Already Have Dual Front Shocks...Is Switching To Front Hoops Worth It?

[welndmn]

I used the term exotic shock, I consider anything that's not white, or a rancho like shock, "exotic".

 

[DirtDonk]

Well that's just because you're exotic too!;D
Glad you're popping in more often lately.

Paul

 

[SteveL]

Thinking about it if he doesn't go with the extended arms that's another $800 for some of that fancy interior bling Paul sells

 

[Audifan]

I don't think anything we can ever say will be 100% accurate specifically for you and your Bronco. We're just giving you experiences, opinions and best guesses. Only you will know when you have alighted on the perfect combination.

You do not need an exotic shock. Not sure why anyone would say that, other than it has worked for them. But the same can be said for a lot more of us using standard shocks. Unless you consider a Bilstein exotic simply because they do make reservoir shocks. But then, so does Rancho and quite a few other companies.
It's the design of the valving characteristics, not the features that are going to help you.

A remote reservoir has two functions. It allows for longer travel in a particular length shock body, and allows for cooler running under stress of hard use.
You are needing neither I'm thinking? Doubt you'll ever stress your shocks to the fade or breaking point. And doubt you need the additional travel of a reservoir shock.

Now, if you can only find the performance you desire due to a particular valving package in an exotic shock, then that's the reason to go down that road.
But you will never know based just on what others are telling you. Only you can find out what you like, based on what you use and compare it to others. Which you may never get the chance to do obviously, since most of us no longer put enough miles on their rigs to wear out a set of shocks. So the only way would be to simply try different setups and compare.

I realize that what you're doing here by asking us is to narrow down that field so that hopefully you won't have to do a Ten-Shock-Shootout and pick the winner. But as you've found, and as with just about anything when building an essentially complete custom vehicle to your desires, it's all just guesswork and ultimately you just have to make the decisions to try this, that, or the other. And hope it's what you would have liked best the first time.

Too many variables, which means too many possible "correct" answers.
After all, in the immortal words uttered on SNL... "It's a desert topping, AND a floor wax!"

Paul

There you go being all logical again. The famous "it depends" answer is something I give out 100 times a day in my business, so I guess it's only fair I get it served up to me here

But can I just say...I hate "it depends" LOL.

As to the reservoir shocks...no it sounds like I'll never need anything like that...at least in terms of what they can do on the extreme end.

My original plan was 5100's all the way around and it looks like I might be headed back that way.

I just figure with the savings of going with a f-250 mount or even the stock mounts and deleting 4 shock from the equation there's so.e money to spare. For what you're doing I'm guessing 5100s or even rancho 9000s will probably do pretty good. If you want better and more adjustment you got 7100s or fox. The 7100 and fox are also rebuildable. Also keep in mind not all 4 need to be the same.you may be able to go cheap in the rear if you dont haul too much weight.

Thanks for the clarification. That makes sense. I think the most I'd go is the 7100's mainly because then I could still buy from WH and keep supporting them...as Paul and the rest of them clearly have to help me a lot

Thinking about it if he doesn't go with the extended arms that's another $800 for some of that fancy interior bling Paul sells

There is that...I'm a sucker for cool stuff...Which is why I wound up with both the Newport Wipers AND the Rosen visors.

 

[DirtDonk]

Hah! Yep, the logical side wins out on my builds most of the time.
But I am totally down with the "cool factor" having value too. Especially with the very visible shock absorbers.
And I may be trying to be logical for you, but I would opt for 7100 reservoir shocks, or those uber-cool dual-knob 2-way adjustable shocks that started out in the hot-rod world (can't remember the name at the moment) EVERY SINGLE time, if I could afford them.

Luckily I think the silver/gray body of the Bilstein shocks is actually very high-tech and cool looking compared to the standard white shocks. Even Rancho changed to silver a few years ago on their 9000's and they look better now too.
Although, I don't have any issue with white, black, yellow, orange (think "Koni") or green shocks either, and would run any that I thought a better shock if it was only available without a reservoir and white.

And agree again, that dual shocks look better and more "purposeful" than singles.
But then, that's probably the thinking that had truck owners in the eighties competing to see who could mount the most shocks per wheel!
Got to the point that people were mounting empty/dead shocks so that they did not increase the stiffness of the ride while looking so cool under there with their shocking pink and green shock boots and bushings!
They paid more just for replacement shock boots every year than most of us spent on shocks!

I might be making fun of the extreme end of that, but a simple dual setup has, and still looks very cool to me.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

QA1 was the brand I couldn't think of.
Would love to have them make shocks appropriate for our needs.

Paul

 

[LilMixedUp]

Audifan, sorry I haven't gotten back with you about the Sexton hoop, but looks like you have found other things to consider. If you're still interested just let me know and I'll pull my file in the shop. I'm sure I have the info in a folder. So many decisions........

 

[SteveL]

The Sexton is similar to bloody knuckle garage hoops. I have the Duffy stage 2 hoops but theyve been on for years. If I were doing it over now I would use the f-250 mount. Also with the 2"body lift the single mount would give more clearance for getting to the plugs, oil sender and other things from the wheel well

 

[Audifan]

I really appreciate everybody's comments and help in this thread. I'm doing my research on each option and figuring out a game plan for the front.

Which leads me to question the rear set up...

I have the traditional 2 shock mount option...1 on each side of the wheel, but currently am only running 1 shock on the rearward mount.

