Shocks - was is the latest thoughts?

[62Blazer]

2016 Power Wagon with 32k miles. Installed 35's and noticed the passenger side front was cupping after a few thousand miles. From my experience this is often from worn out shocks. Quick inspection found the shock leaking and now it will leave a small puddle of oil in the garage sometimes. Just bought the truck this last December with 26k miles and 99% sure they are the factory shocks.

What are the current thoughts and suggestions on replacement front shocks?

I had been looking at eventually upgrading to the Thuren 1.5" front coils and either the Overland or Fox shocks. Just not sure if I'm ready to drop $900-$1,000 for the front kit (springs, trackbar, shocks). Really like the Fox 2.0 options and could live with the $340 but Thuren states you need their coil springs also. They explained why and I understand legally why they say that, but wondering if I could run just the shocks on the road (no swaybar disconnect or heavy off-road use) for awhile?

There isn't a lot of other shocks that are specifically listed for the Power Wagon. Though shocks listed for a 2"-2.5" lift are pretty common which sounds like they would work, or maybe a 4" lift shock that would allow the 1.5" springs down the road?

Anybody know what the factory front shock measurements are (extended, collapsed)? I was going to pull one off but might be a few days before I have time and would like to get something ordered soon.

 

[olyelr]

If youR plan is to eventually go with the Thuren springs up front, then I would just snag either his white body shocks or his fox tuned ones and run them with your stock coils. It may not be desired, but it cant possibly that big of a deal.

 

[62Blazer]

Took some measurements of stock shocks last night. 23.5" fully extended and had around 9" of shaft exposed (couldn't compress the shock by hand). From my research on the aftermarket:

Gabriel - about the only one that states is specific to a stock PW - 23.5" extended with 8.75" stroke (basically identical to stock)

Bilstein 5100
2-2.5" lift version - 22.6" extended with 7.6" stroke (too short so would limit downtravel, but uptravel would be okay
4" lift version - 25.4" extended with 8.4" stroke, downtravel would be just about right with 1.5" coils, might limit uptravel some

Rancho 9000 2.5" lift version - 24.75" extended with 9" stroke, seems to be a good length for 1.5" coils

Obviously still looking at the Thuren stuff, but they seem a little evasive on availability of either the Overland or Fox shocks...."usually takes around a week for most stuff". Really don't want to drive the truck anymore than necessary with the bad shock as it's cupping out the 35's quickly.

 

[Trailmaker]

My durtracs cupped after only 4K. I rotate every 3k now. When I went to 35s last month I saw I had 50% left on the stock tires at 26k. I did not think I would have 8/32 past 20,000 miles since I tow and haul frequently.

I am not saying you don’t need shocks but that tire needs to go to the back.
And 6k miles in 10 months?? Drive that truck!! I have done Rancho 3-4 times and was pleased with them. I find the stock Bilstein shocks are good on Ram for 80k or 5 years so I would not hesitate to look at stock again. The upgraded Bilstein on the TRX are beast, but the need for the reservoir would depend on the frequency of driving on washboard roads for me.

 

[62Blazer]

My durtracs cupped after only 4K. I rotate every 3k now. When I went to 35s last month I saw I had 50% left on the stock tires at 26k. I did not think I would have 8/32 past 20,000 miles since I tow and haul frequently.

I am not saying you don’t need shocks but that tire needs to go to the back.
And 6k miles in 10 months?? Drive that truck!! I have done Rancho 3-4 times and was pleased with them. I find the stock Bilstein shocks are good on Ram for 80k or 5 years so I would not hesitate to look at stock again. The upgraded Bilstein on the TRX are beast, but the need for the reservoir would depend on the frequency of driving on washboard roads for me.

The stock Duratracs had around 50% tread at 26k miles and had even wear. Put on the 35" Falken mud tires and the right front had noticeable cupping after 1,000 miles, and found the leaking shock shortly afterwards. I have already rotated the tires and the current one in that position is starting to show cupping also. The left front is wearing even. On my previous truck the front tires started cupping and I tried alignments, re-balancing the tires, etc... and could only get even tire wear again on the front after replacing the shocks. Never had a shock leak this bad before, especially at low mileage, as it will leave a 2" wide spot under it overnight if you have driven it more than 15 miles or so before parking. Over the years I've had several different daily driver trucks with various mud terrain tires, and while I know they are more prone to uneven wear I have always been able to get even wear out of them with rotations, proper alignments, and suspension parts in good shape.

For the mileage the PW is not my daily driver. That duty is reserved for my car that gets 30 MPG and cost 1/2 or 1/3 as much for maintenance (tires, brakes, oil changes).........and the biggest thing is simply the replacement cost of the vehicle. I can wear out the car and go buy another 2-4 year old one with under 50k miles for 1/4 of what I paid for the PW! I love driving the PW but for driving back and forth to work the car is just much more practical.

