Shock Rebuild Help

atimberwolf

New Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2021
Location
North Carolina
I just moved down to NC from WV/VA and am building a house near Lake Rhodhiss.

I've managed to stack up some miles on my Ford Raptor and need the get the shocks rebuilt. This will be there second rebuild. The first was done by a military friend out at Ft. Bragg a few years ago.

My problem is finding a reliable shop or mechanic to do the rebuild. Not being from the area I asked the dealership in Hickory and they were more than happy to sell me new ones, but I'd rather just rebuild what I have. They made a recommendation for a local shop. I gave them a call but they don't work on Raptors.

If you know any reliable shops within a couple of hours of Valdese, I'd appreciate you letting me know.
Thanks
 
Thank you all for the recommendatios. I'll reach out to Buckeye Performance, MarsFab and Uwharrie Mountain tomorrow. Hopefully one of them is willing to take it on.
 
@Mac5005 ? He's rebuilt a set of shocks for me before.
 
1stgenxxx said:
If you decide you wanna tackle it yourself...I'm about 15 min away and I have a few shaft clamps. Buy the parts, oil, watch the rebuild video a few times and bring them on over one evening.
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I appreciate the offer. I know I'd need to add a nitrogen tank to that list since they are nitrogen filled.

That said, I'm about as mechanical as a yellow number 2 pencil. I learned long ago, basics like changing the oil I can handle but pulling things apart and putting them back together rarely works out well for me.

Although if I can't find a shop I may take you up on that. They aren't "bad" yet, but I'm at 50K miles and they're definitely due.
 
atimberwolf said:
For clarity, who's Scott? I don't mind making a road trip to have access to an expert.
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That’s me.

I can rebuild them, but I’m practically on other end of the state, but could ship them.

However I’m swamped at the moment, and I honestly don’t want to give a timeline and it be wrong. Some of the timeline also depends on what all the shocks need. If it’s just seals only, that’s typically 2-3 days to get and I keep most coilover/air shock stuff on hand.

As far as hard parts for those shocks, some things are 3 weeks, some things are 6 months, and some are not available or no eta.

Those raptor internal bypasses are tedious and on the verge of hateful to rebuild. The main issue is bleeding them correctly to get the trapped air out so the fluid lasts and doesn’t just become an emulsion. The piggy back resi’s are the culprit.

Whoever does them, make sure you see a vacuum pump and air/fluid trap to verify all the air is out of them and they use fox jm92/maxima ultima extreme or better oil, otherwise the rebuild interval is much much shorter.

I also degas the new oil before it goes in. It gets shaken and aerated during shipping.

Depending on specific year and generation changes some small details on the shocks that can make them difficult or more difficult. Also depending on year is whether the nitrogen port is the plastic ball that requires a needle to charge, or even better go ahead and swap the end caps to the style with high pressure schrader valves.

Much better for future service and checking/charging them without the plastic ball seal crap.
 
Mac5005 said:
That’s me.

I can rebuild them, but I’m practically on other end of the state, but could ship them.

However I’m swamped at the moment, and I honestly don’t want to give a timeline and it be wrong. Some of the timeline also depends on what all the shocks need. If it’s just seals only, that’s typically 2-3 days to get and I keep most coilover/air shock stuff on hand.

As far as hard parts for those shocks, some things are 3 weeks, some things are 6 months, and some are not available or no eta.

Those raptor internal bypasses are tedious and on the verge of hateful to rebuild. The main issue is bleeding them correctly to get the trapped air out so the fluid lasts and doesn’t just become an emulsion. The piggy back resi’s are the culprit.

Whoever does them, make sure you see a vacuum pump and air/fluid trap to verify all the air is out of them and they use fox jm92/maxima ultima extreme or better oil, otherwise the rebuild interval is much much shorter.

I also degas the new oil before it goes in. It gets shaken and aerated during shipping.

Depending on specific year and generation changes some small details on the shocks that can make them difficult or more difficult. Also depending on year is whether the nitrogen port is the plastic ball that requires a needle to charge, or even better go ahead and swap the end caps to the style with high pressure schrader valves.

Much better for future service and checking/charging them without the plastic ball seal crap.
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Dang. I knew they were complicated. When I watched them being done last time I recall him needing a needle to charge them. I have no problem moving to the better end caps to make life easier. He also moved my perch location (low to mid). Other than that I don't recall much other than it took several hours to do all 4.

Based on the degree of work and the mileage and age of the shocks (2014 w/ 100K miles) would you recommend just replacing the entire set to get the new end caps. I have no reason to think there is anything physically wrong with the shocks. This is more the ride feeling a little rougher and the maintenance window on these being 40-60K miles and sitting in that window.

I guess the other thing to factor in is your statement about how hard parts are to find for a rebuild combined with this being my daily driver. I really couldn't afford to let it sit for more than a few days to a week waiting on parts.

I appreciate you taking the time to educate me and value your opinion on this.
 
atimberwolf said:
Dang. I knew they were complicated. When I watched them being done last time I recall him needing a needle to charge them. I have no problem moving to the better end caps to make life easier. He also moved my perch location (low to mid). Other than that I don't recall much other than it took several hours to do all 4.

Based on the degree of work and the mileage and age of the shocks (2014 w/ 100K miles) would you recommend just replacing the entire set to get the new end caps. I have no reason to think there is anything physically wrong with the shocks. This is more the ride feeling a little rougher and the maintenance window on these being 40-60K miles and sitting in that window.

I guess the other thing to factor in is your statement about how hard parts are to find for a rebuild combined with this being my daily driver. I really couldn't afford to let it sit for more than a few days to a week waiting on parts.

I appreciate you taking the time to educate me and value your opinion on this.
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Depending on your end caps, you can removed the plastic ball seal and screw in the high pressure schrader fitting, or replace the resi end cap with the one with the high pressure schrader.

Best place for seals is shockseals dot com. Super easy to deal with, great parts, and fast shipping. Same place for oil.

Hard parts try kartek, poly performance or if you are lucky going thru race shop at fox, but that’s like pulling teeth.

Wayne at Alltech is a good also.

For your rears, I’d just get a cheap basic parts store shock that fits to run while yours are off.

Your fronts are a bigger problem with the coil retainers on the shock body.

Depending on price and budget you may be able to get a set from someone else, rebuild those, then swap those one. Or rebuild yours and then swap back.

Or find a set, rebuild both, this gets your by, and then also sell the rebuilt set when it’s done and try to break even or minimal loss/profit.
 
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