What Difference Do Shocks Make?

Fughuert said:
DSC is way more than I'd like to spend anyways.

I'm thinking of getting a set of the smooth bodies soonish, really tired of my fox 2.0 ifp's not traveling more than 2.5-3 inches max on really hard hits out of 6 up available. Thinking of 2.0's with the LSC rear and regular RR front, or just regular RR all around.
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An interesting thing about the LSC adjustors as far as my experience with them on the rear is concerned, I started out with them on the softest setting and didn't spend enough time testing different settings before just leaving them on 1 or 2 for a long time. Eventually I decided I should give #8 a good try for a few days and on a decently challenging trail. I wished I had done this sooner because almost everything about the Jeep was better with a firmer shock. That experience will inform the re-valve whenever that can happen along with getting Foxes on the front end.
 
i'm just pullin his chain, i knew what the response was gonna be.

but for the sake of argument is the Fox not nitrogen charged? thought i read that in the manual.
 
Yea it is but the reason they use pure(or close to) nitrogen is so there isn’t moisture and it is more stable.
 
Lou said:
Yea it is but the reason they use pure(or close to) nitrogen is so there isn’t moisture and it is more stable.
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Understood, I'm meaning in response to jjvw's comment which I thought you were referring to. Nitrogen isn't air, it's in air.
 
oil, nitrogen and valving same as most. it's just mega sized
my tuning is infinite. i got a 7 position dial to adjust things on the fly, and if i don't prefer those i can adjust pressures and have another 7 to choose from. i can also add or remove oil to change it's characteristics as well.

it's a whole nother monster and was i was vague in my comment.

but those up front and the MC stuff on the rear and it's a night and day thing.
 
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Late to the party, but this is my experience:

I switched from Fox 2.0 to RS5000x.
It wasn't a terrible switch, but i wouldn't do it again.
RX5000 are softer riding, no argument, but they are too soft for my liking. Jeep turned from being firm and confident on the road, to a wooshy- mooshy floating couch. It is as if im riding on a water bed.

Overall, Jeep is more wobbly, steering became more sensitive to road imperfections. Bump stops are bottoming out on the intersection humps i used to ride over without issues.

I understand that most people on here are older than me, and more sensitive to a rough ride due to age or injuries... but, i cant recommend something as soft as RX5000.
On other hand, what else is there?
 
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eastbloc said:
Late to the party, but this is my experience:

I switched from Fox 2.0 to RX5000.
It wasn't a terrible switch, but i wouldn't do it again.
RX5000 are softer riding, no argument, but they are too soft for my liking. Jeep turned from being firm and confident on the road, to a wooshy- mooshy floating couch. It is as if im riding on a water bed.

Overall, Jeep is more wobbly, steering became more sensitive to road imperfections. Bump stops are bottoming out on the intersection humps i used to ride over without issues.

I understand that most people on here are older than me, and more sensitive to a rough ride due to age or injuries... but, i cant recommend something as soft as RX5000.
On other hand, what else is there?
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This is my dilemma, ya the fox ifp are way too stiff but they’re also incredibly controlled on the street so long as it’s a perfectly smooth road lots of bumps cause the rear to get loose pretty easily, they’re so stiff I get very little body roll without a front sway bar. I don’t want a land yacht ride either though.

Which is why I’m planning to make the jump to the custom tuned smoothies. Rather than wasting more money on off the shelf shocks. It’s a big leap in price but I’m not planning on ever selling my tj and I’m at the ride height I wanna stay at.
 
This thread has great discussion. The title “what difference do shocks make” is a very generic title that allows for great input from multiple angles and experiences.

  • Price point- Do more expensive shocks equal better shocks? I’d rather have a cheaper shock that feels good driving than a high dollar shock that rides like a covered wagon. With that being said, good shocks aren’t cheap. It is obvious by the discussion that a tunable shock will provide the best results….as long as they are tuned correctly!
  • Set up- once you get into shocks that fall outside the “stock” parameters and mounting locations, how you set them up is vitally important. If your mounts aren’t in the correct position or your tuning isn’t correct, then you are no better off than running a cheap shock in the stock location. It is very interesting to hear the experiences of others that outboarded using 12” shocks yet not being able to use all that travel due to the tuning.
The obvious answer in regard to the thread title is that shocks can and do make all the difference in the world for ride quality…as long as they are set up correctly! That is made much easier with shocks in stock mount locations using typical off the shelf shocks. No adjustments and stock mount locations make it what it is. And that works for the majority of people either due to price point or lack of mechanical ability to do the work themselves. However, when looking to maximize travel, it will take a lot of work to get the mounts in the correct locations as well as proper tuning to use all of the available travel.

I know this all probably sounds obvious to most, but I’m just thinking out loud while I get my shopping list together…
 
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Lou said:
Yea it is but the reason they use pure(or close to) nitrogen is so there isn’t moisture and it is more stable.
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It is absolutely not more stable and due to the manufacturing process, it is not inherently more or less dry than any other gas. In fact, if you have an air dryer on your compressor, you can use it to fill shocks if it can provide the required pressure.
 
mrblaine said:
It is absolutely not more stable and due to the manufacturing process, it is not inherently more or less dry than any other gas. In fact, if you have an air dryer on your compressor, you can use it to fill shocks if it can provide the required pressure.
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I was always told nitrogen wont fluctuate in pressure through a temperature range as much as air would. But these were not chemists telling me this so I dont know.
 
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I have read this thread a couple of times and realize the differences in opinions, but would like to ask about a little different comparison. My TJ has Rancho 9000 on the rear and Bilstein 5100 on the front. The rear 5100's blew out. The OP installed the 9000's because he couldn't get replacement Bilsteins (under warranty) for 60days. My wheeling is 90% street, but many of my streets are fairly rough, with many being gravel roads (lots of washboard) and 10% old mining trails with some rocks. I have a 3inch lift with 1.15inch BL and 33's. Would it be better off with another set of 9000's in the front or just go with 5000x?
 
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