What brand Coilover?

Mac5005

Mac5005

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
Location
Rocky Mount
I'm going to be buying a pair of 2.0 Remote res 14" travel coilovers asap.

Just curious what everyone is running and why you like the brand that you like.

I'm leaning towards FOA based on the price, but i'm not dead set on anything yet.

Heres my current opinion.

Fox and Swayaway are about the same price, and i feel like they about the same product. Kings are the $$$. I don't know much Radflo. Bilsteins are the $$$ as well, but i know that they have the intertia valve in them, like an edlbrock IAS shock, that is speed sensitive valving, but you've got to pay for them. FOA's seem like a good product from all the forums, and the price seems better than others, but you do get what you pay for.

I'm not going to run airshocks. These are going on the back of my YJ. Mostly trail driven, its not a racecar, but i don't always crawl everywhere either. It also does see some street time, maybe 20 miles a week, when the weather is nice, and nothings broke. I wouldn't want to be limited and not able to run down the highway if i wanted.

So,

What brands are you guys running?
Have you tuned or had them tuned (valving)?
Have you had to make any repairs, and are parts easy to get?
What kind of Factory support have you recieved if you've needed it?

but basically,

What brand would you reccommend and why?
 
Sway aways in the 14" flavor. Went with them because it was what Rocky at wide open designs said I needed. I went with them because they are semi local and the only ones that talked to me like I was a person rather than money. David g is gonna tune mine when the time is right. Call and talk to Rocky the price he gave me blew everyone else out of the water.
 
Can't beat a KING 2.0 emulsion for a trail rig IMO. I run KINGs on everything and have never been disappointed the least bit. I get all mine through Sonny at Downsouth Motorsports, he is a great guy with unprecedented service. Give him a call and 5 mins of your time and you will learn something at the very least. Tell him BJ Allen sent you his way.
 
I run fox's on everything, my DH bike, gncc race side by side and they are going on the body that we just got. They are very dependable, easy to rebuild/revalve and parts are readily available if we're in a pitch and I don't have them. Oh and being a dealer doesn't hurt either.....
 
Mac5005 said:
What brands are you guys running?Swayaway
Have you tuned or had them tuned (valving)? No
Have you had to make any repairs, and are parts easy to get?Yes,Yes
What kind of Factory support have you recieved if you've needed it? Never needed it but Poly Perf can sell you a shock by the pieces.
but basically,
What brand would you reccommend and why?Swayaway, they've been good
Click to expand...
.02
 
The finish on the swayaway's seemed to hold up better than the fox's, and better than the FOA's by far, just from looking at the local guys running them around here.

I had re-valved them several times - factory support was very good.

When I sold them, the owner promptly bent 2 shafts, and had no issues getting quick replacement parts.
 
I have never had a good experience with FOA's.... They take too many short cuts on the engineering side of it and it shows in the build process and longevity of life.... They definably have have a problem with seals and tolerances.

We run Sway Away, Fox, and King , on multiple race rigs and trail rigs.... Any of these shocks would be great for your rig and I definably like the fact that you are going to run remote reservoirs if your planning on tuning them....
 
Thanks for all the input guys. I still haven't decided but i've definitely narrowed it down in my mind. I have been sending out PMs and making phone calls all day to get quotes on them. I'll post up the price differences when i get them just for future reference.
 
Mac5005 said:
Thanks for all the input guys. I still haven't decided but i've definitely narrowed it down in my mind. I have been sending out PMs and making phone calls all day to get quotes on them. I'll post up the price differences when i get them just for future reference.
Click to expand...


Dont miss sending a PM/email to the guy directly above you.....:beer:
 
Fox: $950-$952 shipped
Fox: w/ Trip Rate: $1042 Shipped.
King: $1005 shipped
ORI: $1250 shipped
Radflo: $1010 shipped
Swayaway $936 shipped
FOA : $945 shipped

These are all for 2.0 14" travel, Remote Resi, with dual rate hardware, with the exception of the quote w/ Triple Rate Hardware, and the exception of the ori's.
Still waiting to here back on Radflo, FOA, Bilstein, SAW, and ORIs. I'll edit and post back up as i get the info.

I'm not as concerned about the overall price as I am about the product I get for that price. That being said, I would MUCH rather keep my money local, rather than send it off to the west coast.
 
"I'm not going to run airshocks."
Are airshocks that bad on a street rig?I didnt want to start a whole new thread to ask?I was thinking of running them on the front of a street rig.
 
IMO yes they are that bad. Main reason I see is that they will overheat from being over worked. From my research the pressure would build due to heat and change the rates, ie pressures, that they were set at.
 
snappy said:
IMO yes they are that bad. Main reason I see is that they will overheat from being over worked. From my research the pressure would build due to heat and change the rates, ie pressures, that they were set at.
Click to expand...


Good try Snap Snap but thats about half way right....

Let me clear this up....

Unless the air shocks are super close to a header or heat source, they should be completely reliable for road use.... The way you over work an air shock is lots of fast Jurassic travel over short periods of time, thats what makes the heat and changes the pressures and tears shit up....

Road use doesn't require much shock travel at all, so in turn the shock doesn't work very much at all, because it is at ride height like 97% of the time if your just riding around....

What kind of rig does this go on and what does it do?
 
DavidG4x4 said:
Good try Snap Snap but thats about half way right....
Let me clear this up....
Unless the air shocks are super close to a header or heat source, they should be completely reliable for road use.... The way you over work an air shock is lots of fast Jurassic travel over short periods of time, thats what makes the heat and changes the pressures and tears shit up....
Road use doesn't require much shock travel at all, so in turn the shock doesn't work very much at all, because it is at ride height like 97% of the time if your just riding around....
What kind of rig does this go on and what does it do?
Click to expand...
I was thinking of putting them on the front of an ford explorer.95% street and 5% trail riding.I have 60's to go in front and rear.I have leaf springs for the rear.But on the front I want to use the radius arm and trac bar setup with airshocks.And the tires size will be 46 baja claws.
 
one thing you need to keep in mind with airshocks is that there is a reccommended weight capacity for the diameter air shock you plan on running. Depending on the total weight of the front, you may need to run 2.5" air shocks to get the capacity you need.

In my situation, it was my preference not to run air shocks. I have my own reasons.
 
Mac5005 said:
Fox: $950-$952 shipped
Fox: w/ Trip Rate: $1042 Shipped.
King: $1005 shipped
ORI: $1250 shipped
Radflo: $1010 shipped
Swayaway $936 shipped
FOA : $945 shipped
Click to expand...
I think it is awesome that the Kings are within $50-70 of all the other brands. I used to think King Shocks were much more expensive than others. My racer will be sporting a new set of Kings next week, and I can't wait. Glad to see you spent the money with Wide Open Design, those guys are top notch.
 
tw89yj said:
I think it is awesome that the Kings are within $50-70 of all the other brands. I used to think King Shocks were much more expensive than others. My racer will be sporting a new set of Kings next week, and I can't wait. Glad to see you spent the money with Wide Open Design, those guys are top notch.
Click to expand...



If something did not work out with WOD, I was going to spend the extra just to get the Kings. I always thought i would never be able to afford Kings, but after getting that quote, it really suprised me. Rocky also mentioned that SAW had also just upped their prices as of march, and now they are pretty much the exact same price as King.

Rocky Quoted me : $1032 on 2.0 remote resi Swayaways, but they are backordered. So in all actuality there higher than Kings.
 
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