Anybody here ran Profender 2.5 air shocks?

336wheeler

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2006
Location
Boone
I’m looking at their 14” 2.5 air shocks for the back of my :poop: pile, and the price is quite attractive. Looking for user input
 
I haven’t ran them, but I have been inside a Profender shock. Nothing stood out as being wrong more of a generic copy of a name brand USA made shock.

They have weird metric smaller size tenon post, so I wouldn’t want to throw a bunch of valving at them and expect them to last in harsh stuff. They also don’t use viton seals, and neither do a lot of non race shocks as they don’t get very hot.

That said, for air shocks, I’d run them bc the two things I mention above don’t really matter for air shocks.

Probably can get away with removing some of the valving, and/or drilling some bleed, max out the oil volume, and be very happy for what you get and the price.

Dean benner runs Profender North America and is extremely nice and easy to work with.
 
@Mac5005 that's great input! The pair of 2.5s runs about $200 less than similar domestic air shocks which is what caught my eye. This is the sort of feedback I was looking for. Might pull the trigger on them here soon
 
OH WOW just the thread that I was fixing to post up...so @Mac5005 you wouldn't see any issues with the 2.5s on a Mountaineer that will probably end up weighing around 5500lb?
Thanks for advise and sorry to hijack the thread to the op.
 
It doesn't give specs to weight handling though on the website unless I'm missing it. Mountaineer stock weighs 4300, when all done she gonna weigh probably every bit of 6000 ish with Tons, 40s ish, full exo, bumpers, sliders, links, doubler, skids, and I keep seeing/hearing that even 2.5 Air Shocks average around 1200 per corner weight which leaves me to belive that I have to go coilovers for such a heavy rig?!?
 
$1422.00 and free shipping for set of 4 16" travel 2.5 air shocks. That's in my price range if anyone thinks these will work. Most of you know my rig doesn't get wheeled crazy hard, but i do want to be able to play harder with this v8 build and don't want to waste this kind of money if they're not going to perform good enough. thank you
 
skyhighZJ said:
In my very limited knowledge you don’t need the shocks to handle the TOTAL weight just the weight above the driveline. Axles, tires etc aren’t what the shocks are gonna be holding up so don’t need to be included (for load carrying at least)
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Ill defer to @Mac5005 but my understandi is when you hit a bump the shick has to control nthe upwrd force of the unsprung weight.
So that's definitely calculated in a race setup.
For a cralwrnkt as much. But is this road use or just Trail?
 
skyhighZJ said:
In my very limited knowledge you don’t need the shocks to handle the TOTAL weight just the weight above the driveline. Axles, tires etc aren’t what the shocks are gonna be holding up so don’t need to be included (for load carrying at least)
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ooooh good point lol. that's why I'm planning and asking on this build lol. thank you. now back to research lol.
Ron said:
For a cralwrnkt as much. But is this road use or just Trail?
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both but mostly crawler. I will make this street legal just to put around here and there but there will never be a "drive it hours away to go play" type of street driving.....unless I find some coilovers then I would but from what I'm reading everywhere, 2.5 air shocks would still be maxed out with the weight of this rig when done. So now I'm looking into Coilovers I guess and trying to fit that in my budget ....somehow...amazing how fast money adds up now that I'm trying to build a nice rig.
Don't dog me yet but what about FOA Coilovers, they are 1657 for all 4 tuned, springs, and that's with the add on viton seals? and other fancy stuff lol?? some say they're ok others not (as expected) but seem they would be ok for my application since I'm not going to be pounding on this rig like others would....
 
Others have first hand experience but from what I've heard and seen, the biggest issue is crappy fitment and machining on some of the parts. I seem to recall that they don't use common shims either.

If budget is key, I'd say run coils and shocks. JK coils seem to work really well.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
If budget is key, I'd say run coils and shocks. JK coils seem to work really well.
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been there done that and I REALLY want to upgrade lol but still attempt (if possible) to stay in a "john fuller" budget HAHA
untchabl said:
I have no personal experience but I've heard nothing but bad things about FOA stuff. How much are the Profender coilovers or Radflo?
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Radflo are not that cheap unless you found springs for really good deal lol, Profender ones are still 350 each without springs but as I've noticed with everyone but FOA, the springs add up quick when you gotta buy enough for all 4 corners...kinda why i chose Air shocks first but now realize they would be maxed outish...I think
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Others have first hand experience but from what I've heard and seen, the biggest issue is crappy fitment and machining on some of the parts. I seem to recall that they don't use common shims either.
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well I just went through all the ordering stuff and they have options to upgrade to the "good seals" and 7/8 shaft and etc and with springs and all, FOA 2.0 Coilovers for all 4 corners tuned with springs, limiting straps, bolts, tabs, etc. comes out to just under $1700.
As expected when searching for "reviews" on anything, especially Coilovers or Air Shocks, yeah almost everyone says go with the "american made stuff" but I'm not one to ditch a company just based on one or two bad reviews. I've read several so far that have had very good results and are very happy with them so it's hard to judge what to do. One common review I do see is apparently FOA Customer Service is exceptional in fixing bad shocks or leaks/issues people have had even after the warranty period....but I'm still up in the air before I throw $1600 in that direction.
I want simplicity in this build!!!!! Nice clean looking build, clean axles, clean professionally installed brackets and tabs and truss and shocks as if it were a customer so I can be proud of it for the first time and advertise my business some too (as many have told me before). That's the main reason for wanting Air Shocks/Coilovers. (Ride comfort is just a nice add on lol)
 
Good luck, John,
You are headed down a rabbit hole ... hope the build ends up meeting all your wishes.
 
