Suspension Tuning

Scooter

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Besides just mounting after market suspension has anyone had it tuned to there specific needs.
On cars you can balance the suspension so its foot print on each wheel with your weight or weights on the seats is equal. Fox and Icon Shocks are rebuildable. Anyone had them rebuilt and revalved to your liking. Are parts available. I would have a specialized suspension place do this. Motorcycle suspension specialist know what they are doing on shocks.
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When I Google Fox and Icon. There seems to be more parts available for the Fox Shocks. Many different shim stacks available for the Fox. Good to know when purchasing shocks for future rebuilds.

This site has some good explanations of shock engineering.

CRAWLpedia - The Off-Road Encyclopedia
 

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Not worth the money tbh, you won’t notice any gains out of a truck with leaf springs worth the effort. Unless you’re running the Dakar or trophy trucking this thing i can Tell you 100% what ever driving you’re doing will never see the money or benefit from a custom tuned suspension.
 
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Not worth the money tbh, you won’t notice any gains out of a truck with leaf springs worth the effort. Unless you’re running the Dakar or trophy trucking this thing i can Tell you 100% what ever driving you’re doing will never see the money or benefit from a custom tuned suspension.
Thanks, that's helpful in my decision of purchasing what make and model of shocks and struts.
How much adjustability is needed and how much you would actually use those features.
 


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Here is my question to you. What are you really tring to achieve with your Ranger? Are you wanting to do the balancing for quote on quote better handleing? Are you taking the truck offroad and wanting some kimd of Better results? Are you trying to beat the Honda Civics around the twisties?

Sorry I couldnt help myself on the last one there lol.

I ask this because depending on what you want to achieve the aftermarket probably already has what you need in kits. Just remember that it is a pickup truck not a race car.

If you are looking to do offroad and not go too crazy with suspension and want a good ballance I suggest the following,
*Old Man EMU lift kit(nitro charger or BP-51)
*Swaybar Disconnects
*33 inch tires(I have 285/70-17 Firestone Destination XT and have minimal issues with this suspension)

Total lift that will be achieved with such? 4 inches front and 3 inches rear. For practical Offroading and Overlanding in a pickup truck I feel this does very well.

Hope this helps.
 
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This is more of a curiosity to me. I would buy shocks that are rebuildable. Maybe you wished to make adjustments at that time. I have dabble with forks and shocks on motorcycles. Changing spring rates and valving. I have installed emulators. On automotive shocks I would not modify them myself. I am willing to pay more for good suspension that fits my needs.
 

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This is more of a curiosity to me. I would buy shocks that are rebuildable. Maybe you wished to make adjustments at that time. I have dabble with forks and shocks on motorcycles. Changing spring rates and valving. I have installed emulators. On automotive shocks I would not modify them myself. I am willing to pay more for good suspension that fits my needs.
With that said I revert back to my original question, what are you trying to achieve? In other words what are your needs?
 

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When I Google Fox and Icon. There seems to be more parts available for the Fox Shocks. Many different shim stacks available for the Fox. Good to know when purchasing shocks for future rebuilds.

This site has some good explanations of shock engineering.

CRAWLpedia - The Off-Road Encyclopedia
I know for my application I have long travel control arms and deaver springs so off the shelf shocks for the stock ranger are valved completely different and I feel it. This is not something to be ok with i am sending in my shocks to icon for a rebuild to suit my application. So my application consists of completely different geometry up front and different spring rate leafs in the back so I will speak on this set up only.

For the sake of knowing before a purchase, I do know that APG tunes their King shocks specifically for their long travel kit and their deavers. Unfortunately the only way to get their King shocks tuned for this application you would need to purchase the long travel kit to get everything now, otherwise wait in line for months for the shocks by themselves like everyone else. Putting a long travel kit on the front completely changed the geometry and shocks will need to be tuned for this or buy some already tuned for it.

I personally wanted the Bajakits long travel kit so I ordered icon shocks which are great, but again they are tuned for stock geometry up front and their leaf springs out back.
 