 

[Travelin Ram]

I’ve experienced some shock fade on washboard or rough trails since I put 35’s on recently. 10k miles. The shocks don’t leak yet, and seem to recover, but they’re getting hot enough to give you an instant burn (DAMHIK). Clearly for these conditions a shock with more capacity and better cooling is called for.

You’re in a tough spot since you want to buy shocks first and lift later. A longer shock will almost certainly bottom out before the axle hits the bump stops and that’s a shock or shock mount killer.

You can probably proceed with the longer shocks as long as you install the appropriate bump stop or stop extension at the same time to avoid bottoming out the shocks when you stuff a tire.

The only potential adverse effect I foresee is you *might* drop a spring out at full droop if the new shocks allow more droop than the length of the stock springs.

And of course you’ll need to check brake and wheel sensor hoses / leads, just to avoid any strain from added droop. As with any suspension modification.

 

[Trailmaker]

The stock Duratracs had around 50% tread at 26k miles and had even wear. Put on the 35" Falken mud tires and the right front had noticeable cupping after 1,000 miles, and found the leaking shock shortly afterwards. I have already rotated the tires and the current one in that position is starting to show cupping also. The left front is wearing even. On my previous truck the front tires started cupping and I tried alignments, re-balancing the tires, etc... and could only get even tire wear again on the front after replacing the shocks. Never had a shock leak this bad before, especially at low mileage, as it will leave a 2" wide spot under it overnight if you have driven it more than 15 miles or so before parking. Over the years I've had several different daily driver trucks with various mud terrain tires, and while I know they are more prone to uneven wear I have always been able to get even wear out of them with rotations, proper alignments, and suspension parts in good shape.

For the mileage the PW is not my daily driver. That duty is reserved for my car that gets 30 MPG and cost 1/2 or 1/3 as much for maintenance (tires, brakes, oil changes).........and the biggest thing is simply the replacement cost of the vehicle. I can wear out the car and go buy another 2-4 year old one with under 50k miles for 1/4 of what I paid for the PW! I love driving the PW but for driving back and forth to work the car is just much more practical.

Okay yeah 1000 miles on a bad shock not keeping the tire planted will create cupping no doubt.

since this is your tread and you posted about a cheep car, I’m gonna reply to that.
We buy our wagons for different reasons yes. For some it is tool or recreation only.
I enjoy driving mine PW. I like the feeling knowing that if an accident were to happen, I’m the one in the tank...
This cheeper car you drive to work sounds terrible. I would drive a Harley, a Corvette, a GTR, or a challenger with the hellcat. But your PW will rust and dry rot any savings you might gain from a commuter car. Insurance, Registration, Taxes will eat up the rest.
Batteries, wipers, belt etc. all have a shelf life...so now you are spending money on both prematurely.
Vehicles that make it 300,000 plus miles is ones that get driven daily not grandmas Buick from 1972.

anyways back to shocks. If you get the longer shocks then you need to adjust your bump stops as well. Or spend the money on adjustable ones...
Perhaps just ask for someone’s take offs till you are ready to do the whole enchilada??

 

[Trailmaker]

I’ve experienced some shock fade on washboard or rough trails since I put 35’s on recently. 10k miles. The shocks don’t leak yet, and seem to recover, but they’re getting hot enough to give you an instant burn (DAMHIK). Clearly for these conditions a shock with more capacity and better cooling is called for.

You’re in a tough spot since you want to buy shocks first and lift later. A longer shock will almost certainly bottom out before the axle hits the bump stops and that’s a shock or shock mount killer.

You can probably proceed with the longer shocks as long as you install the appropriate bump stop or stop extension at the same time to avoid bottoming out the shocks when you stuff a tire.

The only potential adverse effect I foresee is you *might* drop a spring out at full droop if the new shocks allow more droop than the length of the stock springs.

And of course you’ll need to check brake and wheel sensor hoses / leads, just to avoid any strain from added droop. As with any suspension modification.

Well said!

 

[62Blazer]

since this is your tread and you posted about a cheep car, I’m gonna reply to that.
We buy our wagons for different reasons yes. For some it is tool or recreation only.
I enjoy driving mine PW. I like the feeling knowing that if an accident were to happen, I’m the one in the tank...
This cheeper car you drive to work sounds terrible. I would drive a Harley, a Corvette, a GTR, or a challenger with the hellcat. But your PW will rust and dry rot any savings you might gain from a commuter car. Insurance, Registration, Taxes will eat up the rest.
Batteries, wipers, belt etc. all have a shelf life...so now you are spending money on both prematurely.
Vehicles that make it 300,000 plus miles is ones that get driven daily not grandmas Buick from 1972.

