FOR 3" Suspension Kit (circa 2007) - Need Shocks (1 Viewer)

[turbosonly]

I have a 1997 80-series with Frankie's Off Road springs and old Bilsteins. I love the ride except for the annoyance of bottoming out when riding trails and on crap sections of highway. It is a heavy rig with an ARB bumper and 12k lb winch on the front; HD bumper w/spare, jack, and a receiver on the back. There is a full length roof rack on top, and skid plates underneath. I searched this forum for hours to try to find out the best replacement shocks to go with these springs. Couldn't find a thing.

I like the Icon 2.5 series. I guess the CDCV technology may give me the ability to dial in the shock to the spring. But, I just don't want to pay that much money. My max budget is $1,000. Anybody have rigs with the FOR springs and/or know anything about shocks to match them?

 

[half k cruiser]

I have a 1997 80-series with Frankie's Off Road springs and old Bilsteins. I love the ride except for the annoyance of bottoming out when riding trails and on crap sections of highway. It is a heavy rig with an ARB bumper and 12k lb winch on the front; HD bumper w/spare, jack, and a receiver on the back. There is a full length roof rack on top, and skid plates underneath. I searched this forum for hours to try to find out the best replacement shocks to go with these springs. Couldn't find a thing.

I like the Icon 2.5 series. I guess the CDCV technology may give me the ability to dial in the shock to the spring. But, I just don't want to pay that much money. My max budget is $1,000. Anybody have rigs with the FOR springs and/or know anything about shocks to match them?

Do you know the free heights of the springs front and rear ? Also, what are the rates ?

 

[turbosonly]

No, I don't. Through my research here, I found some general information about the springs. They don't have as many windings as an OME, but are just as long, if not longer. They have a higher pitch. Somewhere I saw the rates, but those were a newer version built in 2009 or so. The Bilsteins are 5100s.

 

[half k cruiser]

No, I don't. Through my research here, I found some general information about the springs. They don't have as many windings as an OME, but are just as long, if not longer. They have a higher pitch. Somewhere I saw the rates, but those were a newer version built in 2009 or so. The Bilsteins are 5100s.

I would think it would be difficult to make a good pairing without at least knowing the free length of the coil. Another way you could do it is just measure the shocks since they are a bit easier to get off then the springs. Pull a front and a rear, measure extended and collapsed length.

 

[landtank]

I have a set of slightly used FOR shocks on my shelf. Let me know if you need some measurements.

 

[bugsnbikes]

Frankies don’t work well over 6500lbs- from what I’ve found. Shocks aren’t going to help with 6500lbs blowing thru the spring rate. I had a buddy who went from fox2.0 and 2.5s and it didn’t really help. My buddy ended up going to a heavier Slee spring and being very happy.

Iirc the Frankie’s were designed for dual batts and a light front tube bumper- light 8kwinch -synth rope at most up front....

at 5200lbs with fox 2.0s and its awesome -no dive or blowing thru springs.

** also there were a few iterations of the Frankie’s springs but as far as I recall the winding was really geared toward that same weight rig and a lot of people running real heavy were finding the same issues**

The Frankie’s is fairly close to a medium rate ome spring as far as capacity.....granted the Frankie’s does have a plusher feel than an ome medium due mainly to the progressive ramping up of that rate.....but in the end it’s not a heavy spring as far as load capacity. You may want to double check the Slee site/mediums as I think they were 100-150lbs ish per corner added load capacity,,,,,..which would be something like 5400lbs max........and if you’re 6000lbs +.....shocks aren’t goin good to solve the dive/lack of control issue

Have you weighed your rig ?

Also- if you plan to add sliders,or other heavy stuff down the road you might as well factor those in.

The good news is that the Frankie’s springs are fairly highly sought after for lighter rigs......so you can easily get top dollar and bump up to a heavy spring and have a few hundred left to put towards shocks.

 

[turbosonly]

Frankies don’t work well over 6500lbs- from what I’ve found. Shocks aren’t going to help with 6500lbs blowing thru the spring rate. I had a buddy who went from fox2.0 and 2.5s and it didn’t really help. My buddy ended up going to a heavier Slee spring and being very happy.

Iirc the Frankie’s were designed for dual batts and a light front tube bumper- light 8kwinch -synth rope at most up front....

at 5200lbs with fox 2.0s and its awesome -no dive or blowing thru springs.

** also there were a few iterations of the Frankie’s springs but as far as I recall the winding was really geared toward that same weight rig and a lot of people running real heavy were finding the same issues**

The Frankie’s is fairly close to a medium rate ome spring as far as capacity.....granted the Frankie’s does have a plusher feel than an ome medium due mainly to the progressive ramping up of that rate.....but in the end it’s not a heavy spring as far as load capacity. You may want to double check the Slee site/mediums as I think they were 100-150lbs ish per corner added load capacity,,,,,..which would be something like 5400lbs max........and if you’re 6000lbs +.....shocks aren’t goin good to solve the dive/lack of control issue

Have you weighed your rig ?

