some footage of this wild expanse with a GoPro-enabled drone. Check it out here. As is clearly evident with the footage – this is a great place to try out a new performance truck like the modified Carli Dodge Ram 2500 with a 6.7 L Cummins turbo diesel engine. It’s also about one of the last places a driver could want to be stranded with a broken truck. Thankfully, the Carli suspension system – while certainly costly – gives a bit more of a guarantee that a decent driver can go off-roading without wrecking his truck.
Another feature of Red Cloud is the extensive off-roading areas available to ATVs and sport bikes. The rocky, treacherous reaches are sometimes only passable by two-wheels – and even that can get pretty hairy for experienced riders.
Red Cloud Mine Road used to lead to an old (now abandoned) gold mine that was running until the turn of the century. After the ore deposits had dried up, the mine was torn down and the vast rocky desert and outcroppings were left mostly to wandering adventurers and off-road enthusiasts. In recent years, and with the popularity of off-road racing, Red Cloud Mine Road has turned into a premier test ground for new suspension systems, time records, and practice for both amateur and professional drivers. It’s one of the best kept secrets on the Baja.
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Why Carli Suspension is Worth Every Penny
Off the assembly line, the Dodge Ram 2500 can come equipped with a 6.7 L Cummins turbo diesel engine capable of over 350 hp and 800 lb-ft of torque. That’s an incredible off roading monster. But without the proper suspension system in place, the Baja is bound to do some serious damage to the undercarriage. With a price point starting at $45,000 MSRP, it only makes sense to put the additional $6,000 – $9,000 into a Carli suspension system for the front and rear.
Let’s go over that, shall we?
In the front of the truck there’s the Carli 3” coil springs, high clearance control arms, torsion sway bar, adjustable track bar, ball joints, and a low mount steering stabilizer. These adjustments may seem a bit superfluous at first look until one realizes that the Dodge Ram 2500’s 8,000 lb frame is cruising over variable terrain at speeds exceeding 60 mph. Here’s a Ford F-150 Raptor pulling a jump maneuver with a stock suspension system without proper shock mountings. It’s tragic. If that’s not enough of a convincer, here’s a souped up Chevy Silverado monster truck with a substandard shock absorption system. The struggle is real.
More importantly, it’s too late to fix a truck after the fact. With this Ford F-150 Raptor which completed a 90 foot jump – that driver is going to spend almost the cost of buying a new one just in repairs. Baja jumps can be even more treacherous as they often take place in remote back country areas where wreckers and tow trucks have a hard time accessing.
This is why the additional Thuren shock towers and Stage 3 King 2.5 remote reservoir shocks are all the more important when dealing with the Carli suspension system for a Dodge Ram. They provide some amount of cushion after this truck flies over a storm grate. And from the GoPro cameras placed at every which angle, the Ram still manages to almost bottom out the wheel wells.
Additionally, skid plates and rugged off-road tires like the Toyo Open Country series are true necessities. A skid plate protects the undercarriage of the Dodge Ram 2500 – which normally has the front end bumper precariously low to the ground. This vehicle in particular went with the Fiberwerx front fenders in an effort to reinforce and lift a vulnerable area. Overall, it’s the investment into a great truck that keeps it running strong.