I'm not going to disagree or argue with you at all on the points above as different people have different opinions. A couple things to clarify when I say cheap car I'm not talking about a econobox beater. I drive a midsize, mid option level car....Sirius/XM radio, remote start, etc... I use the PW for towing, hauling stuff in the bed, take it on vacation, and drive it on the weekend. Completely agree that letting vehicles sit a lot is bad for them. The PW rarely sits parked for more than a few days in a row, plus it's kept in a climate controlled shop.

 

[62Blazer]

Okay, well talked to another person at Thuren and they said right now they had the Fox 2.0 shocks and 1.5" coils actually in stock so went ahead and ordered both.

 

[olyelr]

Okay, well talked to another person at Thuren and they said right now they had the Fox 2.0 shocks and 1.5" coils actually in stock so went ahead and ordered both.

Hell yea!

 

[62Blazer]

I'm like a kid waiting on Christmas morning. Tracker shows the parts were shipped last Thursday and departed Oregon on Friday, but no updates since....not complaining but rather just excited to get the parts.

Still debating on putting a 1" spacer in the rear but will wait until I get the 1.5" springs up front to see what it looks like. I like a little bit of rake.

 

[22hemi13]

I'm like a kid waiting on Christmas morning. Tracker shows the parts were shipped last Thursday and departed Oregon on Friday, but no updates since....not complaining but rather just excited to get the parts.

Still debating on putting a 1" spacer in the rear but will wait until I get the 1.5" springs up front to see what it looks like. I like a little bit of rake.

I feel ya. I’m waiting for my king 2.5s front and rear, booogie bumps, sway bar and truss to get here. I’m ready to goooooooo!!

 

[Gonzo Groves]

OK, Thought I'd jump in as this is a frustrating subject for a Power Wagon Owner and ex-parts man.
It's seems that Bilstein struck a deal with Mopar on these shocks and cut an exclusivity contract on them.
This means no one at Bilstein knows anything about these shocks.
I spent a lot of time searching the part number (which is a Bilstein number) only to get lost in a barrage of disinformation.
And forget about getting any dimensional info either.
The kicker----good luck getting the right parts from Mopar as no one has a clue about which shocks to give you.
Everything they offered up was too short and would only fit regular 2500s.
I gave up on the dealers as I find it hard to stay out of jail when they boil your blood to the point of homicide.
So, I took some measurements of my own, and painstakingly undertook looking for shocks by comparing dimensional data.
The REAR Bilstein F4-BE5-I986-W4 has to fit into the following dimensions:
Bump stop at static 3-3/8" and 7" at full droop making the fully extended shock height = Static shock height plus droop= 23-1/4" +3-5/8"= 26.875"
now add about 1/2" to the static bump for "squish" when you bottom out and you have 3-3/8" + 1/2"= 3.875" and take that
from the static shock height 23-1/4"-3.875"= 19.375"
What matches is a Bilstein# 24-066464 with 27.32" extended height and 16.34" collapsed height.
The FRONT Bilstein F4-BE5-I985-W4 has to fit into the following dimensions:
Bump stop at static 3" and 7-1/4" at full droop making the fully extended shock height = Static shock height plus droop= 20-1/2"" + 4-1/4"= 24.750"
now add about 1/2" to the static bump for "squish" when you bottom out and you have 3"+1/2"= 3.50" and take that
from the static shock height 20-1/2"- 3-1/2"= 17.00"
What matches is a Bilstein# 24-285285 with 25.75" extended height and 16.850" collapsed height.


The dimensions don't leave much room, but I'm willing to bet Bilstein took some off the shelf shocks, relabeled them, and now Mopar is passing them off as special.
Both Shocks are 5100s
The 24-066464 is a front shock for a 2003-2013 RAM 2500-3500 4WD lifted 4" to 5".
The 24-285285 is a front shock for a 2017-2020 Ford Superduty F-250 King Ranch 4WD with 4" lift.

I think this is what I'm going to go with.

I'll post an update after I get a few miles in.

 

[62Blazer]

Agree with the above post as it was somewhat frustrating researching shocks. I just was looking at fronts and only found one option in aftermarket that was specifically listed as a PW stock replacement (Gabriel), and then of course the Mopar specific shocks for a PW. I wound up pulling the factory front shocks, measuring them, and comparing numbers to many other aftermarket shocks. The biggest issue was finding aftermarket shocks that had enough travel/shaft stroke compared to factory.

