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Hello all,
Figured I'd share my experience with this kit. It is sold directly by Mopar (and most online or brick and mortar dealers are able to order it) and it is the Bilstein shocks with Mopar lowering springs. The kit comes with 95% of the items you need, with the only thing being reused is the front shock mounts and dust boot. I ordered these new just so every piece going in was a 0-mile item.
The Kit:
2016 DODGE CHARGER Mopar Performance Suspension Upgrade Packages P5155435AD - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing
The whole thing goes for the low $600s, but Summit can price match you with an online Mopar dealer. I had them price match East Coast Moparts as they had it for $513. They also offered free shipping, which was a plus. This kit should fit any 2006 and up Dodge Charger/Challenger/300 in V6 and R/T trims, but please note that earlier models may need some adjusting or work for proper fitment and drop height. The drop height is slightly more on the V6 models over the stock R/T height. My 2016 R/T went down just over 1" all around over stock.
If you need the part numbers for the boot and upper mounts, please let me know. I have them in my email.
Installation:
The cost of installing can vary widely. It is about a 2 to 3 hours job, so a dealer may charge upwards of $400 to do this. I had a local shop do the whole thing for $200 wheels up to wheels down. It was another $50 to have the car aligned.
While I won't dive into the installation process too much, it's all pretty straight forward. The rear involves removing the 2 bolts at the top of the strut as well as one on the bottom connecting to the control arm. It can then be pushed down and slid out. For the rear springs, the instructions state to drop the rear cradle. However, we simply removed the bolt connecting the control arm to the cradle and dropped it enough to get the spring out. Then, it was just going back in the steps and tightening it all up.
For the front, you remove the 3 bolts on the shock mount (under the hood) and one on the bottom of the shock connecting to the control arm. If you're lucky, you can wiggle the assembly out and the new one in. In most cases, however, you will have to unbolt the upper control arm and separate it in order to drop the suspension low enough to get the assembly out. Other than that, reverse the steps and tighten everything to spec.
Once the suspension settled, the alignment wasn't all that far off. I had purchased a pair of SPC adjustable upper control arms (for the front) in case the steering was off wack. However, these will be going back to Summit as the front was just marginally off from what it originally was. It took 2 minutes for my alignment guy to get the front and rear back to spec. Please note that the rear of my car already had SPC bushings for adjusting camber, so the rear may or may not be good to go and you may or may not need those bushings to get it where it should be.
Pics:
While I don't have any before pictures, as the excitement of getting it all in got the best of me, I can show you the after. After these pictures were taken, it settled just a bit more, maybe about 1/8" or so from what you see here. The car sits much more flush to the wheels and the wheel gap is pretty much gone. I can no longer see the upper parts of my suspension from just looking at the car from the side.
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How It Performs:
It is a night and day difference over the stock "Sport" R/T suspension. I'd imagine that this would be an even bigger change for V6 suspension. The car has lost tons of body roll, on the corners it remains flat, and the steering feels more responsive. There is a tight S turn here in my area that I used to take at about 60MPH with some light tire squeal and I was able to take it at 74MPH after the new suspension with no tire noise and without pushing the car too hard. Also, launching it from a dig feels more planted, the rear seems to stick more, and it doesn't feel as squiggly as it did before.
On the highway, it is smooth as butter. While you do feel bumps and road damage a bit more, it is a marginal difference and I feel I like the quick bump over road imperfections over the bump and subsequent wobble and bounce my old suspension had. At higher speeds, the car feels planted and stable and switching lanes abruptly it's flat and precise. Previously, any sudden lane changes came with tons of body roll and the feeling of being unstable.
All in all, for well under $1,000 installed and aligned, I'd say it's well-worth it. While I know that coilovers would net better performance, I didn't want to meddle with adjusting things and any alignment issues I may face. These feel more forgiving in city driving and I'm not worried about bottoming out the car in any driveways or rough roads, even with my long tube headers.
Feel free to ask any questions. I'll answer them as best I can!