Ron said:
You are headed down a rabbit hole
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Not sure what that means but ok lol. Nothing is set in stone, just seeing all options
 
Last edited:
A lot to catch up on here, so in my quick run through, I’ll try to cover what I retained while speed reading.

If I missed any specific questions, please ask again.

Stay far away from FOA. Junk total junk. The list of issues is too long to list. ManF is junk, assembly is garbage, QC is non existent, customer service is on continual vacation.

It’s not just the seal material... seriously, stay far far away from FOA.

Profender is a very nicely built imported shock that has American support in PA. The guy that is in charge of Profender NA is a great guy that wheels and stands behind Profender. Easy to get in touch with and get fair solutions to problems. I would run them. Only reason I personally don’t, is getting a good assortment of valve shims to really tune them.

Ok the load/weight capacity on air shocks. Yes it’s there for a reason. It has to do with seal layout and design. Stay below the max weight recommended.

When you charge an air shock, it is a sealed chamber. It holds the weight up because the displacement of the shock shaft causes an increase in pressure to hold the vehicle at ride height.

When that same shock is fully compressed, the pressure inside the shock increases dramatically.

If you are over weight capacity , which will require more initial pressure to set ride height, and then compress the shock, you will likely push a seal out, damage the seal head, and lose the n2/oil charge. That shock will then require full rebuild.

The valving doesn’t affect the compression ratio inside an air shock. Two things are at work in an air shock.

1) The compression ratio based on oil volume and n2 pressure : sets ride height and is the spring force, and also is the “built in bumpstop”

2) The valving that is the damping of the spring force: handles the dynamic movements not the static positions.



TLDR version: FOA bad, exceeding MFR weight capacity on air shock = very bad.

@Marty John For what you are describing, I’d be looking into some 2.0 emulsion coilovers or A separate spring & shock combo, like the JK spring and shock combo mentioned above.
 
Mac5005 said:
I’d be looking into some 2.0 emulsion coilovers
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thank you sir very much, this is what I'm looking into currently. The search continues!! Lots of great informative info on this stuff. I read your whole other thread on ORI review and wow, that was very informative thread as well.
 
A quick search,

Fox 2.0 emulsions from Jegs with springs is $1800.

Probably can do better if you shop around between brands and suppliers.

Don’t shy away from eibach, qa1, magnitude, springs etc.

Ride quality comes from the correct spring rate, and from tuning the shock for your application. Yes you can get good ride quality picking the right components that closely match ie: JK spec springs and shocks, but it won’t be better than a tuned setup.

If you are going to go with a separate spring/shock combo, a jk for example, that’s a good thing bc most companies have done the homework to get the shock valving as close as they can to their spring choice and application. This is far better than random off the shelf stuff.
 
$1700ish for radflo with springs from wide open. Straight off the website.

981822f01ade7a23c8e1278cbbffd8a3.jpg


Nearly identical price to 4 2.5” air shocks.

Being that the price is so close, I’d pick coilovers over the airs just based on the total load (weight) bearing capacity.
 
Mac5005 said:
$1700ish for radflo with springs from wide open. Straight off the website.

981822f01ade7a23c8e1278cbbffd8a3.jpg
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that's for 4 correct? do you know anyone here that gets any deals. that's pretty good price there I reckon wich springs and all
 
marty79 said:
that's for 4 correct? do you know anyone here that gets any deals. that's pretty good price there I reckon wich springs and all
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$839 for 2 shocks/ 4 springs.

$1680 for 4 shocks/ 8 springs.

Plus tax and shipping.

Choosing spring rates is slightly more difficult than throwing darts blind.

You should search and read my posts about choosing spring rate/length and getting proper preload.

I have several sets of used springs you can borrow to get the data you need before ordering your correct final ones. You would just need to come get them and return them when done.

I would order shocks, get them, mock up with random springs, post info, we will go thru the math, select correct springs, and your order and install the right springs with the right preload.

You want the rig essentially done completely with everything installed before you order the final springs.

Check with wide open, they may allow you to swap springs for free as long as you wrap them with masking tape and don’t scratch them if you need to change a spring rate at the end.
 
thank you very much @Mac5005 gotta go work now so don't think I'm ignoring if I don't respond to anything else.
 
Mac5005 said:
Check with wide open, they may allow you to swap springs for free as long as you wrap them with masking tape and don’t scratch them if you need to change a spring rate at the end.
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I also believe they will ship one spring first so you can get your corner weights before ordering the other.
 
untchabl said:
I have no personal experience but I've heard nothing but bad things about FOA stuff. How much are the Profender coilovers or Radflo?
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FOA has got to be the worst offroad parts company I have ever dealt with. They have a shit product and customer service to match. Next shocks I buy will be Radflo or fox.
 
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