How bad is FX4 suspension?

RANGER_MARC

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Do you have a side profile pic? I was going to buy and sit on any components until it was time to get tires....but if it doesn’t look “wrong” with the factory sized tires, I may not wait.

Also.....is it the weight of larger tires, or the diameter that soaks up torque?

The reason I ask, is because the Hankook’s on my truck now weigh 36lbs each, the Falkens weighs 44lbs each, and the taller 265/70/18 Toyo Open Country AT III’s I was looking at weigh the same 44lbs. If it’s just weight, I’ve had good luck with Toyo all terrains in the past, and I’d get a 65k mile warranty versus a 55k (at $30ish per tire more of course).
Hey, Dillen, here are a few side shots with the new tires on the leveled truck, which, to my taste, anyway, does not look "wrong" at all. My understanding is that both weight and diameter cause torque loss, which is why I decided to stick with the stock dimensions even though the more aggressive Wildpeaks are a bit heavier than the stock Hankooks. In my case, I had the Ford Performance Tune flashed the same day that I changed the tires, and so I did not notice any loss of torque--on the contrary! It's your call....

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I found the stock FX4 suspension too soft in the front and stiff in the back. The Eibach kit with stock coil springs fixed it up and I love it now!
That is exactly right. I went with the Ford Performance Fox 2.0 setup, I'm really happy with it.

If you want to know how loved the FX4 suspension is, just go look in the classifieds here with the prices asked, I have had mine up for $100 for a bit here now. I'll probably toss 'em in the garbage in a few more weeks so I can stop looking at them in the garage.
 

RANGER_MARC

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That is exactly right. I went with the Ford Performance Fox 2.0 setup, I'm really happy with it.

If you want to know how loved the FX4 suspension is, just go look in the classifieds here with the prices asked, I have had mine up for $100 for a bit here now. I'll probably toss 'em in the garbage in a few more weeks so I can stop looking at them in the garage.
Yeah, I just let the techs at my local dealer keep the stock FX4 suspension components after they put the Ford Performance setup on. Otherwise, they would have been sitting around in my garage until the end of time!
 
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DocE3Gun

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Hey, Dillen, here are a few side shots with the new tires on the leveled truck, which, to my taste, anyway, does not look "wrong" at all. My understanding is that both weight and diameter cause torque loss, which is why I decided to stick with the stock dimensions even though the more aggressive Wildpeaks are a bit heavier than the stock Hankooks. In my case, I had the Ford Performance Tune flashed the same day that I changed the tires, and so I did not notice any loss of torque--on the contrary! It's your call....

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That does look good!

I drove my F250 with 32” tires for a single day while waiting for my 37” tires to come in after lifting it 6”.......it looked as wrong as it could! Haha
 

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Different people will have different opinions of stock ride.

I didn't have an issue with the FX4 as it rode as good as or better than my 2018 Frontier Pro4X.

I did NOT like the excessive rake to the front and so quickly installed a Zone 2" leveling kit which seemed to firm up the front slightly.

As a side benefit the leveling kit made plenty of room for 265/70/17 Wildpeaks.
 


Langwilliams

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I don't have the FX4 package but the stock ride rocked too much in back when going over a driveway drop an stuff. It would rock 5 times before settling. With a load in the back it was fine so with your storage set up it might seem fine to you. I wonder if the engineers left it soft for off road crawling to allow it to absorb a bump without snapping back. Now that I have EIbach's in back it rocks once an settles. Now the front is a little sloppier but it's nowhere near as bad as the back was. If I do a level kit I will go with Eibach front's with the height adjustment. The only off roading I do is driving out to a field on my daughters property to set up a shooting range.
 

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I have a FX4 and really I have no complaints on the ride. I do however want to put a 2.25 level with some wee bit larger rubber on the wheels.
 

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I thought my FX4 suspension was great until I was driving back from the lake on the interstate one evening. I hit a wide expansion joint on an overpass at 80 MPH and it really upset the truck. It was very bouncy, and I was thankful that I'm the type of driver that pays attention and doesn't allow distractions behind the wheel because otherwise it would have been really bad (potential loss of control).

I upgraded to the Eibach struts, springs, and shocks. That kit really made a night and day difference in the handling of the truck, and it almost feels sports-car like on the asphalt. I can't wait to get it off the asphalt!
 

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I'll be getting the Ford/Fox kit eventually for the lift but have to say I have no complaints with the FX4 suspension ride. I didn't expect a sports car.
 

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I honestly cannot really speak for the FX4 suspension on these trucks. Now I do have a sport model that is a four-by-four and I have gone off road while it was stuck and now with a lift from old man emu. I can personally say that stock the truck is pretty darn capable but definitely has plenty of room for improvement in the suspension. Plenty of people on here and I've had a lot of improvement from leveling kits like fox or eibach. I myself got the improvement with old man emu and can say that I love it. I have also heard that the spacer kits do make the Trucks ride worse. If I were you I would spend the money on a proper lift kit or leveling kit if you're looking to make any changes with the suspension. I wouldn't go to crazy though because you don't want to make the truck impractical. Here is a picture of my truck with the old man emu lift. Yes I was able to get all the alignment into spec with no problems and I can also tell perfectly fine with it as well. Perhaps it's something you can consider as an option to.

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How much did you lift it?
 

charwest

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I sold my lifted F250 10 years ago and have driven an Escape between then and May when I bought my truck.

Other than not being a fan of the forward rake/lean and wanting to eventually go from the stock 265/60/18 tires to something a size or two larger (265/65 or 265/70).... I love the truck.

My first instinct was that I already paid for an upgraded suspension, so a simple spacer leveling kit will do if it doesn’t mess up linkages or bearings.....and that I also have FordPass points I could put towards the FP/Fox 2.0 kit.

Then I read about how much better some systems ride. I then find myself browsing @Stage3Motorsports at a dangerous rate.

sooooooooo....how bad is the FX4 suspension compared to
-FX4 suspension with a spacer leveling kit
-coil over leveling kit
i’m no expert, but my wife and i notice that now that our stock fx4 is fully loaded (we are moving, bed and cab both full of work and camping stuff) we feel it handles better than empty and isn’t bouncy. although really we didn’t mind before either.

we will be doing some off-road stuff in the next couple weeks and will see how things go.
 
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DocE3Gun

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i’m no expert, but my wife and i notice that now that our stock fx4 is fully loaded (we are moving, bed and cab both full of work and camping stuff) we feel it handles better than empty and isn’t bouncy. although really we didn’t mind before either.

we will be doing some off-road stuff in the next couple weeks and will see how things go.
Mine road horrible from the dealership to home, but I attributed it to the tires being inflated to around 46psi compared to the recommended 30psi. I lowered them to where they are now (33-35psi depending on temp) around the same time I added everything in the bed and it's noticeably better.
 

R3VREND_J

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I felt the Fx4 suspension was very comfortable but you felt as though you would get the highway bounce and corner lean all the time. Also I would get really bad nose dive when braking that would rock.

Off-road the suspension worked well. I didn't have any issues outside of ground clearance. I am up in the mountains almost every weekend so I decided to upgrade everything for durability purposes.

I upgraded to Icon front Coilovers, Icon rear shocks, Icon upper control arms and Icon rear bump stops. Also upgraded to Faulken Wildpeak A/T3w 265-70r19 running 30psi.

After making those upgrades it changed everything. Cornered better, suspension travel is better, off road ride is better (After airing down) Freeway and on road ride was better.

The Fx4 suspension is decent for what you get but you can find it's limitations pretty quick.

These are just my opinions and experiences. ?
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