The Value
The Pathfinder is equipped with Carli-SPEC 2.5” aluminum-bodied shocks finished with a hard-anodized coating for superior corrosion and scratch resistance. All billet components are black-anodized, creating a sleek, premium look straight out of the box—an aesthetic that previously cost customers over $1,200 in custom color upgrades on our King kits. Inside, we’ve spec’d a high-performance red shock oil designed to resist heat and fade, even under spirited driving, ensuring consistent damping and long-term reliability. The Pathfinder delivers unmatched on-road composure and comfort for which many are happy to sacrifice the extremes of off-road capability they’d find in our King-Shock offerings.
The Shocks
Super Duty owners will find the Pathfinder to be the perfect middle ground. Its 2.5” diameter shock bodies provide a significant boost in oil volume—55% more piston surface area than a 2.0”—which improves heat management and extends rebuild intervals. While the Pintop excels in aggressive off-road driving, the Pathfinder is happiest soaking up rough roads and cruising comfortably without requiring more skinny-pedal to feel the damping.
The Construction
The shock body is a 1-piece, impact extruded 6061 aluminum cylinder. The aluminum boasts better heat dissipation than steel, and 1-peice means there’s no top cap interface as a potential point of failure. The cylinders are anodized for corrosion resistance and finish durability – this aesthetic will stand the test of time. The 7/8″ shafts are a hardened (100ksi), chrome plated steel. These shocks are spec’d with a premium 5WT red oil to balance lubricity, consistent damping and the widest available range in temperature variation.
The stem-top bushings are something we’re excited about. In our vast experience with shocks, we’ve become bushing snobs. In an industry obsessed with poly bushings, we’ve always measured against our benchmark – the original rubber Bilstein bushings. In an eyelet style, poly is fantastic – in a stem-top, we’ve not met a poly bushing we preferred to tried and true rubber. They do not seem to handle the forces of the stem-top as well as a rubber bushing. We’re elated to be able to spec a rubber bushing on these Carli Spec Shocks. Elated may be an exaggeration but we eat, sleep and breath shocks – to eliminate such a frequent point of failure is exciting!
The rod ends are constructed of 6061 billet aluminum; inside you will find a 5/8″ PTFE-Lined Spherical Bearing with misalignment spacers to fit each application’s specific shock mounting interface.
The Reservoir adds the separate canister to carry the dividing piston, and nitrogen charge leaving the entirety of the body available for extended piston travel. Without getting too technical, a Remote Reservoir will have more suspension travel than an IFP with the same mounting dimensions & superior heat management (less shock fade) thanks to the additional oil capacity. The port off the body, flowing to the reservoir, is slightly smaller than the shaft diameter. This creates a restriction as the shock compresses – the shaft enters the body, the fluid fights the valving (through the main piston) and the shaft displaces its volumetric equivalence in oil as it travels into the body. The fluid then moves through the hose to push the dividing piston in the reservoir to account for the increased pressure from both the shaft displacement and heat-expansion of the oil. Having a bottleneck (hose restriction) between the force generation, and mechanism that accommodates it (dividing piston) helps smooth out the “turbulence” in the shock while improving bottom out resistance. In short, remote reservoir shocks are measurable less “chattery” than IFP shocks. As I prefaced this with “Without getting too technical”, I’ll assume this was clear enough and talk about something you care about; what’s the Warranty?
Wheel and Tire
Wheel and Tire: Factory Wheels SHOULD NOT be run with oversized tires. They’re known to rub the radius arm, sway bar and most concerning – Brake Lines. Factory tires and factory wheels will work without issue but we DO NOT recommend running oversized tires on factory wheels. On our 2.5” Ford Systems, we recommend 17”-18” wheels, no more than 9” wide with 5.5” of backspacing with Carli Fabricated Radius Arms or 5” Backspace with factory arms; 5” will require a bit more trimming. Tires, 37×12.5” will fit with some trimming; 35” will likely fit without trimming. The more rubber, the better the small bump compliance will be at proper inflation pressures. The ride will firm up as you go larger in wheel diameter.
Find Your E-Venture Kit
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Carli E-Venture Shocks Only 20-22 Ford F250/350 w/ 1.5-3.5” Lift / Level - 7.3L GAS Super Duty
Regular price $5,191.00 USDRegular priceUnit price per -
Carli E-Venture Shock Set 3.5 - 5.5” Lift 17-22 Ford F250/F350 DIESEL
Regular price $5,191.00 USDRegular priceUnit price per -
Carli E-Venture Kit 17-22 Ford F250/F350 2.5 - 3.5” Lift / Level - DIESEL Super Duty
Regular price $6,615.00 USDRegular priceUnit price per -
Carli E-Venture Kit 4.5 - 5.5” Lift, 17-22 Ford F250/F350 4X4, DIESEL TRUCKS
Regular price $7,385.00 USDRegular priceUnit price per
