Kind of a follow-up to my thread looking for torques specs.... In case anyone opts for TLDR..... spoiler is the Fox shocks are a very noticeably better ride than the Bilsteins.
The front Fox 2.0 shocks are now installed and after a little 20 mile test drive on the country roads around my place (very rough roads torn to crap by Amish buggies btw) I'll give my early impressions and a bit of info.
- My truck was lifted +/- 2.5" with RC torsion keys in the front and 2" spacers in the rear. At that time front shocks installed were Bilstein 5100 part no. 24-186735. If you look at any online source or Fox's web site, they will give the impression that there is simply not a Fox front option for my truck with 2.5" of lift. Closest they show is 0-1" lift and then skip to 4-6" and beyond. However if you look at travel, it raised questions vs my Bilsteins. The Fox 0-1" lift shock is both shorter in compressed length and longer in extended length than the Bilsteins.
I called Shock Surplus and talked to one of their reps about this. He agreed with my thought that there was no reason the Fox 2.0 shouldn't work. So order placed. As a side note, Shock Surplus has a very informative web site, fellow I spoke to by phone was super helpful, and delivery was very quick. He even offered that should I decide to buy the rear shocks in the future that they will honor the total price as if I had bought the package with all 4 shocks. And then threw another $25 discount on the fronts + a steering stabilizer to boot. Customer service doesn't get much better than that.
- Installation was easy. Took me about 1 1/2 hour. But I'm old & meticulous so coulda been done quicker. Only hiccup was I was a bit freaked out by no stem spacer on the Fox to ensure the stem stays centered in the top mount. The top & bottom rubber bushings have a raised area instead, but it was slightly bigger than my mount hole. Making certain that the top shock stem is indeed centered before turning down the bolt was a bit of a pain. Once torqued down, I felt better and don't think it can move.
- Interesting to note that with the Bilsteins the shock body is on the bottom and then the stem with boot cover on top. The Fox's are the opposite. Shock body is up and is what you see in your wheel well. Kinda sexy.
- Installation done, truck on the ground & everything torqued, height to underside of wheel well as a 1/2" higher than with the Bilsteins. But after a short drive that settled down to closer to 1/4"
- Driving there is a pretty significant improvement in ride. Even with the Fox's on the front only. As in, enough better that it put a huge smile on my face. I'm still smiling. There is however a bit more nose dive in a panic braking situation. I expected that and it's certainly not bad.
Can't wait to get a trailer behind it and then better yet, come November see how it does on CO forest Service roads. I certainly don't expect it to handle like the 4Runner I built and then gave to my oldest daughter, but I'm thinking my 'Burb won't at least be still bringing tears to my eyes and having me beg her to switch vehicles. After that and some trailer time, I'll decide if I'll put the Fox shocks on the rear as well.
Next up... Black Bear Autocal in the near future, then probably a Yakima Lock n Load rack. And if only I could find a grille guard.
The front Fox 2.0 shocks are now installed and after a little 20 mile test drive on the country roads around my place (very rough roads torn to crap by Amish buggies btw) I'll give my early impressions and a bit of info.
- My truck was lifted +/- 2.5" with RC torsion keys in the front and 2" spacers in the rear. At that time front shocks installed were Bilstein 5100 part no. 24-186735. If you look at any online source or Fox's web site, they will give the impression that there is simply not a Fox front option for my truck with 2.5" of lift. Closest they show is 0-1" lift and then skip to 4-6" and beyond. However if you look at travel, it raised questions vs my Bilsteins. The Fox 0-1" lift shock is both shorter in compressed length and longer in extended length than the Bilsteins.
I called Shock Surplus and talked to one of their reps about this. He agreed with my thought that there was no reason the Fox 2.0 shouldn't work. So order placed. As a side note, Shock Surplus has a very informative web site, fellow I spoke to by phone was super helpful, and delivery was very quick. He even offered that should I decide to buy the rear shocks in the future that they will honor the total price as if I had bought the package with all 4 shocks. And then threw another $25 discount on the fronts + a steering stabilizer to boot. Customer service doesn't get much better than that.
- Installation was easy. Took me about 1 1/2 hour. But I'm old & meticulous so coulda been done quicker. Only hiccup was I was a bit freaked out by no stem spacer on the Fox to ensure the stem stays centered in the top mount. The top & bottom rubber bushings have a raised area instead, but it was slightly bigger than my mount hole. Making certain that the top shock stem is indeed centered before turning down the bolt was a bit of a pain. Once torqued down, I felt better and don't think it can move.
- Interesting to note that with the Bilsteins the shock body is on the bottom and then the stem with boot cover on top. The Fox's are the opposite. Shock body is up and is what you see in your wheel well. Kinda sexy.
- Installation done, truck on the ground & everything torqued, height to underside of wheel well as a 1/2" higher than with the Bilsteins. But after a short drive that settled down to closer to 1/4"
- Driving there is a pretty significant improvement in ride. Even with the Fox's on the front only. As in, enough better that it put a huge smile on my face. I'm still smiling. There is however a bit more nose dive in a panic braking situation. I expected that and it's certainly not bad.
Can't wait to get a trailer behind it and then better yet, come November see how it does on CO forest Service roads. I certainly don't expect it to handle like the 4Runner I built and then gave to my oldest daughter, but I'm thinking my 'Burb won't at least be still bringing tears to my eyes and having me beg her to switch vehicles. After that and some trailer time, I'll decide if I'll put the Fox shocks on the rear as well.
Next up... Black Bear Autocal in the near future, then probably a Yakima Lock n Load rack. And if only I could find a grille guard.
