Fox Shocks....how do they hold up?

TXGREEK · July 9, 2018

If you guys find any shocks that can handle a winter, let me know. I had rancho mt7000 on my last truck, looked like hell after a year in Chicago winters. They looked their best on day 1 then it was a down hill spiral with pitting and corrosion.

I’m sorry but Ranchos are just some of the worst out there. Stick with Bilstein, you’ll love them!

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Payton34 · July 9, 2018

On 7/5/2018 at 7:26 AM, Cliff14Denali said:

I have bilsteins on my truck with a Zone 6.5". I was looking to swap to Fox Shocks/Coilovers setup and was wondering guys who are running them, how do they look after a year or two? I am in the North East and my bilsteins look like crap after 1 year. I daily drive my truck and its subjected to road salts and brine etc in the winter. I keep up with it the best I can but not matter what it still doesn't hold up. I just don't want to spend all that money and have them look like crap after 1 winter. Pics are appreciated.

I tried clear coating my fox coilovers but after 1st winter they looked like crap. I used a scotch pad to clean the bodies then coated the threads with thin layer of anti sieze and got coilover covers last fall. This spring I removed the covers and they still look perfect and the anti sieze layer still looked the same as when I applied it. I just leave the covers on to avoid dirt from getting on them.

Cliff14Denali · July 17, 2018

On ‎7‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 10:55 AM, Payton34 said:

I tried clear coating my fox coilovers but after 1st winter they looked like crap. I used a scotch pad to clean the bodies then coated the threads with thin layer of anti sieze and got coilover covers last fall. This spring I removed the covers and they still look perfect and the anti sieze layer still looked the same as when I applied it. I just leave the covers on to avoid dirt from getting on them.

Where did you get these and which part number fit your truck??

Payton34 · July 17, 2018

I cannot remember the part # I measured the length and diameter and bought direct from Outerwears. They will also make cover for any size you want if one of the listed sizes doesn't work. https://www.outerwears.com/products.asp?cat=12150

Rock1500 · July 17, 2018

Interesting concept and I think I'll get it for my winters here.

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kevinfranklin · July 20, 2018

I may get roasted for asking this on this thread, but I've looked around and haven't found anyone who's had both Bilstein 5100's and Fox Coilovers.

My truck only has 8k on it, but the Rancho's drive me nuts.......at least I THINK they're contributing to me feeling every little bump in the road, and making the truck shake a bit if I roll over a section of rough paving.

I'm willing to pay for what will increase my satisfaction of my ride, since it is my daily driver and I just hate noticing and then worrying whether what I'm feeling is tranny related or just shock related.

Update: I've talked to a couple shock dealers and the folks at Accutune seemed most knowledgeable.......and they're convinced that for "smoothness" I won't see much improvement in the FOX shocks over Bilsteins unless I go with the Fox 2.5 with reservoirs. Does that sound accurate?

Edited July 23, 2018 by kevinfranklin
new info.....

Sierra706 · July 24, 2018

I may get roasted for asking this on this thread, but I've looked around and haven't found anyone who's had both Bilstein 5100's and Fox Coilovers.
My truck only has 8k on it, but the Rancho's drive me nuts.......at least I THINK they're contributing to me feeling every little bump in the road, and making the truck shake a bit if I roll over a section of rough paving.

I'm willing to pay for what will increase my satisfaction of my ride, since it is my daily driver and I just hate noticing and then worrying whether what I'm feeling is tranny related or just shock related.

Update: I've talked to a couple shock dealers and the folks at Accutune seemed most knowledgeable.......and they're convinced that for "smoothness" I won't see much improvement in the FOX shocks over Bilsteins unless I go with the Fox 2.5 with reservoirs. Does that sound accurate?

You won’t see a giant improvement over normal pavement bumps. Biggest improvement is in big hits, something you’d see off-road. Normal parking lot bumps feel the same.

And even when you do get coils up front and new shocks out back, the rear leaf spring will still stink. So unless you replace that with a Deaver pack too don’t expect to be driving in an 80s caddy.

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kevinfranklin · July 24, 2018

53 minutes ago, Bushleaguechew said:

You won’t see a giant improvement over normal pavement bumps. Biggest improvement is in big hits, something you’d see off-road. Normal parking lot bumps feel the same.
And even when you do get coils up front and new shocks out back, the rear leaf spring will still stink. So unless you replace that with a Deaver pack too don’t expect to be driving in an 80s caddy.

Ah well thanks for the honest feedback...... and that's kinda what I figured, so I'm glad I didn't drop $1600 and then be SUUUPER disappointed. I'll just get used to knowing whether the penny I just drove over was heads-up or tails. ;)

If anyone else has had drastically different results, let me know, but I'm guessing, like Bush said, the improvements occur are realized on "big hits."

sammiller86 · July 24, 2018

Not sure if this is the best place to ask this question so if anyone can point me in the righ direction please do?

I have a '14 z71 double cab I use as my daily driver but also use to tow my horse trailer with roughly 1-2x a month generally. The trailer always weighs different because of the size of the horse or horses I'm hauling but approximately 3500-6000lbs give or take. I live on a dirt road which is not very well maintained. The washboards and potholes are terrible to the point the truck will drift sideways if I go any faster then 10mph. Bumps on the highway are just as bad now and sometimes I feel like the truck is getting thrown into the lanes next to me.

