I need to get shocks for my 02 2500 soon and was thinking about a set of Fox shocks. I remember reading an article in Fourwheeler where they put a set on their 3rd gen. test truck and they loved the ride. I'm just looking for something that rides nice, don't need anything fance with the external resevoirs and such. I do have a leveling kit in the front, so I don't know if I need anything longer than stock. I was gonna get the bilstein 5100's, but thought I might give the Fox's a try first. Does anyone know where I can get them?

 

Go with the 5100's....you really can't go wrong with them. An excellent quality shock with multiple stage valving at a very reasonable price. You will pay dearly for those take-apart Fox shocks that are still what amounts to a single stage emulsion shock. They are good quality units but I feel the specific benefits they offer are lost on a street driven CTD.

 

Exactly. If you're going to go Fox, you better spring for a full-boogie bypass shock or there's no point in upgrading past the 5100s.

JMO

 

One of the guys that joined my crew at Glamis last trip had 5100s.3 out of 4 are leaking.He was not even trying to keep up with the rest of us.If you off road with anything above a slow pace step up in the shock dept or you will be buying twice.

Bob

 

Bob.........you also have several bent axle housings in your crowd.....

How much abuse can you expect a $70 shock to take?

Not many folks flog their trucks the way you do....nor can they afford to. If you ever decide to sell the 05, I'll until the deals' done

afoulk, the 2" Fox shock isn't worth the difference in cost vs. a 5100. If your looking for a good street ride and occasional light off roading (like fire roads) the 5100 is your best bet. If you need more shock than that, step up to a minimum 2.5" reservoir shock.

 

if you want to break the bank get fox, otherwise get bilstien shocks, from what iv read they are the favored ones, and my dads toyota trd rides very smooth

 

The 2.0 Fox shock is like a polished turd. It looks nice and shiny but it stinks. Jump up to the 2.5's or stay with the Bilstein.

 

I'm looking for a bombproof offroad suspension. Are King shocks King? Should I be looking to Carli, Lorenz, Kore Or Thuren?

 

For 2nd gen definitely call Don. He's been doing 2nd gens a long time. And the King shocks are as good as, if not better than, anything else out there.

 

With king your just paying for the 'blue-shock'. Not any better than saw, fox, or radflo.

 

No more so than paying for the red, blue or black of SAW, FOX or Radflo. They're al good shocks and priced about the same. And next time you're at a SCORE, CORR or whatever race count how many trucks run each brand of shock and see who's "King".

 

I go to the races. I know. Have you bought into the hype? They all use the same junk. My king shocks I have can interchange parts with my ADS shocks, or my mcmaster carr catalag.
They are all the same, but are more money.
The big teams use them, because they have more money and why buy the cheaper shock when you have an unlimited budget.

 

Not trying to be argumentative, but I don't think the Kings are any more expensive than the others. At least they weren't when I bought. When shopping coilovers for my Titan Radflos where the most expensive, then Sway-A-Way then FOX. King didn't have anything that fit.

And you can't really say they all use the same parts. I'm not up on the internals of Radflo shocks, but Kings and FOX are quite a bit different. Materials are similar, but design is different.

 

the 5100's ride great. However the yellow is ugly as sin and the nickle plated almost instantly got pitted and crudded up on both trucks, And one of the rears with only a few thousand miles on it is leaking allready. I'm going to personally try to find a shock that rides just as nice but has a much better finish (powder coated or something I hope) and maybe lasts longer then a month.

 

5100's will be fine for the average passenger truck. Whoever says that King's, Sway A Way's, Fox's or Bilstein's are the same except for the color is sadly mistaken. Take a shock apart and look at the significant differences in piston design. Yes, you can go to McMaster and get seals for all of them but piston design and oil flow is what makes them different. A valve stack in a shock made by King will react completely different than the same stack in a Bilstein. Manufacturing tolerances are quite different between the brands as well. Some may be more prone to leaking than others because they have become more of a production shock than a race component with the highest quality. Race teams often use what shocks they know and what company is closer to them. It is safe to say that most race teams out of Orange County use King's because King is in Orange County and most San Diego based teams use Fox because Fox is in San Diego. Whatever race shock you buy can be altered to make it do what you want with the proper knowledge. Eric