Just bought front and rear Fox 2.5 with DSC from Accutune!!!

[BellevilleRam]

I looked a little more closely at the Dirt King front long travel kit and they have long travel spec Kings for that kit and not the Fox 2.5's that I have. I'd seen my Fox's on their website and assumed wrongly that they were used in their kit. I wonder if my shocks would still work but not give quite as much travel! The kings are preset to a 3" lift where my Fox's are 2".

 

[crazykid1994]

It looks like their kit uses an eyelet for the lower coil over mount instead of a fork like the stock ram setup so probably not.

 

[BellevilleRam]

It looks like their kit uses an eyelet for the lower coil over mount instead of a fork like the stock ram setup so probably not.

****..... LOL. I could probably get my coilovers converted to work with their set up. That would be sweet!

 

[ram1500rsm]

Their LCA's are longer, their CO's assemblies are also longer, you'll need the long travel tierods and axel shafts which are both longer.

 

[BellevilleRam]

If I could afford it, I'd be better off just buying a Ram TRX instead of trying to turn my truck into one one piece at a time! LOL

 

[BellevilleRam]

Another little update on my Fox 2.5's. Now that the new coilovers have settled in and I've added a new rear Decked system to my truck bed, I am needing to raise the front ride height. I have been consulting with Accutune Off-Road about this also. What I was perceiving to be too much compression valving up front for my needs is likely the front end sitting too deep in its suspension travel and bottoming out on bigger bumps instead.

Accutune highly recommended removing the coilovers and putting them in a shock compressor to adjust the preload. I've read of others that have just jacked up their trucks, sprayed the threaded shock body with WD-40, loosened the shock collar nut and then used a 5/16" punch to adjust the preload ring. Have any of you folks adjusted your coilovers preload on the truck? If so how did that work out?

 

[novelmike]

Another little update on my Fox 2.5's. Now that the new coilovers have settled in and I've added a new rear Decked system to my truck bed, I am needing to raise the front ride height. I have been consulting with Accutune Off-Road about this also. What I was perceiving to be too much compression valving up front for my needs is likely the front end sitting too deep in its suspension travel and bottoming out on bigger bumps instead.

Accutune highly recommended removing the coilovers and putting them in a shock compressor to adjust the preload. I've read of others that have just jacked up their trucks, sprayed the threaded shock body with WD-40, loosened the shock collar nut and then used a 5/16" punch to adjust the preload ring. Have any of you folks adjusted your coilovers preload on the truck? If so how did that work out?

I’ve read similar posts on other forums about doing that to adjust the preload. I was worried about damaging the preload rings on my $2k shocks. Even though it would only be a cosmetic/visual, I didn’t want to try it.
BUT I was able to adjust them while they were on the truck! I used https://www.amazon.com/Shankly-Spri...or+tool&qid=1581258759&sprefix=shankly&sr=8-3
Amazon shows it unavailable, it’s probably sitting off the coast of Long Beach. But if you scroll down to the “compare with similar” the Handor Coil Spring compressor looks identical to the Shankly one. So I’m guessing it will fit and will also work. The problem with a lot of compressors is they will not fit on coilover springs because they’re not spaced wide like strut coils are. But like i said the Shankly one fits and I adjust the preload on my a couple weeks after mine “settled” AND to get the left and right side at the same height.

I forget, but I think I disconnected the tie rod and the upper control arm from the steering knuckle to give me more room to work. I can’t remember if it was 100% necessary.

 

[BellevilleRam]

I’ve read similar posts on other forums about doing that to adjust the preload. I was worried about damaging the preload rings on my $2k shocks. Even though it would only be a cosmetic/visual, I didn’t want to try it.
BUT I was able to adjust them while they were on the truck! I used https://www.amazon.com/Shankly-Spri...or+tool&qid=1581258759&sprefix=shankly&sr=8-3
Amazon shows it unavailable, it’s probably sitting off the coast of Long Beach. But if you scroll down to the “compare with similar” the Handor Coil Spring compressor looks identical to the Shankly one. So I’m guessing it will fit and will also work. The problem with a lot of compressors is they will not fit on coilover springs because they’re not spaced wide like strut coils are. But like i said the Shankly one fits and I adjust the preload on my a couple weeks after mine “settled” AND to get the left and right side at the same height.

I forget, but I think I disconnected the tie rod and the upper control arm from the steering knuckle to give me more room to work. I can’t remember if it was 100% necessary.

Thanks so much for the information!

