Fox Shox vs. Bilstein 7100's

I'm planning on purchasing new shocks in the near future, and I'd like to get something I'm going to be able to service, and something that is going to give me a pretty good ride on the highway, and on the trail. People I've talked to that have the 7100's on other vehicles seem pretty happy with them, but I've heard that there are fewer durability issues with the Fox Shox.

Also, does anyone have an objection to remote reservoir in the front and Schrader valve in the rear? Really my only shock experience (other than bolting on shocks that came with a lift kit) is in the mountain bike field, but I assume the remote reservoir doesen't have a tendancy to foam or loose damping. I'd consider running remote reservoir at all 4 corners if someone could explain how to fit them in on the rear without cutting the floor to allow the hose to come off the top of the shock.

Thanks,
Bryan

If you don't desert race or compet in the rock comps either of those shocks are going to be a huge waste of money. You can revalve them but it costs money to have it done. Yeah the remoste will have more restinace to heat and fade, but only if your racing. Regular Bilsteins or OME should work fine for you. If you really want to try the remote res. then check out the 5150's Bilstein just released. They are about 100 a pop though.

I don't know anything about fox, except some racers love them. I run 7100's in the front and rear with reseviors. There are some special tools listed for rebuilding the shocks, but you can honestly do it with a few screw drivers and a 1/2" wrench. New valves cost about $14 per shock and you can put them in yourself. New seals are about 5-6 bucks. (I usually get parts from a site called www.bugsandbuggies.com)

The 7100's come with 1/2" heims standard. For no extra charge you can have them put a larger heim in (like I used for my lower fronts) or leave the heim out and you can use bushings like regular shocks. You can also get different fittings for the resevoir hose. My fronts come off at an angle and my rears have a 90* elbow that bends down.

My set up has changed a little since these were taken, but here are some pics:

http://community.webshots.com/album/56192120CicKsa

Good thing about getting resevoir is you can get shocks with shorter compressed length (the SHORT BODY option, no charge). For example, my 12" short body shocks have the same compressed length (therefor fit in the same location) as most 10" shocks.

Weasel is right though that unless you run in the desert a lot or something, you might not need them. I don't race this jeep, but I do prerun with it and chase for vehicles at times. Most 'normal' shocks last about 10-15 miles of hard desert-type driving (fast)... at the most, although they would last years being used as most people around here use them, depends on what you do. I got tired of ruining shocks.

Hope this help.

Marcus

I'm not very good at explaining things, PM me if you have any questions.

I am going to be in the market for agood set of shocks on the new rig and the 7100's are high on that list.

I have to replace shocks often due to my affinity for high speed fun. Hydro shocks boil over and blow seals very quickly, not to mention they fade very fast under high speed use.

Plus, I've got to beat Richard back to camp next year from Sledgehammer, and he'll have a stroker by then, so I need to come up with more speed somehow!

CRASH

King, Swayaway also make some good desert shocks.

I've been looking at these from Doetsch-Tech. Completely rebuildable, revalvable, and can be ordered with heims (which I like). The rebuildable ones start at $100 though.

For those shopping for rebuildable/revalvable shocks, what prices are you finding? And for what brand?

I run King bypass shocks up front and I love them. I would stay away doetsch-tech I have heard nothing but bad things about they from shops that take them off to put on real shocks. The 7100's are good shocks, or they have 5100's with res. Marcus what size is your lift in the rear? And you said they are the 12 inch stroke with 10 inch size body?

What Faux didn't mention is that these by-pass shocks run about a grand each. This leads me to believe he is running a Jeep Speed kinda rig. Although we could all benefit from the bypass tech. most of us can't afford it. I run 7100 series on my XJ. I'm not 100% happy with them yet, I need less comp. damping in the rear and a tad more rebound in the front. Eventually I will rebuild them and make the adjustments then. One other benefit from the mono-tube design of the Bilstiens...you can run them upside down if you need to.
Rick

Are the 5100's rebuildable? I want to get away from the "use it 'till it breaks" type of shock into something I can service. The "short body" option sounds interesting, since I'd like to keep the travel in the rear, but I can't use a very long shock with the raised mounts on the axle.

More like 600 each, but I was using them as an example of Kings quality. I do not think the 5100's are rebuidable, but that is why I recomended the shocks with a Res. so you get less fade. As was said above that is what kills the performance of your shocks. If you are not racing or playing in the desert much I think you would be very happy with the 5100's I think you can get different valving as Jump This pointed out was his problem. Maybe he could share the valving he is using?

The 5100 isn't rebuildable.

Jump- I'm curious what valving you are using as well. Right now, mine is 255/100 front, and 255/70 rear. I'll be adjusting mine as well before to long (mainly since I am adding more shocks).

Faux- I'm basically running a RE 4.5" lift. The rear is sitting right at 4.5-4.75 right now. The 12" short body Bilstein compressed to 16.5" I moved the top of the shocks in just a little bit since I'm not running a bumpstop extension in the rear, and they fit fine.

Marcus

CRASH said:

I am going to be in the market for agood set of shocks on the new rig and the 7100's are high on that list.

I have to replace shocks often due to my affinity for high speed fun. Hydro shocks boil over and blow seals very quickly, not to mention they fade very fast under high speed use.

Plus, I've got to beat Richard back to camp next year from Sledgehammer, and he'll have a stroker by then, so I need to come up with more speed somehow!

CRASH

Click to expand...

Man, I sure hope I have the stroker in by then. I'll have to run a little more tire pressure on the trail so I can hang it out better on the drive back to camp.......have to stay ahead of Crash.

This conversation is very interesting. We have our rigs dialed in pretty well for the rocks, so now we're starting to see how we can make them run faster in the desert. We've started to race each other back to camp after finishing the trails in Johnson Valley, and it's fun.

A good combination of shocks is one of my next projects, especially for the front. I'm not ready for coilovers, but I would like to consider getting front shocks that I can use as coilovers at some time down the road. You guys that are familiar with this stuff, do you know what shocks are available to use as coilovers? I won't ever run very far very fast, but I would like a set of shocks that work well going fast when I want to, and will have stability in the rocks. Any ideas....at a reasonable price?

see.....my dream of a new 'class' in jeepin' is coming to pass

"rock-speed" :woohoo: :clap: