This is a short review of Duffs MS2020 shocks that I just installed on the red 71 a week ago on the 49th year of ownership and after dissatisfaction with the Bilstein shocks that I had been running the past decade. Now the handling is so good that for the first time in years I found myself driving the Bronco like a regular sporty vehicle, getting into the throttle, and tossing it around just for fun. Just night and day. A game changer. The real deal and live up to the hype. They are slightly more expensive than Bilsteins but well worth the difference in cost.
I have had Bilsteins since the major off the frame rebuild a decade ago and frankly they made the Bronco nearly undrivable due to very poor re-bound control. With the Bilsteins I felt that the slightest bump in the road caused too much of a boat-like pitch and roll. When I let out the clutch, the front end would go up no matter how gently I accelerated. Letting my foot off the gas to change gears caused the front end to pitch down. Dropping off the end of the driveway while turning caused the front to bounce back and forth at least twice before it settled down. Going through curves was scary, especially if the surface was uneven. The handling overall was just not safe in my opinion. And this was my second set of Bilsteins. I even installed Duffs Hellwig antiroll bar set up to get rid of the roll when driving through curves. That helped the rolling a lot, but the pitch was still too much. My first set of Bilsteins was exactly the same but I thought at the time that there must be something defective with them so I gave them another try with a new set since everyone seems think the Bilstein shocks are so great.
The MS2020s have eliminated all that and transformed the handling back to the way I recall Broncos handled. Bumps are soft but the rebound is now once and done as it should be. No bobbing, pitching, and wallowing, just solid handling. Meanwhile they are like normal shocks on long wavelength bumps but soft on short wavelength bumps, cracks in the road, and rough surfaces. The response over small bumps and cracks in the pavement are just as soft as the Bilsteins and that gives a much smoother, less bone-jarring ride. Combined with the anti-roll bars the handling is now close to perfect.
A couple of before and after pictures during installation.
I have had Bilsteins since the major off the frame rebuild a decade ago and frankly they made the Bronco nearly undrivable due to very poor re-bound control. With the Bilsteins I felt that the slightest bump in the road caused too much of a boat-like pitch and roll. When I let out the clutch, the front end would go up no matter how gently I accelerated. Letting my foot off the gas to change gears caused the front end to pitch down. Dropping off the end of the driveway while turning caused the front to bounce back and forth at least twice before it settled down. Going through curves was scary, especially if the surface was uneven. The handling overall was just not safe in my opinion. And this was my second set of Bilsteins. I even installed Duffs Hellwig antiroll bar set up to get rid of the roll when driving through curves. That helped the rolling a lot, but the pitch was still too much. My first set of Bilsteins was exactly the same but I thought at the time that there must be something defective with them so I gave them another try with a new set since everyone seems think the Bilstein shocks are so great.
The MS2020s have eliminated all that and transformed the handling back to the way I recall Broncos handled. Bumps are soft but the rebound is now once and done as it should be. No bobbing, pitching, and wallowing, just solid handling. Meanwhile they are like normal shocks on long wavelength bumps but soft on short wavelength bumps, cracks in the road, and rough surfaces. The response over small bumps and cracks in the pavement are just as soft as the Bilsteins and that gives a much smoother, less bone-jarring ride. Combined with the anti-roll bars the handling is now close to perfect.
A couple of before and after pictures during installation.
