80 shock thread - familiar territory could use update (1 Viewer)

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Well...I'm hanging out a bit doing some much needed maintenance so figured I'd report in. I don't know the rates of the FOR coils, too many years of fried gray matter. I want to say the "heavier" rate was 250 and lighter was 190.

In any case, I've been using the Fox 2.0 remotes for about 5 years, eye to eye with adapters, 10" travel. I had picked them up from Downsouth Motorsports based on word at the time that they had 80 series valving nailed. Talked to them, said my 80 was lighter than typical, they said use our valve settings anyway. Those are seemingly funky, like 90/80 up front, but I haven't touched it in years now suspension-wise and they have felt completely tuned across the entire suspension travel to the FOR coils, both unloaded and loaded.

I should hang around and catch up on what has changed - look at those OME coils :D - but I still think you don't want to unbalance the front and rear suspension by adding a bunch of shock travel that is driven purely by having a pin mount style shock.

So if I had a set of FOR coils on my rig, and I didn't want to spend a ton just to get rid of the OME shocks, I'd call Downsouth and get the 10" Fox 2.0 remotes plus the eye adapters (not sure if anybody sells 80 specific?) and lose those eye mounts. Or pick another 10" remote res depending on the bank account.

Cool to see new options, I need to read up more about money I am not going to spend. Well, maybe some coilovers on the new to me '04 Sequoia...the family has finally almost outgrown the 80 for long trips...
Thanks for posting up new info. The old material you wrote is great stuff and good to find searching. The Frankies lift and springs is around on a lot of trucks still but has been a bit of a mystery. Your posts helped a lot.
 
Thanks for posting up new info. The old material you wrote is great stuff and good to find searching. The Frankies lift and springs is around on a lot of trucks still but has been a bit of a mystery. Your posts helped a lot.

Good to hear. It's kind of weird that I haven't been around at all for like half a decade, despite there being no way in hell I am selling my 80. I think maintenance has caught up to me, which is kind of sad, vs. say hardcore wheeling catching up to me.

But the FOR Gen II lift never had shocks dialed in, IMO. The springs were (and are) awesome, and seems more have followed suit in that general design direction. The Fox 2.0 remotes are definitely dialed for those coils - it's interesting to me to see the 80 market go from all OME shocks all the time to like $400/ea.

Anyway, a couple of pics of the front eye mount conversions. Each of these compresses the shock about 1.25", so at ~4" of lift with this style coil, a 10" travel shock is perfectly set in the middle of the coil travel. That was one of the good things about the FOR kit when it was available - Frankie had custom eye adapters made that fit perfectly into the factory pin style bushing holes.

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I'm not up on things, so wondering if pin to eye mount conversion has finally caught on? It's such a basic tool for upgrading shocks and tuning travel, I could never get the reluctance, especially since the 80 can't really use a lot of extra travel in a way that doesn't unbalance it front to rear.
 
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I'm in the process of going with the Slee's. The rears have been in since June, and I recently swapped in the 4" springs (heavy rears). Super happy with the set up. It's firm but rides really well loaded and especially towing compared to before. Need to sell a few more barriers and I'll finish it off with the front shocks.
 
WOW, I have read this though about 5 times now.
I would say this is the suspension bible for 80 series.
Every dimension you possibly would want is in here.
You have do dig for it, but it is all in here.

Now that the Icon & Slinky suspensions have been out for a while now it would be great to get some feed back & real life testimonies from people that have these suspension kits.
What say you?
 
me three!..
 
This was a long read and really informative thread overall. It's still leaving me in a conundrum though.

When I bought my truck, it came with a lift of some sort already on it. I have no idea what coils are on it or what brand, but the wheel hub to fender flare measurement indicates that it is currently sitting with 4" of lift. The cheapo ProComp front shocks are feeling like crap, and the leaky Rancho RS9000 rears were already replaced with OME normal length shocks (because that's what was in stock in town when I needed to get my out of province inspection done). The rears are running fine for now, but when I lifted a corner of the truck with a forklift, the coils didn't look to be in any danger of falling out before the shock ran out of travel, making me assume I could get more droop if I wanted it. There is no armor on the truck right now, but a winch/bumpers are going on in the next year or so.

The front shocks need replacing right now, so I'm looking into my options.

Fox 2.0 - Too much bad press, they aren't a consideration
Procomp/Rancho - I don't want to go that cheap
King/Icon 2.5s - Too rich for my blood right now, and I'm not hardcore
OME Longs or Shorts - Proven by many others, decently priced, should last decently long.

-OR- the way I'd like to go, but causes some confusion

Icon VS 2.0 - The normal length 56509/56510s, which is built around the 0-3" range, or the longer 56511/56512s for the 4-6" range?

