Coilovers for 4-6" of lift

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Solid State

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Thinking about upgrading my fronts to a set of coilovers. Currently on my second set of 5100's and would like to go with something nicer this time around. I don't do much off roading. 90% of the time is street, with the rest rutted back roads and fields. My question is: is Fox the only one that makes a coilover for a lifted application? I have the Zone 6" with the spacer. It's to my understanding that the fox's eliminate the need for that spacer. Do any of the other's? They all look like they're for 0-2ish inches of lift, like the bils. Would a custom set of kings be longer like the fox's? Also, what is the benefit of ditching the spacer, and going to a longer coilover set up? Maybe it's something I don't even need? Just trying to gather some info.
 

Quick_Shifter

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Thinking about upgrading my fronts to a set of coilovers. Currently on my second set of 5100's and would like to go with something nicer this time around. I don't do much off roading. 90% of the time is street, with the rest rutted back roads and fields. My question is: is Fox the only one that makes a coilover for a lifted application? I have the Zone 6" with the spacer. It's to my understanding that the fox's eliminate the need for that spacer. Do any of the other's? They all look like they're for 0-2ish inches of lift, like the bils. Would a custom set of kings be longer like the fox's? Also, what is the benefit of ditching the spacer, and going to a longer coilover set up? Maybe it's something I don't even need? Just trying to gather some info.
Fox is not the only ones however since you have the zone lift they would be your best option. @Nick@GotExhaust can get you a cracken deal on them as they are designed specifically for the BDS/Zone lift
 
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Solid State

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Was hoping you would chime in as I know you have the same set up, and switched to the Fox 2.5's. How much difference does it make going from the spacer to the full coilover? Who else makes the longer coilover? And why do you say the fox would be best? Thanks for all feedback.
 

Hawaii_Built

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I stumbled across this website that listed ICON coilovers for lifted applications a while back.
https://socalsupertrucks.com/2-5-ir-coilover-shocks-fits-bds-4-5-lift-09-18-ram-1500-4wd/ They may have a 6" application, wouldn't hurt to email and ask. I upgraded the 5100s in my old Tundra to ICONs and loved how they rode. The difference in on road and offroad manners was amazing.

Forgot to add - All coilovers are not the same. Someone more versed in this can probably chime in. My very elementary understanding is this:

Kings and Fox are progressively valved - meaning the harder you drive, the firmer the shocks will ride.

ICON valving is digressive - the harder you drive, the softer the shocks will ride.
 
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Solid State

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Fox is not the only ones however since you have the zone lift they would be your best option. @Nick@GotExhaust can get you a cracken deal on them as they are designed specifically for the BDS/Zone lift
I guess what I meant, was outside of the fox's being a part of the bds kit, why those over kings or others? Pricing them out it looks like a custom set from king isnt that much difference than the of the shelf fox.
 

Quick_Shifter

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I guess what I meant, was outside of the fox's being a part of the bds kit, why those over kings or others? Pricing them out it looks like a custom set from king isnt that much difference than the of the shelf fox.
Fox did all the R&D to make it for the BDS kit which is identical to the zone lift and being a great brand anyway I don’t see the need in shopping around. But yes the custom world is literally endless. Anything is possible.
 
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Solid State

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Fox did all the R&D to make it for the BDS kit which is identical to the zone lift and being a great brand anyway I don’t see the need in shopping around. But yes the custom world is literally endless. Anything is possible.
Fair point. I don't think I really NEED custom valved shocks to be honest, just weighing options. Looked through your build and saw you've had factory set with zone? The eibach set up. And now the fox 2.5. What is the benefit of the coilovers without the spacer, over running the fox 2.0 or the icons and keeping the spacer? Is the ride a lot better? Not opposed to the fox's. The would probably suit my needs for anythinh I wouls be doing with my truck.
 

