Fox Shock Question
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Industrialwrench
New member
Sounds like the wrong shock for what you’re looking for to me. They have a 0-3” set get those and the upper control arms.
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Bayou_Pro
New member
Why not just get the correct ones? I think they are the same price. Not sure what the difference is but it could be the amount of threads on the shock body or a different spring. If you over crank them you will put too much preload on the springs and the ride and performance will greatly suffer. I'm about to pull the trigger on some custom valved Fox 2.5s, 0-3.
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DannyLlama
Elite Member
Don't buy fox. Buy kings, difference is marginal and if you ever have an issue you will earn you devidend.. trust
Jetboy
New member
The reason that they don't recommend higher than 2" is that the extended length is too short for reasonable ride quality. You need to retain a certain amount of down travel before reaching full extension. The full extended length on those is 21.775. Probably very close to stock length. The benefit is that you don't risk binding your upper control arm ball joint. The down side is that you have limited down travel.
As a comparison the extended length is 22.5" for the 0-3" options in the larger 2.5" size. The leverage is 2:1 meaning that the 22.5" length has about 1.75" more down travel at the tire. You can't use those with stock upper control arms because the ball joint can't handle that range of motion.
So... you could crank the preload adjustment up and get more than 2" lift. You should have little doubt that it is possible to set a taller ride height. But the ride quality will not be very good. Or you can put a top spacer on the 2.0 lift shock, but you risk having issues with the upper control arm ball joint. And you will almost certainly have alignment problems.
2 inches is kinda the limit for easy lift with good geometry before you should be thinking about upper control arms.
As a comparison the extended length is 22.5" for the 0-3" options in the larger 2.5" size. The leverage is 2:1 meaning that the 22.5" length has about 1.75" more down travel at the tire. You can't use those with stock upper control arms because the ball joint can't handle that range of motion.
So... you could crank the preload adjustment up and get more than 2" lift. You should have little doubt that it is possible to set a taller ride height. But the ride quality will not be very good. Or you can put a top spacer on the 2.0 lift shock, but you risk having issues with the upper control arm ball joint. And you will almost certainly have alignment problems.
2 inches is kinda the limit for easy lift with good geometry before you should be thinking about upper control arms.
MrGainzz
New member
Are you saying 2 inches will be the max height you can do if you don’t wanna sacrifice any ride quality? Are there any benefits if I install upper control arms if I choose to go with 1.75’-2’ ?
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Jetboy
New member
The best ride quality will start with the control arms nearly level - stock height. Every inch up you go will start sacrificing ride quality. The reason that 2" is a limit of sorts is that you need a few inches of down travel minimum just for normal driving comfort. And the suspension travel is limited to maybe 5" down from the OEM ride height. Meaning that if you start with 5" of down travel and add a 3" lift - you only have about 2 inches of down travel left. A lot of relatively minor road bumps are going to be more uncomfortable. If you add UCAs with more ball joint range you can safely add an additional 1" of down travel. So you can be more comfortable at 3" in normal use. (but still not as nice as stock.)
With a 1.75 or 2" lift and a longer suspension stroke you can have a pretty nice ride without giving up much.
The other issue that UCAs solve is alignment. The caster angle is an angle between the two ball joints. If you look at the control arms the pivot axis are not parallel. So as the suspension goes down (like a lift) the castor goes down - this is important for other handling characteristics. The result is that you can no longer get your alignment back to acceptable caster angle and driving comfort goes down. At 2" most 4runners with stock UCAs can get back to about 2.5 degrees of caster. That's okay. Not great. But decent. Ideal caster is more like 4 degrees. And that's what most UCAs help with also. They add about 4 degrees of additional caster. So you can get your geometry back to a point where it wants to track straight and doesn't require the constant correction going down the road.
However - this is important here - most UCA's will not work well with no lift. In that case they have too much caster built in. I would not replace them under 1.5 inches. There is some overlap of course. But I'd say 1.5-2" is the range where replacement is a good idea. By 3" I think it's necessary for a decent alignment.
I hope that answers your questions.
4runner_dreamer
New member
In all reality they would work correctly if I wanted a 2" lift. But in your regards, are you talking about THESE??