Referring back to the lengths and discussion on page 7 and elsewhere in this thread, it sounds like the shorter Icon 2.0s would work in my application, especially after any additional weight is added.

In a nutshell though, everyone makes shocks for 0-3" lifts, or 4-6" lifts. What does a guy do when his vehicle is effectively sitting on a 3.5" lift?
 
This was a long read and really informative thread overall. It's still leaving me in a conundrum though.

When I bought my truck, it came with a lift of some sort already on it. I have no idea what coils are on it or what brand, but the wheel hub to fender flare measurement indicates that it is currently sitting with 4" of lift. The cheapo ProComp front shocks are feeling like crap, and the leaky Rancho RS9000 rears were already replaced with OME normal length shocks (because that's what was in stock in town when I needed to get my out of province inspection done). The rears are running fine for now, but when I lifted a corner of the truck with a forklift, the coils didn't look to be in any danger of falling out before the shock ran out of travel, making me assume I could get more droop if I wanted it. There is no armor on the truck right now, but a winch/bumpers are going on in the next year or so.

The front shocks need replacing right now, so I'm looking into my options.

Fox 2.0 - Too much bad press, they aren't a consideration
Procomp/Rancho - I don't want to go that cheap
King/Icon 2.5s - Too rich for my blood right now, and I'm not hardcore
OME Longs or Shorts - Proven by many others, decently priced, should last decently long.

-OR- the way I'd like to go, but causes some confusion

Icon VS 2.0 - The normal length 56509/56510s, which is built around the 0-3" range, or the longer 56511/56512s for the 4-6" range?

Referring back to the lengths and discussion on page 7 and elsewhere in this thread, it sounds like the shorter Icon 2.0s would work in my application, especially after any additional weight is added.

In a nutshell though, everyone makes shocks for 0-3" lifts, or 4-6" lifts. What does a guy do when his vehicle is effectively sitting on a 3.5" lift?

you have 2 options really, wing it or measure the collapsed and extended lengths you will need with the coils you have and then decide which option to go with. but if you were going to wing it i would probably go with the 4-6" assuming your coils are old they have probably settled and originally gave more then 3.5" of lift! but again measuring first is going to be your safest and cheapest bet!
 
In a nutshell though, everyone makes shocks for 0-3" lifts, or 4-6" lifts. What does a guy do when his vehicle is effectively sitting on a 3.5" lift?

Use one for a 0-3" lift. The shocks limit down travel. Your bump stops should limit up travel. A 4" suspension shock on a 3" lifted truck will bottom out on the shock instead of the bumpstop. That could be the start of a bad day.
 
This was a long read and really informative thread overall. It's still leaving me in a conundrum though.

When I bought my truck, it came with a lift of some sort already on it. I have no idea what coils are on it or what brand, but the wheel hub to fender flare measurement indicates that it is currently sitting with 4" of lift. The cheapo ProComp front shocks are feeling like crap, and the leaky Rancho RS9000 rears were already replaced with OME normal length shocks (because that's what was in stock in town when I needed to get my out of province inspection done). The rears are running fine for now, but when I lifted a corner of the truck with a forklift, the coils didn't look to be in any danger of falling out before the shock ran out of travel, making me assume I could get more droop if I wanted it. There is no armor on the truck right now, but a winch/bumpers are going on in the next year or so.

The front shocks need replacing right now, so I'm looking into my options.

Fox 2.0 - Too much bad press, they aren't a consideration
Procomp/Rancho - I don't want to go that cheap
King/Icon 2.5s - Too rich for my blood right now, and I'm not hardcore
OME Longs or Shorts - Proven by many others, decently priced, should last decently long.

-OR- the way I'd like to go, but causes some confusion

Icon VS 2.0 - The normal length 56509/56510s, which is built around the 0-3" range, or the longer 56511/56512s for the 4-6" range?

Referring back to the lengths and discussion on page 7 and elsewhere in this thread, it sounds like the shorter Icon 2.0s would work in my application, especially after any additional weight is added.

In a nutshell though, everyone makes shocks for 0-3" lifts, or 4-6" lifts. What does a guy do when his vehicle is effectively sitting on a 3.5" lift?

I called Slee Offroad (@sleeoffroad ) and got to talk to Christo himself about their own resivoir shocks. They are valved for an 80 with added weight like bumpers and gear. The price point for a reservoir shock is great and the ride is amazing. My truck eats bumps and whoops like its nothing, and corners great on the street. I highly recommend them.
 
I called Slee Offroad (@sleeoffroad ) and got to talk to Christo himself about their own resivoir shocks. They are valved for an 80 with added weight like bumpers and gear. The price point for a reservoir shock is great and the ride is amazing. My truck eats bumps and whoops like its nothing, and corners great on the street. I highly recommend them.