 

[BellevilleRam]

I’ve read similar posts on other forums about doing that to adjust the preload. I was worried about damaging the preload rings on my $2k shocks. Even though it would only be a cosmetic/visual, I didn’t want to try it.
BUT I was able to adjust them while they were on the truck! I used https://www.amazon.com/Shankly-Spri...or+tool&qid=1581258759&sprefix=shankly&sr=8-3
Amazon shows it unavailable, it’s probably sitting off the coast of Long Beach. But if you scroll down to the “compare with similar” the Handor Coil Spring compressor looks identical to the Shankly one. So I’m guessing it will fit and will also work. The problem with a lot of compressors is they will not fit on coilover springs because they’re not spaced wide like strut coils are. But like i said the Shankly one fits and I adjust the preload on my a couple weeks after mine “settled” AND to get the left and right side at the same height.

I forget, but I think I disconnected the tie rod and the upper control arm from the steering knuckle to give me more room to work. I can’t remember if it was 100% necessary.

Did you need to compress both sides of the coil? I would assume you would need to? I’ve never looked into it before. I’m surprised that you didn’t need to remove the coil overs to do it but that’s got me excited to try it now! Perhaps I could clamp the tools onto the coil while the truck is at ride height then when I jacked the wheels off the ground it would release the spring tension?

 

[novelmike]

Yes, you’ll need to compress both sides of the coil.
I suppose you could do it the way. I’m not sure?!?!
I wonder if you can get it clamped onto the coil good enough by hand, if it would eliminate the need to remove tierod and UCA from the Knucle??
You now have more questions than the original question HaHa!

I’m not sure where you live and how much it’ll cost, but if you want, you can pay for shipping both ways and use my spring compressor.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Most manufacturers will recommend to compress the coil to remove preload and make the adjustment easier. I don't have time typically to do it that way so i do it the easy way then i go ahead and take the truck for alignment. i've done it like this before with my Toyota trucks and Honda/BWM cars. Never messed anything up, just take your time and understand what you're doing and how you're doing it.


This is pretty much all you need to do:

HOW TO: Adjust Your Ride Height Using ICON Coilovers

Do you have a new set of ICON coilovers on your vehicle, but are unsure about how to properly adjust them? Tune in with Scott from ICON Vehicle Dynamics as h...

www.youtube.com

Or

Coilover Rapid Adjustment Tech Tip

This video shows how to speed up the process of adjusting a set of coil-over lifts. We are using a 2014 Toyota Tacoma with Remote Reservoir Sway-A-Way Coil-O...

www.youtube.com

I've adjusted my Kings this way 5 times already without any issues, sure some of my adjusters holes don't look neat like new lol, some have little scratches not a big deal. it takes me 30-45min total from start to finish from lifting the wheels in the air, removing the wheels, doing the work and putting everything back. no need to disconnect anything. King instructions specifically say to loosen the pinch bolt in the collar no more than 1 full turn and that's how i do it. You may want to call Fox and confirm with them how many turns you'll need to loosen those bolts up. Most important thing is NEVER remove that bolt if you're just trying to adjust your CO's.

An issue i faced as you can see from the video above is the fact that the reservoir hose will obstruct the spanner tool movement when you're adjusting the collar past the hose fitting. Look at post#143 here

2014 RAM 1500 Express Crew Cab

Ahhh I just saw it. Can’t find a pic of it installed though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ProI don't think there are any yet. They don't even list rams on the barricade website. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

www.ramforum.com

Also i don't think Fox includes a spanner tool to turn your collars. King comes to the rescue
This should fit the holes in those Fox CO's but you can confirm with Fox. This makes the job a lot easier.

https://www.polyperformance.com/king-shocks-2-0-2-5-t-handle-coil-nut-wrench?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=KRS-25308-100&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4b2MBhD2ARIsAIrcB-SnC4hu9fYJVQXvdIrmmg1QFRyJH8rDljeGjWXhlqwRBCG8LE2qicMaAjVuEALw_wcB

 

[BellevilleRam]

Most manufacturers will recommend to compress the coil to remove preload and make the adjustment easier. I don't have time typically to do it that way so i do it the easy way then i go ahead and take the truck for alignment. i've done it like this before with my Toyota trucks and Honda/BWM cars. Never messed anything up, just take your time and understand what you're doing and how you're doing it.


This is pretty much all you need to do:

HOW TO: Adjust Your Ride Height Using ICON Coilovers

Do you have a new set of ICON coilovers on your vehicle, but are unsure about how to properly adjust them? Tune in with Scott from ICON Vehicle Dynamics as h...

www.youtube.com

Or

Coilover Rapid Adjustment Tech Tip

This video shows how to speed up the process of adjusting a set of coil-over lifts. We are using a 2014 Toyota Tacoma with Remote Reservoir Sway-A-Way Coil-O...

www.youtube.com

I've adjusted my Kings this way 5 times already without any issues, sure some of my adjusters holes don't look neat like new lol, some have little scratches not a big deal. it takes me 30-45min total from start to finish from lifting the wheels in the air, removing the wheels, doing the work and putting everything back. no need to disconnect anything. King instructions specifically say to loosen the pinch bolt in the collar no more than 1 full turn and that's how i do it. You may want to call Fox and confirm with them how many turns you'll need to loosen those bolts up. Most important thing is NEVER remove that bolt if you're just trying to adjust your CO's.

