Air shock DD

JWebbie2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Location
Yadkin County
Hey guys, I'm thinking about getting a set of 14" Fox 2.0 air shock for the rear of my 2 door JK. Its my daily and was wondering if anyone has DD their rig with air shocks? I know they are basically coil overs to an extent, but didn't know if they were "safe" since most of the time I see them on trail rigs. I plan on running a rear sway bar with them, which should help with it leaning at all. And should I go up to a 2.5 shock? I don't run a rear seat, I don't run a spare tire and I also have a small Off Road Evolution bumper that might weigh 40 lbs, so I know the rear end is pretty light for a JK. Thanks for any help guys!!!
 
I would go 2.5 atleast, and for that price you can get 2.0 remote resi coilovers.

The airshocks are going to heat up serving on the street, and the handling will fall off quickly. 2.5s will help but you really should use coilovers.
 
with Ben on this, with a shock failure you will drop that corner of the vehicle because the nitrogen is carrying all the weight on an air shock. On a coilover the spring is carrying the weight so losing the nitrogen charge would not cause vehicle to drop excessively.
 
You'll put a lot more mileage on them if you're on the street than off road, so seal wear could be a problem, and you're completely reliant on the seals to support the car. Not worth it when coilovers can solve that problem very well and will take away most of the risks and compromises.
 
Thanks for the replies guys! I figured they wouldn't be a good fit and I don't want coilovers. The final stage of my build I was going to get ORI struts, I just didn't know if air shocks would be a good fit
 
Stuntman Autoworks said:
I doubt the ORIs would be any better for a DD although I'm not as well versed in those as the airshocks and coilovers.
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I don't like coilovers because everyone and their mom has them on a JK. And ORIs are amazing and can be tuned like crazy, and easier than a coilovers. Plus there's less shit to buy for them. You don't have to have bump stops and sway bars like with coilovers and you don't have to run a sway bar with an ORI if you have them tuned right,
 
JWebbie2 said:
I don't like coilovers because everyone and their mom has them on a JK. And ORIs are amazing and can be tuned like crazy, and easier than a coilovers. Plus there's less shit to buy for them. You don't have to have bump stops and sway bars like with coilovers and you don't have to run a sway bar with an ORI if you have them tuned right,
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So since all the desert racers and rockcrawlers use coilovers I shouldn't have them on my buggy either then? Well dang I should have saved myself alot of money and just ran stock samurai shocks on a linked suspension and big cushy bumpstops. There's a reason people use coilovers and that's because they work, if tuned right you don't have to have a sway bar but even if you did your JK already has factory sway bars on it. As for bumpstops $30 will buy you the rubber bumpstops that you can use anywhere you want but wait didn't your JK come with factory bumpstops? Guess since all the other JKs in the world came with bumpstops you don't want those either. I understand your original question but your reasoning behind not wanting coilovers is for lack of a better word, dumb.
 
Loganwayne said:
Well there is a reason everyone has coilovers... they work well for what your wanting to do

They do work, but still not getting them. I would rather have ORI struts

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anvilrubi said:
You said you plan on running a sway bar right?
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I'm running them for now until I stretch the front and rear and go to ORIs.

Stuntman Autoworks said:
So since all the desert racers and rockcrawlers use coilovers I shouldn't have them on my buggy either then? Well dang I should have saved myself alot of money and just ran stock samurai shocks on a linked suspension and big cushy bumpstops. There's a reason people use coilovers and that's because they work, if tuned right you don't have to have a sway bar but even if you did your JK already has factory sway bars on it. As for bumpstops $30 will buy you the rubber bumpstops that you can use anywhere you want but wait didn't your JK come with factory bumpstops? Guess since all the other JKs in the world came with bumpstops you don't want those either. I understand your original question but your reasoning behind not wanting coilovers is for lack of a better word, dumb.
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I never said coilovers don't work, I said I don't like them. I have 3 friends that have King coilovers and and they all took months and months to tune them, not to mention they had to buy multiple springs for them too. I have 2 friends with ORI struts and they didn't have any trouble at all tuning them, plus I think they ride better and feel more stable when you're in some really off camber stuff. And if I was going to spend that kind of money to run King coilovers, I wouldn't keep the stock bump stops or sway bars
 
JWebbie2 said:
I'm running them for now until I stretch the front and rear and go to ORIs.



I never said coilovers don't work, I said I don't like them. I have 3 friends that have King coilovers and and they all took months and months to tune them, not to mention they had to buy multiple springs for them too. I have 2 friends with ORI struts and they didn't have any trouble at all tuning them, plus I think they ride better and feel more stable when you're in some really off camber stuff. And if I was going to spend that kind of money to run King coilovers, I wouldn't keep the stock bump stops or sway bars
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Ride quality is subjective and could it be due to your buddies not having the coilovers tuned exactly right? Also there are several vendors that offer free spring swaps until you get the right setup so having to buy multiple springs multiple times is a mute point. There's also more brands of coilovers than just King, I run Fox a buddy of mine has sway aways and there's several others. But back to the original question we need someone to chime in if ORIs can be run on the street reliably.
 
