Shocks

[MOAK]

Coming from the Landcruiser, Jeep TJ worlds I’m having a bit of a learning curve- this springtime I will be visiting Deaver Springs in Santa Ana Ca for Jeff and his crew to add leafs to support a constant 2500 lb load. I’ve trusted this company since the late 1970s to do what is best for any given application. I’ll be going up a bit higher than stock, getting that highboy rake back. I’m thinking Bilstein 5100s for the rear and 4600s for the front as 5100s in the front require a lifted suspension. I’ve never mixed shocks before, but in this case it seems like the reasonable thing to do. Picture for attention!

 

[bear_den_overland]

Cool. We just added the 6112’s up front. Previously we had the Icon 2.5 but they need to be rebuilt and have a broken spring. Honestly we will just keep the 6112’s. I think I like the ride better.

 

[MOAK]

What are you driving and what is in the rear? ( poor Starlink here) Those 6112 are good shocks, but I do have a solid front axle.

 

[bear_den_overland]

What are you driving and what is in the rear? ( poor Starlink here) Those 6112 are good shocks, but I do have a solid front axle.

Ah Ok. We have Icon 2.0 on the Back with the Icon RXT leaf pack in stage 3 . Stage 3 is the stiffest. we’ve got some weight but cut some too for our last adventure.

 

[smritte]

Your shocks are balanced to your vehicle build. They control how fast your suspension moves up and down. The stiffer the shock the slower the suspension moves. The restriction is converted to heat. The heavier the suspension, the more heat generated. Heat generated is also going to be speed based. If you take a 2 inch body shock (same tube length and body design), it will absorb the same heat regardless of who builds it, as long as you stay with the major manufacture's. There's three basic shock designs. Standard gas shock where the gas is sitting on the shock oil (emulsion). Where there is a piston separating the gas and oil (IFP or internal floating piston) and reservoir (Remote IFP). I recommend either of the IFP with the reservoir being the easiest to buy. The standard gas shock is fine until the dirt road mix's the oil and gas into a froth. Now the shock becomes useless until it sits and separates. Long dirt roads can cause this.

The issue then is valving. Buying an out of the box shock is like buying shoes without knowing the actual size. The valving has to match. If you have two vehicles, one is solid axle and the other is independent, the solid will generate more heat and require a diffrent valving than the independent. The manufacture valves them based on the vehicles stock (unmodified) weight and bumps it up a little on the stiffness for off road. Also, shock manufactures lean towards a slightly stiff highway valving because most people drive more street and they don't want complaints of being too stiff. Most people who don't drive too fast on dirt roads are happy with the standard valving. I drive too fast for it and require a re-valved. tunable shock.

If the vehicle feels good on the dirt roads at your chosen speed, see if it feels squishy after 40 miles of dirt road. if it gets softer, you need a bigger shock with the same valving. To give you an idea. My Tacoma runs 2.0" body Icons and my Cruiser runs 2.5", both with reservoirs. When I ran a non reservoir 2.0 on the cruiser, it would get real soft after about 30 mins of 40 mph dirt road. Both vehicles now are perfect. In the past, I got about a year on the cruiser shocks before I overheated and needed to replace them. On my trailer I run a small KYB shock and they don't go six trips before I blow them out. I need either a short 2" or just a reservoir in the 1.5" I have. I'm having a hard time justifying $500 for custom length reservoir shocks. In the short size, all I can find is emulsion gas shocks valved for an early Volkswagen bug.

When I give advice like this, the response is normally "I'm not racing Baja with it!". Correct, that takes a diffrent valving and more expensive shock. Remember, the shock is tuned to the vehicle and application.

 

[highboy4x4]

Your shocks are balanced to your vehicle build. They control how fast your suspension moves up and down. The stiffer the shock the slower the suspension moves. The restriction is converted to heat. The heavier the suspension, the more heat generated. Heat generated is also going to be speed based. If you take a 2 inch body shock (same tube length and body design), it will absorb the same heat regardless of who builds it, as long as you stay with the major manufacture's. There's three basic shock designs. Standard gas shock where the gas is sitting on the shock oil (emulsion). Where there is a piston separating the gas and oil (IFP or internal floating piston) and reservoir (Remote IFP). I recommend either of the IFP with the reservoir being the easiest to buy. The standard gas shock is fine until the dirt road mix's the oil and gas into a froth. Now the shock becomes useless until it sits and separates. Long dirt roads can cause this.