Figured I'd share my experience with this kit. It is sold directly by Mopar (and most online or brick and mortar dealers are able to order it) and it is the Bilstein shocks with Mopar lowering springs. The kit comes with 95% of the items you need, with the only thing being reused is the front shock mounts and dust boot. I ordered these new just so every piece going in was a 0-mile item.
The Kit:
2016 DODGE CHARGER Mopar Performance Suspension Upgrade Packages P5155435AD - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing
The whole thing goes for the low $600s, but Summit can price match you with an online Mopar dealer. I had them price match East Coast Moparts as they had it for $513. They also offered free shipping, which was a plus. This kit should fit any 2006 and up Dodge Charger/Challenger/300 in V6 and R/T trims, but please note that earlier models may need some adjusting or work for proper fitment and drop height. The drop height is slightly more on the V6 models over the stock R/T height. My 2016 R/T went down just over 1" all around over stock.
If you need the part numbers for the boot and upper mounts, please let me know. I have them in my email.
Installation:
The cost of installing can vary widely. It is about a 2 to 3 hours job, so a dealer may charge upwards of $400 to do this. I had a local shop do the whole thing for $200 wheels up to wheels down. It was another $50 to have the car aligned.
While I won't dive into the installation process too much, it's all pretty straight forward. The rear involves removing the 2 bolts at the top of the strut as well as one on the bottom connecting to the control arm. It can then be pushed down and slid out. For the rear springs, the instructions state to drop the rear cradle. However, we simply removed the bolt connecting the control arm to the cradle and dropped it enough to get the spring out. Then, it was just going back in the steps and tightening it all up.
For the front, you remove the 3 bolts on the shock mount (under the hood) and one on the bottom of the shock connecting to the control arm. If you're lucky, you can wiggle the assembly out and the new one in. In most cases, however, you will have to unbolt the upper control arm and separate it in order to drop the suspension low enough to get the assembly out. Other than that, reverse the steps and tighten everything to spec.
Once the suspension settled, the alignment wasn't all that far off. I had purchased a pair of SPC adjustable upper control arms (for the front) in case the steering was off wack. However, these will be going back to Summit as the front was just marginally off from what it originally was. It took 2 minutes for my alignment guy to get the front and rear back to spec. Please note that the rear of my car already had SPC bushings for adjusting camber, so the rear may or may not be good to go and you may or may not need those bushings to get it where it should be.
Pics:
While I don't have any before pictures, as the excitement of getting it all in got the best of me, I can show you the after. After these pictures were taken, it settled just a bit more, maybe about 1/8" or so from what you see here. The car sits much more flush to the wheels and the wheel gap is pretty much gone. I can no longer see the upper parts of my suspension from just looking at the car from the side.
How It Performs:
It is a night and day difference over the stock "Sport" R/T suspension. I'd imagine that this would be an even bigger change for V6 suspension. The car has lost tons of body roll, on the corners it remains flat, and the steering feels more responsive. There is a tight S turn here in my area that I used to take at about 60MPH with some light tire squeal and I was able to take it at 74MPH after the new suspension with no tire noise and without pushing the car too hard. Also, launching it from a dig feels more planted, the rear seems to stick more, and it doesn't feel as squiggly as it did before.
On the highway, it is smooth as butter. While you do feel bumps and road damage a bit more, it is a marginal difference and I feel I like the quick bump over road imperfections over the bump and subsequent wobble and bounce my old suspension had. At higher speeds, the car feels planted and stable and switching lanes abruptly it's flat and precise. Previously, any sudden lane changes came with tons of body roll and the feeling of being unstable.
All in all, for well under $1,000 installed and aligned, I'd say it's well-worth it. While I know that coilovers would net better performance, I didn't want to meddle with adjusting things and any alignment issues I may face. These feel more forgiving in city driving and I'm not worried about bottoming out the car in any driveways or rough roads, even with my long tube headers.
Feel free to ask any questions. I'll answer them as best I can!
