"Bulletproofing" Front Suspension

LSUtiger869 · November 11, 2016

Hello all,

My work has me on some of the worst roads around South and West Texas driving through various ranches. My old F-150 just had a Rancho Quicklift system on the front and I was tearing through ball joints and TREs. With this truck I wanted less maintenance with better performance off-road. So far I have Fox 2.5" non-resi coilovers up front with Cognito balljoint UCAs and Fox 2.0" non-resi rear shocks. I plan to remove the stock rear block for a zone add-a-leaf to finish my rear end.

I cut the factory droop stops off per the Cognito instructions, but now I would like to install some sort of limit strap set up to keep from prematurely blowing out my coilovers. Mounting the clevis sleeve on the chassis is fairly straightforward, but I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to working with various metals and am not sure how I should mount the LCA clevis tab. I have the factory aluminum suspension and am looking for input on how I should attach my strap to the LCA. Most of the tabs I see are mild steel, can this be successfully welded to aluminum control arms? The easy route would seem to be drilling a hole in the LCA to mount the strap, but I'm not sure how badly this could compromise the structural integrity. Any input is appreciated.

Here's a picture of the suspension set up.

Dozer466 · November 11, 2016

Usually with aluminum control arms it's not a good idea because the material will tear where the tab is welded. Call SDHQ in Arizona, they may have an idea of how to get something to work. You may also want to get some cam plates from dirt king fab for the UCA. They lock the alignment in and are very heavy duty.

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JasonAVGuy · November 11, 2016

Hello all,

My work has me on some of the worst roads around South and West Texas driving through various ranches. My old F-150 just had a Rancho Quicklift system on the front and I was tearing through ball joints and TREs. With this truck I wanted less maintenance with better performance off-road. So far I have Fox 2.5" non-resi coilovers up front with Cognito balljoint UCAs and Fox 2.0" non-resi rear shocks. I plan to remove the stock rear block for a zone add-a-leaf to finish my rear end.

I cut the factory droop stops off per the Cognito instructions, but now I would like to install some sort of limit strap set up to keep from prematurely blowing out my coilovers. Mounting the clevis sleeve on the chassis is fairly straightforward, but I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to working with various metals and am not sure how I should mount the LCA clevis tab. I have the factory aluminum suspension and am looking for input on how I should attach my strap to the LCA. Most of the tabs I see are mild steel, can this be successfully welded to aluminum control arms? The easy route would seem to be drilling a hole in the LCA to mount the strap, but I'm not sure how badly this could compromise the structural integrity. Any input is appreciated.

Here's a picture of the suspension set up.

Your set up is exactly what I may be looking for! I just started a thread asking for advice but you may have some answers I need. I hope it's ok to ask some questions on your thread and if not please let me know. Are you running your stock rims with this set up? Or can you run stock rims? Did it give you lift and if so how much? I will be following this thread for sure I was thinking on buying a camburg kit but I'm thinking doing what you did is the way to go.

LSUtiger869 · November 11, 2016

No rubbing on the control arms, just a little tire rub on the sway bar bend at full lock. I'm running 285/65r18 Exo Grapplers on 18" stock rims which is essentially the same as 285/70r17, but a little wider.

kstruckcountry · November 11, 2016

Maybe a plate and U-bolt around the LCA? To be honest, limit straps seem like overkill unless you're planning on jumping it.

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LSUtiger869 · November 11, 2016

Maybe a plate and U-bolt around the LCA? To be honest, limit straps seem like overkill unless you're planning on jumping it.

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I've spoken with Cognito and Fox about this and both recommend limiting straps when cutting off the factory droop stop because the way it is currently set up my coilovers are the limiting factor and without some sort of internal stop I am effectively hitting the valves on the bottom of the shock body every time I reach full extension. Also, since the straps tend to stretch they will decelerate the control arm before reaching full extension instead of stopping it whenever it gets to that point.

It may be overkill, but I'd rather add them than have to rebuild my coilovers more often than should be necessary.

Jon A · November 11, 2016

They're telling you those shocks do not have internal droop stops? They're pretty standard for most front shocks sold for these vehicles since the coilovers usually are the limiting factor in droop.

LSUtiger869 · November 12, 2016

They're telling you those shocks do not have internal droop stops? They're pretty standard for most front shocks sold for these vehicles since the coilovers usually are the limiting factor in droop.

They may to some degree, but fox tells you limiting straps or bump stops are needed because the shocks are meant to dampen and rebound, not limit travel.

Quote from Fox:

"FOX shocks are designed only to dampen the travel of the vehicle in compression and rebound. They are not intended to handle severe top-out or bottom-out forces. Be sure to use correct bottom out stops and limiting straps in severe applications."

EDIT: I found an exploded view of the shock and there is a small bottom out bumper at the bottom of the shaft similar to the one on the exposed shaft. I just like the idea of having something more substantial that keeps the bearing from striking that bumper.

Here's the link: http://www.ridefox.com/dl/truck/FOX_TRUCK_2.5IFP_Exploded_A.pdf

Dozer466 · November 12, 2016

Just curious, are you running the shim stack that came with the shocks or did you tune them? Correct shock tuning can go a very long way and smooth the ride out considerably without excessive bottoming or pogo stick rebounding.

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Dozer466 · November 12, 2016

Also, have you cycled the front suspension to see where the UCA ballpoint maxes out in relation to the shock at full extension? Personally I wouldn't be to concerned about the shocks pulling apart due to droop. There are a lot of trucks out there that don't run limit straps and see some serious abuse on a regular basis. Have you checked out DezertRangers? There's a lot of good info on there.

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LSUtiger869 · November 12, 2016

Just curious, are you running the shim stack that came with the shocks or did you tune them? Correct shock tuning can go a very long way and smooth the ride out considerably without excessive bottoming or pogo stick rebounding.

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They're the truck specific shocks that are supposed to be tuned from the factory. Now I know I would benefit from having them custom tuned to adjust a few things, but overall I'm very happy with the current valving.

Also, have you cycled the front suspension to see where the UCA ballpoint maxes out in relation to the shock at full extension? Personally I wouldn't be to concerned about the shocks pulling apart due to droop. There are a lot of trucks out there that don't run limit straps and see some serious abuse on a regular basis. Have you checked out DezertRangers? There's a lot of good info on there.

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Yes, I've checked it at full droop and the upper ball joints are not the limiting factor due to the new Cognito arms. The lower ball joint looks like it has a little more left in it, but is very close to maxed out. This just leaves the shock as the limiting droop factor.

AustinPizzini · February 16, 2020

Did you ever figure out how to mount limit straps?

IronVilkas · February 16, 2020

This is a pretty interesting old thread. I would say you could loop the strap around the arm and then reattach at the top frame mount. Of course you would need twice the length of strap. And idk how that would do just dangling there, might get caught on stuff but could work maybe.

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