Agile Quigley RIP - horrible ride??

[deserteagle56]

Sportsmobile 4x4 is the same.

That's just the up-travel. My Sportsmobile 4x4 had 2" of up-travel, but there's also a lot more down-travel possible.

^This!

And that up-travel is about the same with any solid front axle pickup, straight from the factory.

This same discussion came up a few years ago. At that time I had a couple heavy duty solid front axle pickups - a Ford and a Dodge. Curious as to how they compared, I measured the distance from the front axle to the bumpstop on both pickups and on my Quigley. And they all measured almost exactly the same - right around 2-1/2" inches.

I think the difference is in "felt" impact. In a pickup the front tire is a few feet out in front of the driver. In an E-series van your feet are pretty much over the front tire.

 

[carringb]

Another difference with the Quigleys is the retention of the factory jounce stops. The rubber on those spec’d for the original IFS, which has about a 2-1 motion ratio at the stops, so they’re twice as hard as the jounce stops should be for a solid-axle setup. Maybe even more so a relatively light van.

 

[geoffff]

And that up-travel is about the same with any solid front axle pickup, straight from the factory.

This same discussion came up a few years ago. At that time I had a couple heavy duty solid front axle pickups - a Ford and a Dodge. Curious as to how they compared, I measured the distance from the front axle to the bumpstop on both pickups and on my Quigley. And they all measured almost exactly the same - right around 2-1/2" inches.

Wow, I didn't realize the up-travel was quite that bad on heavy duty 4x4 trucks like the F350! I thought it was more like 4"

I think the difference is in "felt" impact. In a pickup the front tire is a few feet out in front of the driver. In an E-series van your feet are pretty much over the front tire.

Yes, that's a good point! In a normal truck or car the driver experiences an average (though not totally 50:50) of what the front and rear axles are doing. The E-Series van isn't quite cab-over, but it's close. The driver experiences almost 100% of front axle impacts.

The other issue I hear about the Ford E-Series van is that the engine (engine cradle/crossmember) is positioned such it interferes with front differential up-travel -- whereas the engine doesn't do so in the F-Series trucks. Some E-Series 4x4 converters move the front axle forward a bit to avoid this problem.

 

[fattmann]

Welp. I'll be giving Agile a call tomorrow. Pictures attached below.

I finally had time this weekend to pull the boot off. I wasn't able to slide the boot up, so I just pulled the shock off the bottom eyelet, removed boot, and put the shock back on the eyelet stud.

0.45 inches.

That's all the shaft there is between the eyelet housing and the shock body. (I know the calipers in my picture aren't perpendicular to the shaft, but illustrates the point).

These front shocks are Fox 986-24-057. Does anyone have pictures of these installed on a Quigley?

Took some other measurements that Agile hadn't asked for below.

Center of lower eyelet stud to top mounting surface of top stem hole: 14.25"
Flat pavement to flat inside lip of stock fender: 40"

Not sure why these seem so far out of spec. Do the tubular Quigley arms have a different shock mounting point? I made sure to note to Agile that I had the old square arms, maybe they haven't a clue the configuration of them. :shrug:

 

[Twoxentrix]

Can't believe someone actually installed those for you and didn't say anything. :g7:

 

[fattmann]

Can't believe someone actually installed those for you and didn't say anything. :g7:

Unfortunately I did the install lol.

I installed the shocks at full droop, with the boots on, and didn't think to measure to confirm everything. With the boots on it looks off, but I took Agile at their word since they probably have a few thousand of these kits in the wild.

I didn't imagine the shocks "built for the Econoline Quigley platform", would be so out of spec.

 

[carringb]

Dang. That’s bad. Like stop driving bad, before you cause damage.

Still makes my think my original theory is correct…. Whoever took your order has no idea that the pre-‘07 E150s ride on their own chassis which is different from the ‘07+ E150s, which share the chassis with the E250/350.

 

[Twoxentrix]

Unfortunately I did the install lol.

Ha! Don't beat yourself up too badly, we all have our moments! :d8:

 

[fattmann]

Dang. That’s bad. Like stop driving bad, before you cause damage.

Still makes my think my original theory is correct…. Whoever took your order has no idea that the pre-‘07 E150s ride on their own chassis which is different from the ‘07+ E150s, which share the chassis with the E250/350.

Yup. Took it on two test drives, less than 2 mi each, has been parked since before starting this thread.

Will be calling Agile tomorrow to chat with them to see what they are willing to make right.

 

[1der]

.... they probably have a few thousand of these kits in the wild.....

More like a few hundred

 

[1der]

Do you have the Quigley build sheet for your rig? If not typically they can get it to you giving them the VIN.

That should have the original spec shocks that you can work off of so you can get the Fox equivalent w Agile spec valving.

 

[fattmann]

More like a few hundred

Oh, wow. I thought they had a lot more than that.

 

[1der]

Oh, wow. I thought they had a lot more than that.

Maybe a total of 10 to 12 yr run 2010/11 to 2021 at 2 conversions/mo average is my guess.

 

[The_Vermonster]

Just throwing it out there, are you sure you have the correct springs?

 

[fattmann]

Just throwing it out there, are you sure you have the correct springs?

Yes.

Ordered them from O'Reilly's auto parts, they match all the physical dimensions of the old springs, and provide the same ride height within ~1/2 in.

 

[fattmann]

Well I think I'll wind this thread down (unless someone has some suggestions for me).

Agile called me back and say that Fox doesn't make a short enough shock for my current mounting location. Their only two options are to have me return the shocks, or get my lower shock mount cut off the top control arm and relocated to the lower control arm. Then they would see about helping find me a new shock in the Fox catalogue.

While I may end up going the mount relocation route, it will be at a later time. When I pull the control arms I want to have someone box them in, and get some new bushings for them, so I may just wait until I'm ready for that (and source some new bushing, which will be a hassle for sure).

Idk if there's a resale value for the 986-24-057 shocks enough to be worth keeping them on hand.

I think I'm going to try and source a shock that matches the existing mounting points, which I believe is the F150 spec of a similar year in, the mean time.

Thanks again for everyone's input!