Jason from Toms suggested that if I switch to Bilstein 5100's that I run two shocks in the rear due to weight from full size spare, protofab bumper and 23ga m1a1 tank.

So, questions...

1. if I do 5100's is dual necessary in the rear? what about if I upgrade to 7100's?

2. If I stay with a single shock, is it better to have it on the front mount or the rear mount?

 

[DirtDonk]

Which model or brand of shock you use has nothing to do with needing duals or sticking with singles. It's all about what you like in the end.
I am going to run duals like yours, but only after I've spent more time with the single 5100's I have now (which seem perfectly fine with my setup).
I don't really need them, but saving up a little money to play. Knowwhatimean?
You can simply choose to mount heavier valved singles instead of the "normal" valved duals.

If the valving is the same between the two then, it won't matter if it's a 5100, or a 7100. Or whether it's got an external reservoir or not (except for much higher cool factor!)
With the 7100 series you can actually choose the valving it comes with, based on what others recommend, or even change it later if you want. I believe Bilstein still offers one free re-valve for users of 7100's to help fine-tune their experience. After that it costs, but can still be changed to whatever they have available.

You can set up duals with off-the-shelf valving, but you can opt for different ratings and so can set up duals with lighter than normal valving so that each shock takes an equal load but does not work as hard as if they were both stiffer.

So all that said, at this point you can still choose singles or duals, but can also choose normal, heavier or lighter valving right off their charts. If an eye mount shock is available in the proper length for your setup with different valving characteristics, you can try any of them out.

See? And here you thought you were narrowing down your choices a bit...
Not!;D

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Oh, Jason at Tom's was not incorrect in his recommendation by the way. Just that it wasn't the only way to solve an issue of a heavier than stock Bronco.
It would be the single solution perhaps, if you were using just a shock valved for a standard weight Bronco.

Which again, is not a bad solution.
I just wanted to add more to confuzzle the issue. You know, my normal modus operandi...

Paul

 

[Audifan]

Dammit Paul...I did think I was narrowing stuff down. Apparently not, but everything you wrote makes sense and does provide a bunch of clarity.


So, if I stayed with 1 rear shock...is there any strategy to which of the 2 shock mount options is used for the single shock?

And out of curiosity...you said you are going to eventually run 2 shocks...are you talking about front or rear dual?

 

[DirtDonk]

Both. I already have the same mounts as you at both ends, but with single Bilstein 5100's at each corner now. My Bronco is light in the rear, but heavy in the front with the Hanson and winch. And I can feel it.
The rear rides perfectly in my opinion (a little stiff perhaps, with the quite old WH springs, but not as bad as stock), with good control and decent ride. But the front is a tad bit soft, which was half expected with my setup.
With the Detroit Locker in the rear and the slow steering (stock rebuilt 6-turn box) I wouldn't mind firming it up a little bit overall.

Going duals in the front is an obvious option, while duals in the rear is just for fun. Because I can, and like to play around.
And also it doesn't hurt to have more personal experiences so I know what I'm talking about sometimes.

For which mount to utilize, in the rear it makes no difference because they are angled the same and use the same length shock. But the behind-the-axle mount is the stock original on these, so is the one most often chosen. Some exceptions might be if you have one of the rear disc brake kits that requires relocating the lower rear shock mount. In that case you would just choose the front mount and leave the old mount where it is, unused.
Another option is to go with opposite ends on either side. The theory is that this mounting strategy helps reduce axle-wrap and is what some manufacturers did from the factory. GM did it on their '73 to '87 trucks.
Otherwise, it's just user choice.

On the front, I could actually try another single setup, where I remove the shock to the rear of the spring (stock location) and install one on the front mount. This serves two purposes. I can opt for a shock with stiffer valving right out of the box and try that by itself, or to my way of thinking, a shock mounted forward of the loaded point and farther away from the fulcrum has more dampening effect. I don't know how much this is true, but intuitively it seems right.
Or just add a second lightly valved shock to help firm things up and run duals.
Just like you, too many choices!

I once had aspirations to check every RS9000 shock of different part number, but of the same size on the same mounts (approx. 10 part numbers), to see if one was better than the other for a Bronco. I loved the adjustability, but really was disappointed with the overall ride quality of the standard one and just thought it could be better. And knowing that there were four part numbers (now down to two I believe?) that were valved specifically for use as dual shocks, I really wanted to try those out.
Because Rancho does not specify the valving differences between part numbers (if any) I thought since I'm in the industry I might as well be the test dummy and let others know what I find out. Like I did with headlights about 25 years ago.
Unfortunately that's still just too expensive of a proposition to do just for the heck of it, so it never happened. Yet!

Of the shocks I've personally used on Broncos (that are still on the market) the RS9000's are still my second favorite. With the Bilstein 5100's being the first/top/numero-uno for me.
But the best riding/handling Bronco I ever spent much time in was a '72 Explorer that my buddy bought and put dual front shocks on. A crazier combination you'd never find, but the rear-mount shock was a Monroe Load-Leveler (coil-on-shock overload) and the front-mount was a Gabriel Adjsutable-E set on full soft.
Man, that thing could handle the bumps and not get bent out of shape. And it rode pretty great on the road as well.
But hey, I was also just 19 and used to stiff riding old trucks too, so what'd I know anyway?;D%)

Paul