The issue then is valving. Buying an out of the box shock is like buying shoes without knowing the actual size. The valving has to match. If you have two vehicles, one is solid axle and the other is independent, the solid will generate more heat and require a diffrent valving than the independent. The manufacture valves them based on the vehicles stock (unmodified) weight and bumps it up a little on the stiffness for off road. Also, shock manufactures lean towards a slightly stiff highway valving because most people drive more street and they don't want complaints of being too stiff. Most people who don't drive too fast on dirt roads are happy with the standard valving. I drive too fast for it and require a re-valved. tunable shock.

If the vehicle feels good on the dirt roads at your chosen speed, see if it feels squishy after 40 miles of dirt road. if it gets softer, you need a bigger shock with the same valving. To give you an idea. My Tacoma runs 2.0" body Icons and my Cruiser runs 2.5", both with reservoirs. When I ran a non reservoir 2.0 on the cruiser, it would get real soft after about 30 mins of 40 mph dirt road. Both vehicles now are perfect. In the past, I got about a year on the cruiser shocks before I overheated and needed to replace them. On my trailer I run a small KYB shock and they don't go six trips before I blow them out. I need either a short 2" or just a reservoir in the 1.5" I have. I'm having a hard time justifying $500 for custom length reservoir shocks. In the short size, all I can find is emulsion gas shocks valved for an early Volkswagen bug.

When I give advice like this, the response is normally "I'm not racing Baja with it!". Correct, that takes a diffrent valving and more expensive shock. Remember, the shock is tuned to the vehicle and application.

As one looking into new shocks, I enjoyed your write up! Gives me more ammo to justify pulling the proverbial trigger on the big money reservoir shocks. My F350 just went 17 days in the dirt and the front bottomed out many times which gave me pause. So I slowed down and still I heard that bang! So I think the gas shocks are no longer good for my adventures!

 

[MOAK]

Well now you’ve given me even more to think about and consider. I too, cannot bring myself to purchasing high end shocks with external reseviors that need to be rebuilt every 50K miles or so. What are your thoughts on the 5100/4600s ? The reviews I have scoured over say they are better valued for constant heavy loads than the fox or ranchos. On a side note when I was running pre 67 bugs- I did use KYBs up front and Gabriel air shocks in the rear.

 

[MOAK]

As one looking into new shocks, I enjoyed your write up! Gives me more ammo to justify pulling the proverbial trigger on the big money reservoir shocks. My F350 just went 17 days in the dirt and the front bottomed out many times which gave me pause. So I slowed down and still I heard that bang! So I think the gas shocks are no longer good for my adventures!

What shocks do you have?

 

[smritte]

I too, cannot bring myself to purchasing high end shocks with external reservoirs that need to be rebuilt every 50K miles or so

Realistically, a street shock is no longer at 100% at around 20k miles. 50K their most likely below 40%. That's street driving. With dirt, everything is considered half life. Not just shocks. This info was from a guy I knew who worked for Monroe shocks. He would come down to my school a few times a year and give seminars for my students. He had custom acrylic shocks made so you could see how the diffrent designs worked. They were real cool.

A shock that's properly sized for a stock street vehicle will see extended life from something higher end and (or) bigger diameter. Heat is the killer. you need more oil, more nitrogen, aluminum body is a bonus.
Pretty much all the aftermarket, name brand shocks run the same valve's. Their small steel disks that you stack. More disks, more restriction. They flex some. If you want a visual, think 2 stroke engine reed valve's.
I've been told (never tore down a cheap shock) that some factory and low end shocks can run plastic valves.

What are your thoughts on the 5100/4600s

One of my Jeeps had 5100 Bilstein's. The valving was close enough to what I needed and they were aluminum body (plus/plus). My only complaint was I couldn't tune them and I needed reservoirs but couldn't afford them, but as I said, they were close enough for that particular build.

A side note on Icon. Icon is primarily Toyota. The Icon system I have on my Tacoma is a TRD pro spec with the valving leaning more toward off road than street. So tuned for a moderate lift with 32"-33" tires. This is how they come, I didn't need to re-valve them. I had the truck up to 55mph on dirt and that was about the limit of the shocks. I don't drive that fast so I'm good. Street wise their slightly stiff but I like it. When it comes to non Toyota, their stuff will be as close as everyone else's shocks.

You can send an email to the diffrent shock manufactures with your specs and see what they recommend. Do not contact and off-road store. They will just give you whatever they have laying around and not what you need.
Personally, I would just throw some 5100's on it and see what happens.