Loganwayne said:
Your friends with ORIs drive on the street? They are big fancy air shocks they still have heat fate and the same problems that air shocks have

If you think that ORIs are air shocks then you should probably stop talking because ORIs don't use air lol

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Stuntman Autoworks said:
Ride quality is subjective and could it be due to your buddies not having the coilovers tuned exactly right? Also there are several vendors that offer free spring swaps until you get the right setup so having to buy multiple springs multiple times is a mute point. There's also more brands of coilovers than just King, I run Fox a buddy of mine has sway aways and there's several others. But back to the original question we need someone to chime in if ORIs can be run on the street reliably.
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I've rode in them before and after they got them tuned to where they like them and the ORIs still rode better. And one of my friends has ran his ORIs on the road for about 6 months now with no issue and the other for about 2 years with no issues. The guy with 2 years did rebuild them because he went through his entire rig and figured he could freshen them up since he had changed the weight of his Jeep. And both of them are in JKs
 
JWebbie2 said:
I've rode in them before and after they got them tuned to where they like them and the ORIs still rode better. And one of my friends has ran his ORIs on the road for about 6 months now with no issue and the other for about 2 years with no issues. The guy with 2 years did rebuild them because he went through his entire rig and figured he could freshen them up since he had changed the weight of his Jeep. And both of them are in JKs
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Sounds like you have the answer you are looking for already...
 
I don't know of anyone running ORIs on the street, but I suspect they will fade.

@indywill Will ran them on his ultra4 car. That would be the closest to street use.

As said, there are vendors on here that offer free spring swaps and tuning. Some of them can get the setup correct the first time.

@TRD
 
Any suspension is going to fade. Springs start to sage over time along with shocks getting more squishy. Air shocks heat up and stop working. The oils in coilovers begin to fade overtime and need to be rebuilt. Same as ORIs with the nitrogen and oil in them. No suspension system is going to stay the same as the first day you had it.
 
JWebbie2 said:
Any suspension is going to fade. Springs start to sage over time along with shocks getting more squishy. Air shocks heat up and stop working. The oils in coilovers begin to fade overtime and need to be rebuilt. Same as ORIs with the nitrogen and oil in them. No suspension system is going to stay the same as the first day you had it.
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I'm not talking fade over time. I'm talking drive your jeep 10 miles to work and the ass end is sitting 6" higher. Not to mention it beating the crap out of you for the last 2 miles because they stopped working.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
I'm not talking fade over time. I'm talking drive your jeep 10 miles to work and the ass end is sitting 6" higher. Not to mention it beating the crap out of you for the last 2 miles because they stopped working.
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I figured an air shock would ride like that, I just didn't know if anyone had rode the roads with them on for awhile. I'm not getting air shocks, I'm just gonna wait and get ORIs down the road when I stretch my Jeep
 
JWebbie2 said:
Any suspension is going to fade. Springs start to sage over time along with shocks getting more squishy. Air shocks heat up and stop working. The oils in coilovers begin to fade overtime and need to be rebuilt. Same as ORIs with the nitrogen and oil in them. No suspension system is going to stay the same as the first day you had it.
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JWebbie2 said:
I figured an air shock would ride like that, I just didn't know if anyone had rode the roads with them on for awhile. I'm not getting air shocks, I'm just gonna wait and get ORIs down the road when I stretch my Jeep
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Ori's are air shocks. Just fancy ones. Rapid movement causes the nitrogen and oil to heat up. As the oil heats up it gets thinner. This makes the valving effectively lighter aka "fade". As the nitrogen heats up it expands and the pressure increases and cause the compression to get much firmer.

Coilovers fade when hot, but valving can be changed to accommodate for that in racing scenarios. However with coilovers the spring rate doesn't change as the shocks get hot.

Air shocks get hot and extend and pogo stick when hot.

I assume how oris are built, they won't extend as bad when hot, as both chambers will increase in stiffness as both pressures increase.
 
Qualities that improve handling:
High spring rate
Low piston free bleed

Qualities of air shocks:
Low spring rate
High piston free bleed

Fox 2.0 Air Shocks are rated for 500 lb of chassis weight per corner, the rear of a JK weighs about 750 lb, or 50% more than their official rating.

If you buy a high quality coilover, and do it right the first time, you won't have to re-do it down the road, and you'll save a ton of money in the process.
 
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Mac5005 said:
Ori's are air shocks. Just fancy ones. Rapid movement causes the nitrogen and oil to heat up. As the oil heats up it gets thinner. This makes the valving effectively lighter aka "fade". As the nitrogen heats up it expands and the pressure increases and cause the compression to get much firmer.

Coilovers fade when hot, but valving can be changed to accommodate for that in racing scenarios. However with coilovers the spring rate doesn't change as the shocks get hot.

Air shocks get hot and extend and pogo stick when hot.

I assume how oris are built, they won't extend as bad when hot, as both chambers will increase in stiffness as both pressures increase.
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I've never experienced an ORI get harder while riding in my buddies Jeep with them. We rode to the beach, 5 hours, and they never faded or anything. Plus he also dailies his and has never experienced them fading either. I'm guessing they will if you don't have them set up right but like I said, his has never done that to him. Not saying it doesn't happen, just saying I don't know of anyone or have hear of that happening
 
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