Shocks Recomendations

[Abitibi]

Has anyone considered Fox? They are usually pretty good with matching your needs and the shock quality is great. They're probably only $40 more... One fellow had them on his SMB at Expo this year and loved them.

Cheers
Mr. D

[BajaSportsmobile]

Originally Posted by Abitibi

Has anyone considered Fox? They are usually pretty good with matching your needs and the shock quality is great. They're probably only $40 more... One fellow had them on his SMB at Expo this year and loved them.

Cheers
Mr. D

I use FOX Shox a lot and have custom valved 2.0 Performance Series on my Sportsmobile. They are awesome.

[E350]

Hey Baja:

Fox Shox's website doesn't list a shock for the E350 (or my 95 Bronco).

If there is anyone in this forum who would know about shocks with custom valving for unique vehicles, based on your past posts, it would be you. I just put the mfg. recommended Bilsteins on my wife's Dakota and they seem fine and even add a little ride height.

But our vans run anything from a Twin Traction Beam D44 to a solid axle D60 with different ride heights (lifts). And some have heavy diesels and others smaller, less weighty, engines. And some are extended bodies while others are short bodies. Some even have 2" body lifts for wheel chair lifts.

So, if you get time, would you post a check list on what we should do to be able to determine what length shock, what valving, etc.?

I would also like to know if you can change the valving yourself (hard to do on a pressurized shock?), or if you send them back in for revalving in order to try different valving.

[I have to put new shocks on my TTB 5.8 Bronco as well as my 4x4 solid axle 7.3 E350 ext. van, so I am personally very interested in your response based on your Baja race-build experience. This thread with your response would also help other Sportsmobilers in years to come.]

[BajaSportsmobile]

I am a big advocate for proper suspension tuning and application for our SMB Vans. They are heavy, heavily sprung and have a high center of gravity that is not easy to control.

One of the problems is that no two SMBs are alike, weight and weight placement can vary greatly, as can suspension design.

There are several various suspensions used in the 4X4 conversion process and that means different geometry and different shock placements. For example, I recently figured out that Quigley relocates the rear shock's lower mounting point upward by the length of the lift they install so that the factory length shock is maintained. It was a silly thing to do, because it is so limiting.

As and example; last week Brent Haywood (haywoodphotomaccom) and I spent the better part of two days messing with his QuadVan looking to improve ride and handling.

We pulled the front springs and dual Bilstein shocks out (at least three times, lol) and took measurements. We did a lot of cycling of the suspension without the springs in and learned several important things, one being that the sway bar was binding at full droop and restricting full travel - a minor item and easy to fix. We learned that fully bottomed out, with all of the weight on the rubber bump stops, that there was very little additional clearance from the frame cross member to the differential and axle housing.

The main problem with Brent's QuadVan (as with most SMB's) was it had only 1.5 inches of bump travel to the stops. When you hit a hole, even a small one, it would bottom out on the front stops and that was very jarring. We tested the springs, at Fox's facilities, and found the spring rate he was currently running. We wanted to add more ride height to get more bump travel, but not much, and I felt that a slightly longer and stiffer spring would do the trick. The spring I wanted was not available until the next day, so we went with a two inch longer spring with a lower spring rate - just because we had to put something in so he could drive it and we would learn nothing from putting the original springs back in.

That spring lifted the front 2.5 inches, which was more than wanted and left only .5 inch of droop with existing shocks. Had we wanted the additional lift, we would have need different shocks. He did say it rode well as it was.

The next day the springs we wanted arrived, so we went through the process again and installed them. We picked up about 1.25 inches of bump travel and an additional ~75 lbs of spring rate which will help to keep it from bottoming out as well as the shocks having more travel to slow the suspension down.

So this is just a brief view of some of the things we looked at and took into consideration. We made significant improvements and kept the original Bilsteins. We could have done more, changed shocks, added travel... but this was a reasonable solution. Springs were only ~$140.

So... there are no simple answers.

P.s. Along the way, we replaced a broken brake line (happened before we worked on anything, but got us started) with custom SS Braided Lines, changed out a worn tie-rod end, corrected the rear pinion angle and had the bent drive shaft repaired and balanced.

P.p.s Yesterday I saw Brent pulling onto the Freeway just ahead of me and followed be hind him for 10 miles without him knowing - stance and handling looked great. Could use some more rebound damping in the back shocks - someday.

Maybe Brent can post some pictures (the ones that make me look good only!) of the whole process - he took a few.

[Steve_382]

Originally Posted by Steve_382

For what it's worth, I ordered new Bilsteins this week for my 2008 Quigley. They should be here Friday and I hope to get them installed Monday or Tuesday. I will try to update, hopefully with a good review. I ordered them from 4 Wheel Parts.

Front 24-186674 $76.99 each
Rear 33-176840 $119.00 each

The rear are actually called struts, so maybe that's why they cost more. Seems like the price varies quite a bit from one online dealer to the other, but they had these in stock and we are getting ready to head out for a month or so and wanted the new shocks.

Quigley verified these numbers for me and had them in stock also, but their price was considerably higher. I am tempted to install them, but my Ford dealer said he would be happy to do it for the labor and they do have nice lifts and all the tools. My knuckles feel better already. I will save the skin for rock climbing on our trip.

Just an update on these new shocks. We put about 400 interstate miles on today and I think they may be an improvement over the previous shocks (Rancho front, factory rear) that came from Quigley originally. Big cracks and repairs still jar some, but I haven't bottomed out yet and it seems to absorb the smaller ones a little better. I will be interested to see what happens when I get on some washboards roads later in the trip.

[BajaSportsmobile]

con

Originally Posted by Steve_382

I haven't bottomed out yet.

Put a little dab of grease or vaseline on the bottom of the rubber bumpstops above your front axle. It is a Quigley, it is bottoming out - you will see the transfer of grease to the contact point on the axle to confirm this.

[05 Sprinter]

I just finished installing a new set of Bilstein 7100 series shocks on the rear of 05 SMB last night. The stem adapter on the left shock had backed off on the other set(no locktite) and almost can openered my fuel tank.
On the new set I went with heim joints on both ends and adapted a set of PRO COMP stem conversion kits to the top hanger. This makes for a much stronger set up and allows the shock to be mounted in the correct position, the shock body mounted to the frame, reducing unsprung weight.
A lot more time, but worth the effort..I hope.

Tom

[Gnarvan]

Originally Posted by BajaSportsmobile

Maybe Brent can post some pictures (the ones that make me look good only!).

Is photoshop powerful enough to make that happen?

[E350]

Originally Posted by tneuer

I just finished installing a new set of Bilstein 7100 series shocks on the rear of 05 SMB last night. The stem adapter on the left shock had backed off on the other set(no locktite) and almost can openered my fuel tank.
On the new set I went with heim joints on both ends and adapted a set of PRO COMP stem conversion kits to the top hanger. This makes for a much stronger set up and allows the shock to be mounted in the correct position, the shock body mounted to the frame, reducing unsprung weight.
A lot more time, but worth the effort..I hope.

Tom

Pictures are always appreciated...

[05 Sprinter]

Will do, when I get home from work tonight.

Tom