Thanks, and I took a look, but listing at $450US each, that's WAY above my paygrade right now.

you have 2 options really, wing it or measure the collapsed and extended lengths you will need with the coils you have and then decide which option to go with. but if you were going to wing it i would probably go with the 4-6" assuming your coils are old they have probably settled and originally gave more then 3.5" of lift! but again measuring first is going to be your safest and cheapest bet!

So, I finally got off my lazy ass to take some measurements last night, and ended up almost even more confused.

With the vehicle at rest, I'm sitting at 25.75" from shock mount to mount with 3" available space between my bumpstops (there are already bump extensions installed). With the shock disconnected, and lifting the side of the truck, the tire starts to slide off the ground at around 8" between the bumps, and 30.75" between the shock mounting surfaces. I might be able to go a little bit further than that, but the Hi-Lift starts making me nervous.

Obviously right now, the crappy shocks that I have are limiting me in a bad way. I only get around 1-2" of droop with the shocks installed, and only 3" of up travel, however with only the 35s on the rig I have enough room going up that I could easily stuff another couple inches.

With all that being measured, it seems that NO shock manufacturer makes anything that long, with the OME Ls being 26.3" extended, and the Icon longs being? so if I want to take advantage of the available travel, I need to build some mounting adapters and remove some of the bump extension to make them fit appropriately?
 
I used to have a whole bunch of lengths written down but can't find it. Pretty sure that ICON shocks will get you the most length. The stage 1 shocks for the Slinky Kit that @AutoCraft Aus specs are priced pretty reasonable and work well, so I have read.
 
Thanks, and I took a look, but listing at $450US each, that's WAY above my paygrade right now.



So, I finally got off my lazy ass to take some measurements last night, and ended up almost even more confused.

With the vehicle at rest, I'm sitting at 25.75" from shock mount to mount with 3" available space between my bumpstops (there are already bump extensions installed). With the shock disconnected, and lifting the side of the truck, the tire starts to slide off the ground at around 8" between the bumps, and 30.75" between the shock mounting surfaces. I might be able to go a little bit further than that, but the Hi-Lift starts making me nervous.

Obviously right now, the crappy shocks that I have are limiting me in a bad way. I only get around 1-2" of droop with the shocks installed, and only 3" of up travel, however with only the 35s on the rig I have enough room going up that I could easily stuff another couple inches.

With all that being measured, it seems that NO shock manufacturer makes anything that long, with the OME Ls being 26.3" extended, and the Icon longs being? so if I want to take advantage of the available travel, I need to build some mounting adapters and remove some of the bump extension to make them fit appropriately?
Here is what I found.

Screenshot_2016-09-15-21-27-10-1.jpg
 
Every demention you would ever need about 80 series shocks is in this thread... its just buried in 15 pages of goodness. I've read this several times...
Darren @AutoCraft Aus & Dylan @DylanICON & many others have laid out the 80 series suspension systems very well here. Again it's all spread out over 15 pages... to really get a grasp of all the info one might need to sit down with paper & pencil to get all the info in one place to come back as reference. One will need to convert from millimeters to inches & draw their own diagrams to make it all make since. Again all the stuff one needs like ride height of lift, shock maximum & minimum lengths for stock bump stops, compression & extension of many brands of shocks etc... its here... Infact one might suggest to link this thread in the FAQ.
 
Bump

Anyone running Dobinson 2.6 MRR or Icon 2.5 adjustable?

I'm on the fence. Planning to go Delta VS radius arms with factory bushings, rear panhard 3in, bump stop in sway bar drops all the Delta goodies.

I'm on the fence between the dobinson 2.6 m r r or the icon 2.5 adjustable.
 
Bump

Anyone running Dobinson 2.6 MRR or Icon 2.5 adjustable?

I'm on the fence. Planning to go Delta VS radius arms with factory bushings, rear panhard 3in, bump stop in sway bar drops all the Delta goodies.

I'm on the fence between the dobinson 2.6 m r r or the icon 2.5 adjustable.
I haven't been in a truck with the Dobinson MRR shocks yet so I can't speak to those with firsthand knowledge yet. Hope to be able to soon however. But I can speak to the Icon 2.5's. They are excellent. I personally prefer the valving setup in the Slinky version of the Icon adjustables. Easily the best mod I've made to my 80.
 
@DylanICON or anybody else... What is the reservoir bracket on the spring mount in this pic?

I just installed the Dobinson MRRs and am working through some clearance issues at full turn on both sides up front with the piggyback brackets. Planning to mess around with it this weekend, but have started searching other brackets than the piggy backs.
 
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