Adam
So which Slinky “entry level” set up would you recommend?
The Slinky Stage 1 75mm long travel ?
Doubt I’d ever mod as much as you have, but if there is that much improvement...
Thanks!
Its no secret that Slinky kits are not the cheapest option out there. But it's been the single best mod I've made to my 80 without question.
For "entry level" which I assume also means least expensive, the Stage1 kit is great. The stage1 kit is essentially identical to the high end stage4 kit with the exception of the shocks. There are two lift heights available, 50mm and 75mm, as well as 3 spring rates, medium, heavy, and extra heavy. So some of that will come down to personal preference for lift height and spring rate. Personally, I feel the medium rate slinkys are best suited for lighter rigs. For example, Woody's 80 is running the mediums. He has a Slee front bumper and winch and a 4x4 labs rear bumper with no swingout. Has a roofrack and occasionally has a RTT on it, but more often does not ( at least from what I've seen.) This type of rig is a good candidate for medium slinkys.
Woody80 by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
I have the heavies on my 80. My truck is pretty heavy but not as bad as some. Front and rear bumpers, winch, sliders, rear swingout, RTT, often loaded heavy and often pull a trailer. I think the heavies are a great match for my truck.
IMG_6993 by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
Then there's someone like
@mryanangel who's 80 is one of the heavier ones with a 6BT swap, bumpers, winch, sliders, drawers, fridge, rack, tent etc. He runs the extra heavies now after starting with the heavies and finding he needed a bit more. The Extra heavies are actually the same spring rate as the heavies but with a taller free height so it will still have the correct lift height when loaded but not have a harsh ride when unloaded.
IMG_0561 by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
The Stage 1 will come with the 2.0 IFP shocks. I ran these for a year before upgrading to the Stage 4s. I still noticed a significant difference with these shocks over the OME Nitrochargers and OME J set they replaced. I was very happy with these coming from the OME setup. Everything smoothed out and I could push the truck MUCH faster offroad with much better control. As I got more comfortable with them I was amazed how much harder I could push the truck and I began to run out of dampening and was bottoming out more frequently. That's what drove me to upgrade to the stage4's. For a large portion of 80 owners the Stage1 will be excellent. But if you want to best of the best, the stage4 is the best I've found of any bolt on option out there.
Stage1vsOME by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
What you miss out on with the stage 1 is a larger 2.5 remote reservoir shock with compression adjustment. The stage4 shocks are BEEFY by comparison. The shaft on them is huge next to 2.0 monotube shocks. These have 10 settings from soft (1) to firm (10). The stage1 shocks are the equivalent of a setting of 4 of the stage 4 shocks. The stage4 shocks also have an internal hydrobump. There's a significant jump in cost with the stage4 but the adjustability, hydrobump and oil capacity give a significant jump in performance too. It's been awesome to be able to tweak the ride settings depending on the terrain and load I have on the truck.
Axle relocation by
Adam Tolman, on Flickr
One final note, it's worth it to spend a bit more on the stage4's if you have a heavy truck. The larger shocks are better suited to control the weight of heavy trucks. Hope that gives you the information you want.
