Carli Pathfinder VS Pintop

FordTremorGA · 2026-11-02T13:00:51-0600

First of all, thanks to anyone who adds their experience or advice on the topic!

I am torn between the Carli Pintop and Pathfinder and seems that I am not the only one in the boat. However, my setup might be a little different from others. I have a 2026 F-250 Tremor and I run a Tune M1 (Similar to a slide-in camper) on 37s. I plan to go with the XHD leafs to support the constant load which I am hoping provides an upgrade over the factory leafs.

My truck is purely used for "overlanding". I am either on the road to get to a trail or on the trail. While we take the truck out west for 30-45 days a year, a lot of weekend camping is done in the southeast. Most of the trails in the southeast are slower going, deep ruts, dirt/rock roads and overgrowth. In my experience, there are few opportunities for high speed off roading which is why I am torn between the two shock options. From what i know, the Pintop excels at high speed off road and would help support the weight of the truck bed camper. The Pathfinder would be a better on road ride and possibly better for the lower speed offroading we typically have in GA. Would the Pintop be the better choice due to the added weight and needed stability or go Pathfinder for the longer road trips and lower speed offroading?

Vecman · 2026-11-02T13:04:37-0600

If the Tune M1 is on all the time, I’d just go with the pathfinder. I can’t imagine hitting washboards and whoops at high speed with a camper on it

FordTremorGA · 2026-11-02T13:09:40-0600

Vecman said:
If the Tune M1 is on all the time, I’d just go with the pathfinder. I can’t imagine hitting washboards and whoops at high speed with a camper on it

Yes sir! Camper topper stays on all the time. Thank you for the advice. I kept thinking Pintop was the way to go since Carli seems to push pintop as well as the guys from CJC (Cody had the Pintop on his Hawk and Supertramp) on camper builds but to your point, I am not hitting any of the trails at speed.

Vecman · 2026-11-02T13:18:35-0600

Now, if there’s an advantage of the pintop over the pathfinder for the weight of the camper always being there, then that’s a sodden question. I just went with the e-venture so I didn’t have to compromise on either on or off road driving regardless of use

Silverghost · 2026-11-02T13:40:49-0600

Neither of those systems were designed for constant weight in the bed unless Carli has been testing HD trucks carrying slide in camper setups on the washboards and woops. Both of those shock choices will require earlier rebuild intervals as well. There are a lot of miles between Georgia and the 'West.' Why not get the springs and match them with a towing type damper

FordTremorGA · 2026-11-02T13:46:02-0600

Silverghost said:
Neither of those systems were designed for constant weight in the bed unless Carli has been testing HD trucks carrying slide in camper setups on the washboards and woops. Both of those shock choices will require earlier rebuild intervals as well. There are a lot of miles between Georgia and the 'West.' Why not get the springs and match them with a towing type damper

I am by no means a Carli expert but to my understanding the XHD leafs which are designed for the constant 2,000lbs load capacity are also meant for truck campers which it states on their website. Since the leafs are paired with a corresponding Shock, they are all designed to work as one unit. I think Carli knows truck campers are becoming even more common and has even tuned their pintop package specifically for Supertramp.

Silverghost · 2026-11-02T13:56:52-0600

FordTremorGA said:
I am by no means a Carli expert but to my understanding the XHD leafs which are designed for the constant 2,000lbs load capacity are also meant for truck campers which it states on their website. Since the leafs are paired with a corresponding Shock, they are all designed to work as one unit. I think Carli knows truck campers are becoming even more common and has even tuned their pintop package specifically for Supertramp.

I know they can be valved specifically by application. Been a couple years since I sold a full Carli optioned F350. Maybe the right people to ask would be trophy chase teams that run HD trucks with the response packages they carry. As others have said you are not going to be bombing washboards and FS roads either way so what does a $4k plus shock package net you?

My test for any off-road capable suspension would be the 26 miles of the Green river lakes road ran at 45mph in Wyoming. Arguably the worst road I've ever driven in the lower 48. Good luck with your decision.

FordTremorGA · 2026-11-02T13:57:04-0600

Vecman said:
Now, if there’s an advantage of the pintop over the pathfinder for the weight of the camper always being there, then that’s a sodden question. I just went with the e-venture so I didn’t have to compromise on either on or off road driving regardless of use

Heard great things about the E-venture! Best of both worlds

FordTremorGA · 2026-11-02T14:02:15-0600

Silverghost said:
I know they can be valved specifically by application. Been a couple years since I sold a full Carli optioned F350. Maybe the right people to ask would be trophy chase teams that run HD trucks with the response packages they carry. As others have said you are not going to be bombing washboards and FS roads either way so what does a $4k plus shock package net you?

My test for any off-road capable suspension would be the 26 miles of the Green river lakes road ran at 45mph in Wyoming. Arguably the worst road I've ever driven in the lower 48. Good luck with your decision.

That is a great idea and a fair point!

I did my first trip out to Wyoming a few years back and loved every minute of it. Spending a few nights camping in the Bighorn National Forest is on my bucket list. Thank you for the advice!