4runner_dreamer
New member
So, what you're saying is any kind of lift over 2" should require UCA's?
4runner_dreamer
New member
Has anyone used Fabtech suspensions for their rig?
YellowSnow
Banned
This...F*%k Fox
To answer your actual question...
Avoid adding spacers install will suck. Get the 0-3 of whichever brand You like.
You need the control arms to correct the caster. Without proper caster steering will feel squirelly. I've experienced this on jeeps so I added control arms when I lifted.
For reference i installed the 0-3 Fox 2.5s and jba arms. It drives nice but I can't speak to articulation yet...
Avoid adding spacers install will suck. Get the 0-3 of whichever brand You like.
You need the control arms to correct the caster. Without proper caster steering will feel squirelly. I've experienced this on jeeps so I added control arms when I lifted.
For reference i installed the 0-3 Fox 2.5s and jba arms. It drives nice but I can't speak to articulation yet...
Bayou_Pro
New member
DannyLlama
Elite Member
Didn't realize there are others that have experienced the horror of their shit customer services and complete lack of R&D
Industrialwrench
New member
Why all the hate on fox? They have a pretty massive r&d facillity right down the street from where I work, and have been around for quite some time.
honda250xtitan
New member
I was one of the first to run the updated 2.5's on my titan. :nono::nono::nono: Whats axle clearance? It'll self clearance no worries:flamethrwoer2: I did find one helpful guy at FOX via email though. that was it.
Jetboy
New member
Fox Factory and King Performance series are not really apples to apples. Fox Factory series are essentially one level above the King Performance series in component quality. For example the Fox Factory shafts are a significantly better shaft than the King Performance series. Fox uses 17-4 H900 stainless that's chrome plated. King uses chrome plated 1040-1060. The Fox shaft is approximately twice as strong and twice as hard. That means less abrasion damage over time. The fox factory traditionally used reusable hose fittings with larger hoses where King uses crimped disposable ones. These are a few examples. I see now that FOX is moving to cut some of the nicer features like the reusable hose fittings from current models. That's a bummer. It's pretty nice to only have to buy a segment of properly sized hose to replace them instead of a custom length replacement hose with ends.
Of course King also offers other series of shocks. It's mostly that people compare the 2.5" Fox Factory with the 2.5" King OEM Performance series and they're not totally comparable. It's like comparing a 4Runner with a Jeep. Is it more like a wrangler or more like a GC? It's kinda in the middle.
King doesn't make a 2.0 size comparable to the Fox Performance series. On the other end, at least from what I have read - the King 3.0 Race series for the Tacoma are on another level. I don't know if Fox has a comparable 3.0 size for the Tacoma. I think those would be awesome on the 4Runner, but I'm not sure about fitment. And they're $$$. But I'd love to test a set out.
But... fox customer service is absolutely terrible. It's remarkable how bad it really is. So you're left with shit service but better materials, or great service and lesser materials. Not sure which one is better. If you're tuning your own shocks and buying the shock assembly with the intent of doing your own customizing and rebuilding, I think fox is a better option. If you're not really wanting or ready to figure it out on your own and want to have some help or support from the manufacturer - I would go with King. If you want to be able to call tech support and have them tell you anything - go with king.
Of course King also offers other series of shocks. It's mostly that people compare the 2.5" Fox Factory with the 2.5" King OEM Performance series and they're not totally comparable. It's like comparing a 4Runner with a Jeep. Is it more like a wrangler or more like a GC? It's kinda in the middle.
King doesn't make a 2.0 size comparable to the Fox Performance series. On the other end, at least from what I have read - the King 3.0 Race series for the Tacoma are on another level. I don't know if Fox has a comparable 3.0 size for the Tacoma. I think those would be awesome on the 4Runner, but I'm not sure about fitment. And they're $$$. But I'd love to test a set out.
But... fox customer service is absolutely terrible. It's remarkable how bad it really is. So you're left with shit service but better materials, or great service and lesser materials. Not sure which one is better. If you're tuning your own shocks and buying the shock assembly with the intent of doing your own customizing and rebuilding, I think fox is a better option. If you're not really wanting or ready to figure it out on your own and want to have some help or support from the manufacturer - I would go with King. If you want to be able to call tech support and have them tell you anything - go with king.
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