Best shock for "high-speed offroading" on a 100?

[ginericLC]

Not according to Slee. More like $5K+ he told me. Plus my ride goes to crap and I'll hate the thing like I do my 80's.

HOME BREW! meaning you build it yourself and you don't pay yourself labor. I thought about it when my front diff exploded. A nice Toyota center section with Ford outers and custom shafts. You can have a good ride with a solid front axle. You can even have a good ride with leaf springs. You just have to know what you are doing! If you hate your 80s so much, sell them!

 

[spressomon]

Me too...it did on the rear and it cost me nothing...a bolt-on shock. Luv it!

On the front...I'll not pay the 4-figure amount to simply gain a tad of front travel. For 4-figures I expect more for my money especially if I have to start trading out LC OEM parts.

That's the difference I am getting at. At some point the cost doesn't justify the end. Would I pay $3000 for a true 4-inch lift, 12-inch front travel, L-shock or greater rear travel, and near OEM CV angle? YES....TOMORROW....THOUGH NO SUCH AN OPTION EXISTS. [/QUOTE]


Not true John. For less than a grand you can add 2" Fox shocks with remotes and limit straps that will allow more travel up front.

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

John,

Bolting on shocks and changing coils and some sway bar extension changes and bump stop spacers is hardly = $3000 to gain all that travel, and they are the only non toyota parts [apart from steering rack bushes, which stop the torque steer, but this is a power upgraded TD, so you wouldnt know about that with the V8 ]

As you know, you only get what you pay for, so what your really saying is, you cant get what you want for the price you expect to pay.

Otherwise you would be booked in at Camburg / Gieser Bros,[or other] and have the bits fabbed and get 14-15" travel from the front. Even do the back as well, while its there.

We have the design, and the detail to be able to do it, and even the idea for the fenders, so the wider track [longer arms] and new driveshafts between the drive coupling and cv can work, but for every person who wants it, no one has the coin to put up.

If you go to live axle, you may as well put dana 60's and go to leaf springs..... all old school.... for what your expecting to pay.

What your really asking for is $10-12k I would imagine in real money. Somewhere in between is where what you get,a nd what you can afford meet.

As for the thread topic, the pics and detail supplied are the best for the money Loud will find, for his use, and the next step before full fab is to add a strut top brace and coil overs to take some load and up spring rate from the T bars.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

Not true John. For less than a grand you can add 2" Fox shocks with remotes and limit straps that will allow more travel up front.[/COLOR]

Big deal! No deal to me. About a grand for almost no added capability, no added ground clearance, no real benefit.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

John,

Bolting on shocks and changing coils and some sway bar extension changes and bump stop spacers is hardly = $3000 to gain all that travel, and they are the only non toyota parts [apart from steering rack bushes, which stop the torque steer, but this is a power upgraded TD, so you wouldnt know about that with the V8 ]

As you know, you only get what you pay for, so what your really saying is, you cant get what you want for the price you expect to pay.

Otherwise you would be booked in at Camburg / Gieser Bros,[or other] and have the bits fabbed and get 14-15" travel from the front. Even do the back as well, while its there.

We have the design, and the detail to be able to do it, and even the idea for the fenders, so the wider track [longer arms] and new driveshafts between the drive coupling and cv can work, but for every person who wants it, no one has the coin to put up.

If you go to live axle, you may as well put dana 60's and go to leaf springs..... all old school.... for what your expecting to pay.

What your really asking for is $10-12k I would imagine in real money. Somewhere in between is where what you get,a nd what you can afford meet.

As for the thread topic, the pics and detail supplied are the best for the money Loud will find, for his use, and the next step before full fab is to add a strut top brace and coil overs to take some load and up spring rate from the T bars.

Bull! What I want is no different than what's already out there in production for:

FJ Cruiser
Hummer H2/H3
Ford, Chevy, Dodge PU
Tacoma
And on, and on, and on

They have true lift kits for these rigs and at costs of $1500-3000. Spending $15K to be the first to have a custom deal is plain stupidity. That's why I bought an 80...to tackle those places where the added lift, etc is needed.

 

[bwbski26]

im pretty sure they said that with the fox front soxs and limiting straps will give u two aka 2 more inches of travel. but i may have miss read the previous posts.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

im pretty sure they said that with the fox front soxs and limiting straps will give u two aka 2 more inches of travel. but i may have miss read the previous posts.

Spress's 100 and mine are at the same lift height. IF his near-$1000 setup gives 2 inches (~9.5" total) more droop/travel then the cost to me is too high (as I'm a rock crawler). For $1000 I want more improvement. He's happy though he might do more high speed stuff that makes those shocks pay off.

He has reported some maintenance issues recently. They might be due to the added travel the parts not liking it.

Side-by-side on the rock-crawl trails like I run there would be only the smallest of capability improvement and the durability edge goes to my 100 due to the lower travel. Heck, a SFA 80 has ~10-inches of travel and if you compare an 80 and 100 at the same lift height with the same tires they accomplish almost the same thing on the trail and with the same ease.