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Fair point. I don't think I really NEED custom valved shocks to be honest, just weighing options. Looked through your build and saw you've had factory set with zone? The eibach set up. And now the fox 2.5. What is the benefit of the coilovers without the spacer, over running the fox 2.0 or the icons and keeping the spacer? Is the ride a lot better? Not opposed to the fox's. The would probably suit my needs for anythinh I wouls be doing with my truck.
Not having a spacer on any lift is a big difference. You can do the fox 2.0 or icon with a spacer but they are both leveling options and you would end up tweaking height options and eventually buying 2.5 coil overs. I always say everything costs more the second time you do it
 

ram1500rsm

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I stumbled across this website that listed ICON coilovers for lifted applications a while back.
https://socalsupertrucks.com/2-5-ir-coilover-shocks-fits-bds-4-5-lift-09-18-ram-1500-4wd/ They may have a 6" application, wouldn't hurt to email and ask. I upgraded the 5100s in my old Tundra to ICONs and loved how they rode. The difference in on road and offroad manners was amazing.

Forgot to add - All coilovers are not the same. Someone more versed in this can probably chime in. My very elementary understanding is this:

Kings and Fox are progressively valved - meaning the harder you drive, the firmer the shocks will ride.

ICON valving is digressive - the harder you drive, the softer the shocks will ride.

Icon makes a set for 4" and another for 6" lift.
upload_2021-3-20_21-11-13.png

Fox and King are more Linear, Icons are diggresive but there is more than that. You can have diggresive pistons with linear compression and a little diggresive rebound. Icon seems to employ that method as a way to firm up the ride on the street for less body roll. My King rear shocks had diggresive pistons from the factory. Doesn’t mean they’re diggresive just a way for them to tune their valving to achieve a desire outcome. There is more to these type of shocks than just feeling soft, they do control rebound and compression based on how fast the shock shaft moves so they can adjust the shims and give you more or less holes to allow the oil to flow slower or quicker based on how fast the shaft moves.

Check the Accutune offroad website they have some cool tech articles talking about the differences in valving and what not. For example
https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/digressive-vs-linear-vs-progressive-pistons-shock-valving/
 
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Solid State

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Thanks for the help. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to all of the technical stuff about shocks. Progressive/digressive/linear, etc. I know I would like to upgrade to a 6" coilover for better ride, and just a nicer suspension upgrade to the truck. Will admit, looks factor into this as well. I'm probably fine with the fox 2.5's or the Icon option now that they have one. Looked at dirtymotorsports, and custom kings didnt seem that much more than the one size fits all fox's without custom valving. 90% of my driving is street and I like to drive like I stole it. Always drove little 2 door acura/hondas before I got this truck,and my driving style seems to still be like I'm in one of those. The other 10 percent of the time is fields and county back roads. Guess I'm lookong for something that will handle a little tighter on the street, and a little softer on the dirt/gravel. I would imagine any of the above mentioned options would be better than my 5100's. Also, keeping truck level is a must.
 

Nick@GotExhaust

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Thanks for the help. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to all of the technical stuff about shocks. Progressive/digressive/linear, etc. I know I would like to upgrade to a 6" coilover for better ride, and just a nicer suspension upgrade to the truck. Will admit, looks factor into this as well. I'm probably fine with the fox 2.5's or the Icon option now that they have one. Looked at dirtymotorsports, and custom kings didnt seem that much more than the one size fits all fox's without custom valving. 90% of my driving is street and I like to drive like I stole it. Always drove little 2 door acura/hondas before I got this truck,and my driving style seems to still be like I'm in one of those. The other 10 percent of the time is fields and county back roads. Guess I'm lookong for something that will handle a little tighter on the street, and a little softer on the dirt/gravel. I would imagine any of the above mentioned options would be better than my 5100's. Also, keeping truck level is a must.


We have many customers running the Zone lift with the Fox coil overs and love it. For your driving I don't think you will gain much with custom valving. The Fox Coil overs have great street manners while having great performance off road. If we can assist with any brand coil overs send me a message and we can get you quoted.
 
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Solid State

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Thanks Nick. After looking through the link ram1500rsm posted, and info from quickshifter, I think the fox's will more than adequate for what I'm looking for. I'll hit you up soon about pricing
 

Hawaii_Built

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I never understood why people dropped so much coin on coilovers. I thought they did it for the bling... Until I stepped up to a set of my own. I used to tell people that ICON employees a bunch of magical wizards and fairies to build those shocks, as it's the only way I could explain how much the shocks transformed the ride of my old Tundra. It was very compliant and well behaved on road and very comfortable crawling over uneven and rocky terrain... On hard packed gravel, the truck practically begged to be driven faster and harder. The faster it went, the smoother and more controlled the ride was.
 
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