Purchasing a set of FOX Shocks

[egarant]

After some extensive research I have decided to but the bullet and spend the hard cash for, what I hope, is the last set of shocks I will have to purchase for my truck.

Some of the reasons I have decided on these particular shocks:

...Aftermarket shocks are extremely limited for my particular truck, no KYB's, no Rancho 9000's...

...OEM shocks and my current Bilsteins were and are absolutely destroyed (way to soft) when the camper is on and my GVVWR is at 14,000 lbs.

I then researched FOX racing shocks. Do a Google search if you want to learn more about them.

I will be purchasing a shock that is specifically valved or "tuned" to my EXACT application, that means vehicle weight, front coil and rear leaf spring rates, shock travel, etc. The owner of the shop supplies and tunes the FOX shocks for the Baja off road races support vehicles. Those are the vehicles that carry all the spare parts and supplies, read that as HEAVY loads, i.e. like our Truck Campers.

My local dealer wants me to bring the truck with the camper loaded so he can drive it, examine it's handling characteristics and then order the appropriate valved FOX Shock.

The new steering stabilizer is their 2.0 Performance Series Stabilizer ATS

The shocks are their 2.5 Factory Series Reservoir - DSC Adjuster's

These shocks are fully rebuildable, so they, in a since will be the last shock I will ever need on this truck. They are adjustable, so I can soften the ride when the TC is off the truck.

Total out of the door cost with installation will be $3,073

Yes that is heart attack country, but so is lack of control when you hurtle 14,000 lbs at 65 mph and have to do an evasive maneuver or other road inconsistency that starts our high center of gravity controlling the truck.

Hell, I paid $90K for the truck and camper, what's an extra $3K to keep it on the road?

I should have them installed by the end of March or very early in April and will give you a full report then.

[egarant]

I've had the FOX shocks on the truck now for a bit over 1,500 miles. A very good combination of twisty Sierra mountain highways, southern California freeways and some forest service washboard roads.

I ride with the high speed compression setting on the lowest setting and the low speed compression on the highest setting.

They are definitely the best shock that I have had on the truck, nothing else I have had comes close. Even DW noticed the difference.

An even bigger difference in feel was the replacement of the OEM steering stabilizer with a FOX unit. Just gave the truck a super solid steering feeling, and stock wasn't bad to begin with.

Expensive, yeah, the ride improvement.... priceless.

[egarant]

Stock valving at this time....see how she rides. They will be installed Tuesday the 16th....

[pcoplin]

egarant wrote:

I don't believe that any shock bought off the shelf has the extreme valving for the applications a HD truck camper set-up needs. There is just no reason for those companies to make them as they will impart a lousy ride for the mass market. Rancho's adjustable are IMO, still baby steps.

Hopefully there is a reason FOX/KING shocks are priced where they are at, I'll soon find out.

Can't knock-em till you've tried-em.

What valving are they installing for you?

The great thing about the Foxes is the ability to revalve them and rebuild them. It's what I do as a little side work.

[Grit_dog]

Interested as well, although bang for the buck will be subjective. After packing my camper around for years on a srw short bed, I can't imagine that a camper about the same weight would result in an unacceptable ride/handling on any newer long bed dually, especially one with upgraded springs.
Yes you can valve it heavy and slow enough to get zero bounce on the rebound, but good luck on a washboard road with that valving. Everything's a trade off.

[Bedlam]

The advantage of a Fox, King or FOA is a larger range of adjustability and the ability to rebuild them.

[jimh406]

Well, I'm probably not going to try them, but I'll be interested to see how much you "love" them. At least I hope you love them. Otherwise, it's going to be painful for you. 😉

[egarant]

I did have the rear leaf pack looked at by Deaver Springs in Santa Ana, CA, an industry leader in the repair/manufacturing of spring packs for the aftermarket industry.

On their recommendation, I added a single leaf to each rear spring pack. With a coil front end there is not much I can do.

I don't sag at all, the backs are much better with the new pack, but the fronts need the better shock.

Sway-bars will not effect the change I am looking for.

I don't believe that any shock bought off the shelf has the extreme valving for the applications a HD truck camper set-up needs. There is just no reason for those companies to make them as they will impart a lousy ride for the mass market. Rancho's adjustable are IMO, still baby steps.

Hopefully there is a reason FOX/KING shocks are priced where they are at, I'll soon find out.

Can't knock-em till you've tried-em.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Sounds good. We'll look forward to hearing it.

At 14,000 lbs GVW, on a sub-14,000 GVWR truck, I suspect the mushy feeling is more caused by insufficient spring rate for the weight of the truck, rather than insufficient shock damping.

I would upgrade to heavier rear spring packs first.

My experience has been, with a 9200 GVWR F350SRW that I loaded to 11,000 lbs daily for 5 years, and then an 11,000 GVWR F350DRW that I loaded 13,000 lbs daily for 4 years, that with aftermarket heavier duty rear spring packs, a rear sway bar, and either Bilstein yellows or Rancho 9000's, there is no need for custom valved, rediculously expensive shocks.

[egarant]

UPDATE:

This has been a LONG process.

When I brought the truck down to the FOX guy in San Diego, he thought that I should try the Rancho 9000 adjustable's first. Now they were not available at the time of the recommendation, but they did come out a few months later.....

I've been running the Rancho 9000's from that time to this day. I have all four set to 9 and still feel that the ride is too mushy.

So in I go next Thursday to get the full FOX 2.5's installed as originally planned. I spoke to many shock folks including the FOX factory that guaranteed that I will feel a huge improvement. Rebuild time given my application should be when there are 40- 50K miles on the shocks.

I also ordered the FOX steering stabilizer, but that won't arrive until late August.

I will be traveling for about a month shortly after the install, on both highway and dirt roads. The stabilizer won't, unfortunately, be installed for that trip as it will be arriving after my scheduled departure.

I will give you a full HONEST opinion when I return.

[Gripnriprod]

They are adjustable.

[805gregg]

How are those shocks going to work with the camper off the truck?

[Mooney]

Fox makes great shocks, enjoy!

[egarant]

pcoplin wrote:
Also, if you wanted the adjustability, get the 2.0 series reservoir with CD adjuster.

The only reason I am getting the reservoir model is they are the only models that have the adjustable setting, so I can adjust the ride when the camper is off the truck.

I spoke with 4 different off road shock shops including FOX technical support, they all strongly recommended the 2.5 shocks for the weight I am carrying....14K.

[pcoplin]

Also, if you wanted the adjustability, get the 2.0 series reservoir with CD adjuster.