 

[1loudLX]

Spress's 100 and mine are at the same lift height. IF his near-$1000 setup gives 2 inches (~9.5" total) more droop/travel then the cost to me is too high (as I'm a rock crawler). For $1000 I want more improvement. He's happy though he might do more high speed stuff that makes those shocks pay off.

thats what this whole thread is about, high speed stuff, not rock crawling in an 80.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

thats what this whole thread is about, high speed stuff, not rock crawling in an 80.

True! We got side-tracked. I've been responding to questions about my post.

That said, even for high speed...I...ME...JOHN...(not everybody) will keep the setup I have as I think the travel is maxed out considering the 100's design.
I think the added travel (the way discussed above...FOX, upper arms, straps, etc) compromises the durability of the 100's front end. I would not be comfortable with that setup. Others might be just fine and luv it and it may hold up. I'll not chance it.

 

[1loudLX]

travel isnt the only thing, dampening and resistance to overheating is also what I'm concerned about. You could easily setup the fox shocks if you wanted to extend no longer then the OEM travel.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

You could easily setup the fox shocks if you wanted to extend no longer then the OEM travel.

That sounds idea for this application. One I'd trust.

 

[DutchDakarCruiser]

high speed set up

Hi, I drive my 100 as a race car in Dutch events and I did as well in the '07 Dakar. I had my car loaded with over 1000 kg's of gear in the back, and a long range fuel tank, ARB bumpers, etc. In the Dakar I used Fox 2,5" external reservoir shocks with in the rear the most heavy duty springs from OME (for armored cars) and in the front the most heavy duty torsion bars from OME as well. I welded all the parts that are loadbearing, in the front as well as in the rear suspension. I used 5 mm steel plates for that. Also I made new shock towers in the front, with a crossmember over the engine, from the one to the other side. In both front end rear setup I also added the Fox hydraulic bumpstops. Everything went really well in the Dakar, allthough the crossmember broke once in Mauretanie. After the Dakar the car was way to stiff when driven without the 1000 kgs of gear. So I changed the complete spring setup to a more soft type. In the front I am now changing back to the stiffer setup because after a jump the front end is having a real difficult time.... In the backside I like the way it rides now, but I have to swap the Fox shocks every 3 to 4 manches. They get way too hot, and the interior melts. I am now changing the rear set up into two shocks per wheel. They both have to bear only half the load and stress. I do not know what this will bring yet, as I am currently under construction with my car. I hope to be able to let you know in a few weeks or maybe months. If you want more info, don't heasitate....allthough my English is not too good maybe.

 

[1loudLX]

Actually I just read that a lot easier then some of the people from the US that post here Thanks for the info, maybe if its not to much of a hassle, could you post some pictures?

 

[TXLX470]

Off the topic but we would love to see some pictures of your truck in Dakar 07

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

im pretty sure they said that with the fox front soxs and limiting straps will give u two aka 2 more inches of travel. but i may have miss read the previous posts.

The Fox do add more travel, its just that some wont see it because they cant even work out bump spacers vs longer shocks and how much real travel it =, and they wheel mostly where the extra travel isnt required, except for some pics.

 

[Skidoo]

For those running Fox shocks what valving are you using? Anyone using the comp adj valve in the remote, do you end up changing settings? Most interested in improving washboard road performance over OME's.
Thanks
Skidoo

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

For those running Fox shocks what valving are you using? Anyone using the comp adj valve in the remote, do you end up changing settings? Most interested in improving washboard road performance over OME's.
Thanks
Skidoo

The adjuster works well for going from unloaded weekend trip to loaded touring trip, but only 2-3 settings seem to be enough for most.

As for valving, it really needs to suit a specific purpose to get correct.

This way you get the maximum benifit for the spend over run of the mill twin tube shocks as well.

Once you had them, theres no going back.

Triple bypass are the ideal adjustable, and what I ran on my last truck.

 

[spressomon]

For those running Fox shocks what valving are you using? Anyone using the comp adj valve in the remote, do you end up changing settings? Most interested in improving washboard road performance over OME's.
Thanks
Skidoo

Mine came as 60/40...and we retro'd the adjustable compression dials. But this valving was a little too soft on compression for my particular rig and trailer. We just bumped the compression valving on the rears by about 20-25% and I am very happy. Soon I will be doing the same to the fronts.

 

[Skidoo]

Thanks Darren and Spressomon,
Expect most trips I take will be long distance trips and therefore heavily loaded. Had the truck weighed the other day and with mods, recovery gear, and tools, but no people or personal gear it’s at 6400lbs.
Seem like there is always a long stretch of heavy washboard before we get to the fun stuff.
Spressomon, I want to double check your numbers, the folks I talked with told me the first number is compression/rebound. And a lot of Foxes ship with 40/60 valving, so yours are quite different at 60/40 unless the folks you work with state valving the other way around.
The shocks I just bought were valved 30/90, so know I need to change, hoping to get some ideas here before I use up my free revalve.
Skidoo

 

[AutoCraft Aus]

ITs a bit of a personal preference thing, but the valving from a bigger heavier truck like a superduty or ind front end model in a bigger "truck" might make for a goood point to start with.