I replaced my stock wrangler SRAs with Light Truck AT3s almost 2 years ago and 40,000 miles ago. The truck ran stiff but never this bad and it has been getting steadily worse for about 6 months now. I still have the stock Ranchos on and ~95k miles. I know everyone says the Rancho's are bad and should be replaced but with what? I've been thinking Bilstein 4600 or 5100 by not sure what is better for my situation. Or if there are better options out there. I don't want to spend a ton of money on shocks that are going to get destroyed on dirt roads in the north east and I still need something I can tow with. This truck is beating me and itself to hell at this point.

Jon A · July 24, 2018

Better shocks will certainly help. The best bang for the buck will likely be the Bilstein 6112 front/ 5160 rear. The rears are available now, the fronts should be soon. For that use I'd personally want something better than the 5100's. Another new option are the Falcon Sports: https://www.falconshocks.com/chevy-gmc-1500 They're new to the truck world but have a pretty good reputation in the Jeep world and are likely another good "medium cost" option. Of course even the lower cost Fox shocks would be a big improvement over what you have now.

A couple of other things that can help:

Horse trailers, depending upon configuration and number of horses loaded can put a large amount of tongue weight on the truck. When that's the case you may be riding right on your bumpstops making the ride rougher and hurting the axle's ability to stay planted on the washboards. A set of airbags to level things up when so loaded will help a lot.

Also tire pressures--while higher pressures are better for handling a trailer when towing on the highway, on a washboarded dirt road lower pressures will help a bunch.

TXGREEK · July 24, 2018

Not sure if this is the best place to ask this question so if anyone can point me in the righ direction please do?

I have a '14 z71 double cab I use as my daily driver but also use to tow my horse trailer with roughly 1-2x a month generally. The trailer always weighs different because of the size of the horse or horses I'm hauling but approximately 3500-6000lbs give or take. I live on a dirt road which is not very well maintained. The washboards and potholes are terrible to the point the truck will drift sideways if I go any faster then 10mph. Bumps on the highway are just as bad now and sometimes I feel like the truck is getting thrown into the lanes next to me.

I replaced my stock wrangler SRAs with Light Truck AT3s almost 2 years ago and 40,000 miles ago. The truck ran stiff but never this bad and it has been getting steadily worse for about 6 months now. I still have the stock Ranchos on and ~95k miles. I know everyone says the Rancho's are bad and should be replaced but with what? I've been thinking Bilstein 4600 or 5100 by not sure what is better for my situation. Or if there are better options out there. I don't want to spend a ton of money on shocks that are going to get destroyed on dirt roads in the north east and I still need something I can tow with. This truck is beating me and itself to hell at this point.

I’ve got a 2018 GMC 1500 CrewCab Z71 and at 7,500 miles I dumped the Rancho garbage and swapped to Bilstein 5100, big difference. Airbags in the rear will help too for heavy tongue weight.

This one is my 2018 1500

Last two of my DMax CrewCab Z71

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TXGREEK · July 24, 2018

Not sure if this is the best place to ask this question so if anyone can point me in the righ direction please do?

I have a '14 z71 double cab I use as my daily driver but also use to tow my horse trailer with roughly 1-2x a month generally. The trailer always weighs different because of the size of the horse or horses I'm hauling but approximately 3500-6000lbs give or take. I live on a dirt road which is not very well maintained. The washboards and potholes are terrible to the point the truck will drift sideways if I go any faster then 10mph. Bumps on the highway are just as bad now and sometimes I feel like the truck is getting thrown into the lanes next to me.

I replaced my stock wrangler SRAs with Light Truck AT3s almost 2 years ago and 40,000 miles ago. The truck ran stiff but never this bad and it has been getting steadily worse for about 6 months now. I still have the stock Ranchos on and ~95k miles. I know everyone says the Rancho's are bad and should be replaced but with what? I've been thinking Bilstein 4600 or 5100 by not sure what is better for my situation. Or if there are better options out there. I don't want to spend a ton of money on shocks that are going to get destroyed on dirt roads in the north east and I still need something I can tow with. This truck is beating me and itself to hell at this point.

Btw, 5100’s are for leveled or lifted trucks, 4600’s are for stock trucks. Both do exact same thing but 5100’s give more travel fir level/lifted trucks

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TXGREEK · July 24, 2018

Btw, air bags don’t do anything for the front, so, if you feeling the rough ride in the front then I’d suggest new front shocks too. Either Bilstein or Fox coil overs $900 per pair without installation and alignment. You could just get the rear Bilstein 4600’s and install them yourself approx 30 minutes and not needing an alignment but will need one once you do the front struts. Give it a try, rear approx $70 each

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Madcow2020 · July 25, 2018

My opinion would be the 5160 in the rear would be better for towing on the rough dirt road. The reason I say this is because they have a reservoir. A reservoir on the shock would increase fluid capacity and surface area for cooling. This would help with the heat built up from the extra movement on the rough road. You could also contact Accutune shocks and look at the fox 2.0 reservoir shocks with custom valving.

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Pearl2017 · July 25, 2018

Shocks are a consumable item. If you get expensive ones they should hold up no matter how much salt spray or crud you hit them with. If you want them to stay pretty park the truck and drive something else. The automotive engineers test for salt spray and wear induced failures and design for that environment. There is a difference between looking bad and failing I say just drive and maintain normally and replace when they go bad. I like the Bil-steins and if i went higher end it would be on a play truck not my driver.