Well it is a dd/trail rig leaning mostly towards crawling but i also want to be able to go fast, about bump stops i was planning on running some air bumps. Dave old axle has lowered shock mounts, just for longer shocks i believe, maybe he will chime in here. Basically im just trying to get ideas and info.
What are the pros and cons of air shocks/Struts?
2" coilovers with dual spring hardware, springs, and air bumps and cans are $735 on Poly performance's website. ORI Struts are roughly $600 and include internal bump stops.
Fox shocks come with a set valving, I think it's 80/50, and you can valve them differently, of course, and it's not too hard to do. But you do have to take them apart to change the valving, then refill with oil and recharge the nitrogen. You can adjust the ride height with the c/o with the upper collar, and you can adjust the secondary collar to set the transition from primary to secondary spring rate. Adjusting the transition point can effect the handling and bottoming resistance and it's easy to do. Like a normal air shock, on climbs, drops, and side hills the c/o will extend all the way to maximum extension (pushing off) when weight is removed from weight transfer, effecting stability and performance. To avoid this a triple rate kit can be used, which uses shorter springs and a third (tender) coil that has little to no spring rate. The tender coil applies some pressure to the other springs to keep them in place when the shock extends all the way, usually 4 to 5 inches more than the extended length of the regular springs. This allows full droop but also means there is no spring force for the last 4-5" of extension, so no pushing off. The triple rate slider and tender coil add to the cost.
The ORI struts are air shocks with quite a few added features. The core of the design is that there is rebound air/spring rate as well as compression air/spring rate. The rebound air resists full extension, so no pushing off. They also are incredibly stable since they have air on top and on bottom, basically trying to keep the shock at ride height. Since you can add and subtract air both top and bottom there is a tremendous amount of adjustment available without even removing the shock from the rig. Ride height is set by balancing the air top and bottom, so you can make them stiffer or softer by simply adjusting air pressure. Add a little air to the top, which raises ride height, then add a little to the bottom which brings ride height back down and the shock is overall stiffer. The stability of these things is amazing, doesn't lean on sidehills and corners like a go cart. There also is an external adjustment for rebound valving, just like a Rancho 9000 or Pro Comp MX6. To really fine tune them, the viscosity of the shock oil can be changed to effect valving, and the range of the external rebound adjustment can be moved up or down (stiffer or softer). I have different from stock viscosity oil in both my front and rear ORI's, and the range of rebound adjustment has been changed in the rear. They also function similar to a bypass shock, as there is no valving in the middle couple inches of travel, just air, then the valving (oil) kicks in, and they have internal hydraulic bumpstops for both compression and extension (no limit straps are needed). So, they have both a very cushy ride and great stability.