I did wind up getting Thuren 1.5" front coils and Fox 2.0 shocks. Thuren states that their shocks only work with their coils. The reason provided by Thuren was that their shocks are longer and thus allow more droop/downtravel, and that extended droop could be enough to allow the coils to become unseated and pop out. Yes, the shocks are longer and allow more droop but the Thuren 1.5" lift springs are the same length as stock PW front coils so there is no way this could happen......both the stock and Thuren springs would become unseated at the same time.

 

[Mule19]

OK, Thought I'd jump in as this is a frustrating subject for a Power Wagon Owner and ex-parts man.
It's seems that Bilstein struck a deal with Mopar on these shocks and cut an exclusivity contract on them.
This means no one at Bilstein knows anything about these shocks.
I spent a lot of time searching the part number (which is a Bilstein number) only to get lost in a barrage of disinformation.
And forget about getting any dimensional info either.
The kicker----good luck getting the right parts from Mopar as no one has a clue about which shocks to give you.
Everything they offered up was too short and would only fit regular 2500s.
I gave up on the dealers as I find it hard to stay out of jail when they boil your blood to the point of homicide.
So, I took some measurements of my own, and painstakingly undertook looking for shocks by comparing dimensional data.
The REAR Bilstein F4-BE5-I986-W4 has to fit into the following dimensions:
Bump stop at static 3-3/8" and 7" at full droop making the fully extended shock height = Static shock height plus droop= 23-1/4" +3-5/8"= 26.875"
now add about 1/2" to the static bump for "squish" when you bottom out and you have 3-3/8" + 1/2"= 3.875" and take that
from the static shock height 23-1/4"-3.875"= 19.375"
What matches is a Bilstein# 24-066464 with 27.32" extended height and 16.34" collapsed height.
The FRONT Bilstein F4-BE5-I985-W4 has to fit into the following dimensions:
Bump stop at static 3" and 7-1/4" at full droop making the fully extended shock height = Static shock height plus droop= 20-1/2"" + 4-1/4"= 24.750"
now add about 1/2" to the static bump for "squish" when you bottom out and you have 3"+1/2"= 3.50" and take that
from the static shock height 20-1/2"- 3-1/2"= 17.00"
What matches is a Bilstein# 24-285285 with 25.75" extended height and 16.850" collapsed height.


The dimensions don't leave much room, but I'm willing to bet Bilstein took some off the shelf shocks, relabeled them, and now Mopar is passing them off as special.
Both Shocks are 5100s
The 24-066464 is a front shock for a 2003-2013 RAM 2500-3500 4WD lifted 4" to 5".
The 24-285285 is a front shock for a 2017-2020 Ford Superduty F-250 King Ranch 4WD with 4" lift.

I think this is what I'm going to go with.

I'll post an update after I get a few miles in.

You’ve done a lot of leg work already in this pursuit, but by chance are there billy 5160’s that fit our PW’s?

 

[Gonzo Groves]

Don't know what a "billy 5160" is. Please advise.

Have since taken out the original front shocks (F4-BE5-I985-W4).
Actual measurements are Collapsed=16-1/4" and Extended=24-3/8".

The Bilstein 24-285285 was not as advertised in length.
Actual measurements were Collapsed=17-3/4" and Extended=26-3/4"
So basically the actuals vs what Summit and the other parts sites had (could not find the dimensions on Bilstein's site) were off by about an inch.

Installed them anyway and they're doing fine.

I haven't bottomed them out yet, but I'm sure it's coming.

I'll keep searching and see what I can find that closer matches the original shocks.

I'll put the rears on soon and update with the lengths on those also.

 

[Mule19]

Don't know what a "billy 5160" is. Please advise.

Have since taken out the original front shocks (F4-BE5-I985-W4).
Actual measurements are Collapsed=16-1/4" and Extended=24-3/8".

The Bilstein 24-285285 was not as advertised in length.
Actual measurements were Collapsed=17-3/4" and Extended=26-3/4"
So basically the actuals vs what Summit and the other parts sites had (could not find the dimensions on Bilstein's site) were off by about an inch.

Installed them anyway and they're doing fine.

I haven't bottomed them out yet, but I'm sure it's coming.

I'll keep searching and see what I can find that closer matches the original shocks.

I'll put the rears on soon and update with the lengths on those also.

Bilstien shocks aka Billy’s, 5160 is as I understand it a step above the 5100 series.

 

[Rick Ram-jet]

WOW, my head hurts from all of those measurements/numbers! After all the research that aftermarket suspension mfgs do I don`t know why people complain when the mfgs insist that you use their spec shocks with their springs....

 

[retired]

Bilstien shocks aka Billy’s, 5160 is as I understand it a step above the 5100 series.

5160 are reservoir shocks so they are a nicer shock.