An issue i faced as you can see from the video above is the fact that the reservoir hose will obstruct the spanner tool movement when you're adjusting the collar past the hose fitting. Look at post#143 here

2014 RAM 1500 Express Crew Cab

Ahhh I just saw it. Can’t find a pic of it installed though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ProI don't think there are any yet. They don't even list rams on the barricade website. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

www.ramforum.com

Also i don't think Fox includes a spanner tool to turn your collars. King comes to the rescue
This should fit the holes in those Fox CO's but you can confirm with Fox. This makes the job a lot easier.

https://www.polyperformance.com/king-shocks-2-0-2-5-t-handle-coil-nut-wrench?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=KRS-25308-100&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4b2MBhD2ARIsAIrcB-SnC4hu9fYJVQXvdIrmmg1QFRyJH8rDljeGjWXhlqwRBCG8LE2qicMaAjVuEALw_wcB

Thanks as always for the wealth of information! Really appreciate it and the others comments also! I already ordered a 5/16" tip diameter, 8" long punch to use as the tool for adjusting the preload collars. I still might buy a set of spring compressors another guy suggested on Amazon.

 

[hodge-xj]

I've adjusted my icons a few times now and done nothing more than hit them with a squirt of Wd-40 and took the vehicles weight off them. Imo you'll know right away if you can add preload or not without compressing the coils. It's gonna require a bit of force to spin the collar but you shouldn't feel like you're forcing it. When in doubt play it safe but it's worth trying without removing them. Throw a wrap of electrical tape on the punch if you're worried about marring up the collars and it should prevent scratches.

Granted this is on my icons vs fox so it very well could be different but I really don't imagine it requiring compressing the coil.

 

[BellevilleRam]

Another little update on my truck. I decided to reinstall my rear Hellwig swaybar and Carli links after adding the Decked storage system to my truck bed. I found that because of the the added weight and also due to the 3" body lift on my truck that the rear end was unstable. I previously used the middle stiffness setting but this time used the softest to see how it feels. It's PERFECT now! The truck handles super well and still feels plush with the Fox 2.5 shocks all around. I am now able to run less rear low speed compression because I'm not relying on the rear shocks to limit chassis movement.

 

[BellevilleRam]

I filmed my Fox 2.5's today underneath the truck with my GoPro and a magnetic mount. Pretty cool to see that view! I'll make a better video once the roads dry up. https://youtu.be/yNkykflBIUE here's another made the next day... https://youtu.be/o_jqsKVDNPg

 

[BellevilleRam]

Hey gang. I managed to adjust the preload on the Fox 2.5 coilovers while they were on the truck! I gained an inch of ride height from where they were when I first got them. To make the adjustments, I first lifted the wheels off the ground, then loosened the collar set screws with a 3/16 Allen wrench.

Then I applied a liberal amount of WD 40 to the threads above and below the spring collars on each shock. Using an 8" long 5/16 punch to fit into the holes on the shock collar, I was able to spin the preload collars down to add the lift. It took some muscles but it IS possible to do without removing them from the truck and using a spring compressor as is highly recommended.

Due to the reservoir hoses getting in the way, I did have to angle the punch and use a hammer just on the last full turn to get the next available hole to where I could reach it with the punch properly again. Needless to say, I did some cosmetic damage to the one hole on each shock but it's hidden from sight once I got the set screw holes back into position to tighten down after.

 

[BellevilleRam]

Here's some footage of the front suspension now that I added the preload. It has a better range of motion now. I'm really pleased with the difference it made! https://youtu.be/Qt0MVTo8lxA

 

[Quick_Shifter]

Here's some footage of the front suspension now that I added the preload. It has a better range of motion now. I'm really pleased with the difference it made! https://youtu.be/Qt0MVTo8lxA

Very nice. Need to get a set of suspension Maxx sway bar endlinks

 

[BellevilleRam]

Very nice. Need to get a set of suspension Maxx sway bar endlinks

It's on the list! Are my stock links limiting the travel or anything that needs to be addressed?

 

[BellevilleRam]

For anyone interested, here's my Fox 2.5 coilovers at full droop and full compression! Check out how far into the lower spring perch the shock body goes! The shock shaft travel is 5.76" which gives me about 9.2" of front wheel travel.