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Got to laugh, the post you linked to was deleted by OP and on top of that Phil’s BS detector bells went off in his reply to it. I’ll leave it there. No more explanation is needed.
Yea Phil is a great guy. He told me to be careful with my suspension because it could be hit or miss and even though it might feel better than stock it could still use some tuning. He was right. Initially after installing my Icon 2.5's up front with Bajakits long travel and Icon 2.5's in the rear with deavers it was such an improvement over stock hands down. But with about 1000 miles or less of playing with the compression adjusters I can't seem to dial it in completely. Which is why I am sending them to get tuned. It might take a few tries but such is life. I'll post how the first time goes and what was done. I'm sure they'll make adjustments to the shocks for the increased leverage on the control arms and the different spring rate of the deavers to start with. What they'll do to fix it is beyond me at this point but I'll post what I find out.
 
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Got to laugh, the post you linked to was deleted by OP and on top of that Phil’s BS detector bells went off in his reply to it. I’ll leave it there. No more explanation is needed.
What this person was trying to achieve was to alter the shim stacks, maybe adjust the oil viscosity and oil height. I am no suspension specialist, but have taken a part motorcycle suspension and altered oil heights, installed Race Tech Emulators to achieve a more compliant suspension. I made a few tools to hold the spring in place and a syringe height gauge to measure and draw off the oil to the correct height. If you do this yourself you have to understand what desired effect you are trying to achieve. Lot's of trial and error if you are not knowledgeable. Suspension company's offer different shim stacks to adjust the compression and damping. This is why you send them to a suspension professional like Superdannyboy is doing plus they also have the special tools for the job. This is a small explanation for you Rick. For more info how about you research the subject.
 

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FWIW I played with the compression settings some more. My little brain was always thinking for a smooth ride on road I need to keep the compression low to keep the ride soft. Well I did about 6 laps around the neighborhood and on the last one I said what the heck and cranked all 4 corners to the highest compression setting. This is the best ride yet. Still isn't perfect as there is still a bit of a bounce in the cab, however the suspension soaks up everything and handles pot holes so much better. I actually aim for abnormalities in the road lol. I'm still sending the shocks probably in about a week and a half.
 

Trigganometry

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What this person was trying to achieve was to alter the shim stacks, maybe adjust the oil viscosity and oil height. I am no suspension specialist, but have taken a part motorcycle suspension and altered oil heights, installed Race Tech Emulators to achieve a more compliant suspension. I made a few tools to hold the spring in place and a syringe height gauge to measure and draw off the oil to the correct height. If you do this yourself you have to understand what desired effect you are trying to achieve. Lot's of trial and error if you are not knowledgeable. Suspension company's offer different shim stacks to adjust the compression and damping. This is why you send them to a suspension professional like Superdannyboy is doing plus they also have the special tools for the job. This is a small explanation for you Rick. For more info how about you research the subject.
I did my research before I could help a close friends shop develop a method and tool up for porting F1 racing shocks. You know the ones that have variable height for constant clearance of car. Additionally they’re resistance adjustable electronically. Every gram counts! Lol ya, I’ve done that… Still making them today although quantities are limited
 
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FWIW I played with the compression settings some more. My little brain was always thinking for a smooth ride on road I need to keep the compression low to keep the ride soft. Well I did about 6 laps around the neighborhood and on the last one I said what the heck and cranked all 4 corners to the highest compression setting. This is the best ride yet. Still isn't perfect as there is still a bit of a bounce in the cab, however the suspension soaks up everything and handles pot holes so much better. I actually aim for abnormalities in the road lol. I'm still sending the shocks probably in about a week and a half.
Its a lot harder to adjust in compliance for a leaf spring over a coil spring. I am sure Deaver makes a more to spec leaf then other company's. Maybe the leaf has to be altered. Give all the information you can to the Suspension Specialist. Write down what you think you are trying to achieve. What adjustments you made and how it felt. Did it improve or get worse for your application. The more information the better. Read about low and high speed damping.
It will be interesting what they say about the quality of the Icon shock. Please relay this information back. Would be nice to know how rebuildable the Icon Suspension is and how it compares to other manufactures. In some areas you may find a better suspension tuner in the motorcycle industry. Unless you have a large 4X4 off road community. I have a guy in my area that just does motorcycle suspension. Send the shocks to the right people or you may be wasting your time. Someone who has made a career out of it.

Regarding the post that was deleted. The person was not taking the best example to alter. It was an Eibach shock. It may seem incorrect to grind off the peen marks on the nut that holds the shim stack on, but that's what you do. Then you repeen the nut back on so it will not come off.
You do not want to play with this if you do not know what you are doing.
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