Also- if you plan to add sliders,or other heavy stuff down the road you might as well factor those in.

The good news is that the Frankie’s springs are fairly highly sought after for lighter rigs......so you can easily get top dollar and bump up to a heavy spring and have a few hundred left to put towards shocks.

Thanks for the feedback. No doubt, the rig is heavy. I forgot to mention it has sliders too. Here are a couple other things though. No additional weight has been added to the truck since I bought it three years ago. For the first year, it never bottomed out. Also, the tires were worn evenly (at about 75% tread). Now, the tread is noticeably cupped and it bottoms out.

 

[Shoredreamer]

Is the bottoming out on the front or rear? You may have blown a shock or two, or something else to make the bottoming more pronounced. I will say, shocks make the most difference in ride feel and handling, but doesn’t really help bottoming out, as @bugsnbikes said. You could look at a heavier rate spring and pair it with some Icon 2.0 shocks if you wanna keep the cost down.

 

[bugsnbikes]

Just doing some armchair calcs (guesstimates)

-sliders are prob ~130pr With Cat protection
-arb bumper- ~130+
12k winch- ~100+
Roofrack- ~140
Rear bumper~150+
Jack-35
Larger tires than stock- ~80lbs for 4(20ea) if 35s+
Spare -60+
Dual battery? 35. Skid plates/etc.~40.?
Driver ~180+
Passenger ~135? ~kids?
Full tank o gas -120lbs
Some camping gear-tools-cooler o beers n some steer... ~150+

Add that to stock 4800ish stock 80.......you are over 6300lbs and Frankie’s imho are only “good “to 5500-5600ish. Being 800lbs over puts you 200lbs per corner shy. go to Slee spring site and look at additional load per corner on the heavy spring sets. at ~1600lbs= 400lbs additional per corner is what you are searching for. and for driving around unloaded I bet 300lbs per corner would feel firm when running unloaded vs plush when fully geared up @400/1600.

Whatever shocks you use will feel good for a short period of time (while they last).....but by running too light of a spring for your load of 6000+lbs.....you are going to destroy shocks real fast and even with good shocks your rig will have a lot of dive when dropping off a ledge.etc. Vs feeling controlled.

Cupping of the wheel wear is due to running too high of an air pressure which causes the wheel contact point to ride on the Center 1/2 of the tread.....vs making contact with the full flat of the tread causing even wear. Lower your air pressure on your next set of wheels so that your full tread is contacting pavement...not bowed with sides of the tread not making contact with asphalt.

the Frankie’s springs feel great when they are allowed to progressively ramp up in its load handling. But at your weight - your rig is blowing right thru that progressiveness and not getting the benefits of that progressive rate. and bottoming out is simply a sign that the spring simply isn’t working.

my Frankies feel A touch firm when I’m unloaded/low on gas~ 5100ish lbs and really start to feel plush but controlled when I’m in the 5500-5600lb loaded for a trip. (Running 37’s /fox2.0)

my personal preference Is to run a spring which is slightly firm........and then use the air volume of a big 35-37” tire aired down offroad slightly to take a touch of that firmness out. that way I’m able to alter the tire pressure to compensate for different loads I carry. if I’m super heavy the load Is pushing on the springs more.....and I can run a higher tire pressure. but if I’m light.....I can simply take 5-7lbs out and let the tire air volume act like an absorber to take the edge off a slightly firm spring.

 

[bugsnbikes]

here you go:

- ome spring specs

http://www.sleeoffroad.com/installation/ome_spring_specs.pdf

 

[turbosonly]

I weighed the truck today. It came out to 6100 with two passengers, about 200lbs heavier upfront. Thinking about getting the Icon 2.5 cdcv. Maybe I will call them to see what they have to say. See if it makes sense to try them with the FOR springs first, then move to OME heavies if needed

 

[lumbee1]

That's interesting. I had FOR 4" springs with a coil cut off. The Cruiser looked like it had a 2.5" lift. I never bottomed out of the front but I had severe bottoming and coil unseating with the rear springs. Essentially the front springs are awesome but the rear linear springs were junk. I replaced the rear springs with 4" Dobinson springs and kept the FOR front springs on for 6 months. With a single battery, ARB, winch with syn rope and two light bars, I loved the smooth ride quality of the FOR front springs.

I eventually replaced the FOR front springs for Dobinson 3" springs. The Dobinson are built the same but are definitely stiffer.