2.5" body shocks on stock UCA's?
 

I'm looking to do a 2-in front, 1-in rear lift on my 2013 TE. It's got 135K on the stock stuff, I guess it's probably time to replace it, haha.

I'm still unsure in which direction I want to go with the suspension, but the 2.5 inch body shocks are appealing to me. I'm kind of between the Bilstein 6112 and the Fox 2.5.

One thing that recently occurred to me, these are larger shock bodies, and have larger coils. Will these work with stock upper control arms? I want to go with a 2-in lift height to not need the UCAs for alignment purposes, but I'm just wondering if the larger coils will contact the UCAs under normal operation.

Having to replace the UCAs is a deal breaker. I plan on doing the work myself, and getting those things out after 9 New England winters is probably going to be damn near impossible to do in my driveway. Also, it's not something that I really want to spend close to a grand on.

If the 2.5s are a no-go, I may go with Fox 2.0's, or look at a Dobinson's setup.

Thanks for any info!

Of course you can do stock UCAs. I have stock UCAs and I am far faster than the Jeeps and the few other 4x4s I see in our desert. UTVs are faster than me but not all.

If I were in your shoes I would get the 6112 on the standard springs (marketed by vendors as 600lb they are actually somewhere around 550).

You cannot realistically use the stiffer springs and no way you can use the Fox 2.5 where you are located.

If you do have some harder rock-crawling terrain, then you can use the 6112 on the stiffer springs to minimize hitting (which is a function of soft suspension WAY MORE than of ground clearance).

The 6112 should be under 800 still, the full-extras Fox 2.5 will run you north of 2000 which is insane because the Bilstein 8112 is a more sophisticated shock for the same money.

I don't see any reason to get Fox 2.0 in the front.

For the rear, if I were in your location, the Eibach shock would work nicely with the 6112. However, again, if rock crawling is a thing for you, check out the length of the Bilstein 5100 because the Eibach is a short shock (same as factory). If the 5100 is better, it will be preferable in the rocks (but the Eibach should be comfier).

There is no reason to overthink this. I have spent a lot of time and I have had 4 front and 4 rear setups (waiting on 8112 with adjusters as my #5 front).

So I am pretty sure in what I wrote :)

Btw, there is no proof that I have seen that aftermarket UCAs + "extended" shocks actually do anything over a 6112. The 6112 already maximizes the front travel available from the factory. And you will never notice a 0.5" difference anyway (in between spring rates, mileage, vehicle weight etc, these numbers change anyway).

EDIT:

A 6112 with Eibach or 5100 rear should be 1,000 or less.

A 6112 is actually 2.65 body and my spring compressor (solid, not the flimsy ones but same type) did not work with them. But I gave it to my friend to adjust his 8112 (same size) and he said he was successful. Just heads up that these shocks are very large so not every spring compressor can handle them. Be careful.

Good luck and stay safe.

Thank you very much for the info, that is quite helpful. No, I'm not looking to do much rock crawling. If I was going to focus on that I probably would have bought a Jeep, honestly.

Bottom line is that the stock stuff is wearing out and I just want something that's going to have a good ride on these crap roads we have without being overly stiff.

I've been thinking more about this, and yes, I'm now leaning toward the 6112 front, and 5100 rear. I think you're correct in that anything else would be overkill.

To throw a complication into the works though, I've also been kicking around the idea of a hidden winch setup. I also have sliders and RCI engine, trans, and transfer case skids. With the weight that I already have, and the added weight from the winch, would I be better off going with whatever the medium duty spring is for the 6112?

I don't really carry much weight in the rear, so I think I want to stay with the stock. We are spring and just add a 1" spacer.

With the winch, yeah. Plus, you can always get a pair of springs if desired.

In the rear, either the 1" Eibach at 204lb or the Bilstein 1.5" at 186 lb can work.

There is a noticeable to me difference in road handling between the two. On the Eibach, I just kept compression on softest but with the softer Bilstein springs I went to mid-point and I might add more for interstate).

So if you don't like the handling with the stock+spacer+5100, you can get the Eibach spring.

I would not touch a 220lb rear spring without carrying a ton of constant load.

Mind you that the 6112 on the stiffer springs make for a far more capable front the the 5100 will be on rear so offroad speeds need to be tailored to the 5100 or you will blow them up.

I run the 6112 with stock UCA and it has worked out very well for me.

Depending on how you use the truck I think 6112 is probably one of the best value buys for suspension.