Shocking! Checking with owners of heavier broncos like mine.

[Z Bronco]

After searching the forums and still having some questions, I figured I would see if anyone here has a similar setup to mine and find out what shocks are working well for them. Below is some information about my Bronco, my driving style, and what the Bronco gets used for. If you have a similar setup with experience on brands of shocks and valving, your input will be great.

The suspension (new):
Front: WH 3 1/2" rock crawler coils, degreed rubber radius arm bushings, extreme duty coil cups, and the Extreme shock hoops.
Rear: WH 3 1/2" leafs, WH Extreme duty U bolts, WH super shackles, WH Shock Jock (not welded in yet).

The Bronco (and the added weight):
Front:
-Hanson 3/16" plate bumper
-Warn 8274 Winch
-351W EFI with explorer serpentine/saginaw setup
Back:
-Hanson 1/4" plate bumper with full size 35" spare and rubicon racks
-23 gallon BC EFI tank with a 3/16" skid plate.
Mid:
-3/16" square tube rocker panels (4" x 4")
-12 gallon NWMP aux tank with a 3/16" skid plate
-BC 3/16" belly pan/skid plate

Driving style and uses:
I drive my Bronco to and from trails, and across the country as well. On the long journeys, I often tow a M416 military trailer loaded with camp gear. Most of the trails I travel now are of the rock crawling variety. Before I added all the weight I would launch my bronco off the top of sand dunes and blast through desert roads. Now, mostly trails and exploring, with maybe occasional aggressive driving. Example of trails that I have been on are the Dusy, Rubicon, Tellico, Moab, Colorado, and the fun in Gore, VA with the MEB group. Once back up and running again, my Bronco will also be my daily driver.

Shocking questions (Hey, it's October!):
-If I double shock, I am looking at either the WH shocks or the James Duff shocks. Both make shocks that will fit my shock mounts and suspension travel. I had great success in the past with Doetch Tech MV 12s and the soft valve Rancho 5000s, but neither of those are in sizes that fit my shock mounts or suspension travel.
-If I single shock at each corner, I am looking at the Bilsteins or maybe the Rancho 9000s. My question on the Bilsteins is what valving would be the best for the front and the rear given all the information on my Bronco and driving style.

Almost forgot, tires are 35" BFG Mud TAs on Ultra aluminum rims (15 x 8).

While I welcome all feedback, I am especially interested in hearing from those whose Broncos are similar in weight and uses to mine.
Thanks in advance for all your feedback!
Z Bronco

 

[ntsqd]

It's a hard concept to grasp, and the erroneous one is continuously reinforced on the net, but shocks do not dampen the motion of the body. They dampen the motion of the axles. This means that the weight on the frame basically means nothing to the work that the shocks have to do. It is only the weight of the axle/wheels/tires that matter. All of that weight on the frame just serves to make it harder for the suspension to change the body's direction of motion.

What I have seen and been told by those who've gone down the path before me is that the max shim stack that you can buy in a Bilstein is a 360/80. This is their standard shim (valve) stack for coil springs. You can go out to about 400/100, but you really are risking bending those puny 14mm shock shafts. I have seen this exact thing happen on a stock Mini desert racer. They kept increasing the damping on all 4 of the rear shocks trying to get the rear axle under control. Then one of those "oh shiat" waist-deep whoop sections popped up and bent all 4 shock shafts.

My advice for the fronts is to go with a single shock that has a larger diameter shaft. That pretty much means Fox if you want a known quality shock. Fortunately for you Lee @ raceshocks.com has a shim stack for 2.0" Bodied Fox shocks (with a 5/8" shaft OD) that I KNOW works well for what you're describing your use to be. I know so because I've chased two EB's with them on the front all over Nevada and the only reason that I'm able to catch them is that the rigs that I've taken on those trips always have had a longer wheel base.

For the rear the std Bilstein shim stack (255/70) will work well for normal lift springs. If yours are the super-slinky type (air-gap shims at the center bolt and tip sliders on all leaves) then you'll probably be happier with a 275/78 shim stack. The super-slinky springs have less internal friction and friction is one form of damping. If you take it out of the spring you need to put it back in the damper. Better to have it in the damper anyway.

 

[Whoaa]

I think you'll get LOTS of opinions.

I enjoy and use my softish long-travel suspension. I'm running a single shock on each corner and choose the Rancho 9000 series because of the ease of adjustability for street and trail use.
After much research, on the front I choose to located the single shock as far rearward as possible -to allow the suspension to full work w/o binding.

 

[landshark99]

I am running the bilstein 7100's up front with 400/100 valving and would guess I'm slightly heavier than your setup up front (400 modified engine). I don't really run whoops or Desert often more street, rock crawling , forest trails and have been daily driving it for a while now. I would say I need a bit more shock than the 7100's can provide right now but they have been stellar all summer taking lots of abuse. If I had to do it again I would have probably gone with the thicker fox shocks as suggested. The 7100's are at their valving limits with my setup but it rides fantastic and does very well off-road.

 

[TonyPDX]

I run the Bilstien 7100's with 360/80 valving on mine also. I wish I had just a little more dampening but not enough to actually revalve them. I suspect our weights are pretty similar.

I did take out my CAGE crawler springs in favor of the WH Prerunners, I lost a few inches of travel but the handling is better with a stiffer spring.
The Short Body remote reservoir shocks allow for maximizing the suspension travel with the limited mounting space. I have shock hoops and CAGE arms which allow for about 14" of travel at the shock.

 

[bronconut73]

Running RS 9000 with linear rate coils and WH leaf packs.
I am pretty heavy too. The adjustabity is cool. They seem to be doing great. I have yet to find their limit.

 

[nvrstuk]

I too run the Bilstein 7100's up front (and Bilsteins in the rear) and have for over 15 years on similar terrain (very close wt)and yes I like to fly on the dunes and the whoop-de-doo's too. Lee at Raceshock.com set them up for me back then with some custom valving.

I need more dampening up front but without spending 600 or so for Fox shocks (which I looked at back then $$$$$). I've run nitrogen bump stops the entire time (another subject)...

Prior to that I ran Rauncho's and would never go back..my preference if rebuilding my EB would be Fox or even dual Bilsteins for when both front tires are digging and spinning hard and fast and looking for traction they still want to bounce some.

I had a reference chart showing leverage and shock angularity and how mounting effects dampening when moving shocks inboard or moving them back on the radius arms.

Good luck, check out Fox

 

[snipes243]

I run the 4.5 rock crawler WH spring on the front of my truck. I love the way they feel, extremely soft. When I first put them on i put a set of duff 70/30 shocks and boy did they suck. The front of the truck bounced all over the place. So I ordered a set of 2.5" kings, and they made the world of difference on the trail and on the road. Something to think about also is what shocks to have on the rear? The rear shocks also help a ton with the roll. I once lost a shock in the rear and even with the kings up front it was quite swirly.

 

[toddz69]

I'd also second the recommendations on the Bilsteins and Foxes. My truck is built very similarly to yours although I don't tow a trailer with it.

The 360/80s work pretty well in most instances but as ntsqd noted above, the damping is a little light at times with 35" tires and 'spirited' driving (I'm one of the guys he chases across the southwestern deserts ). I also like the 275/78 stack on the rear 7100s. The 2.0 Foxes with 5/8" shafts and Lee @Raceshock's valving on the front end is very well matched with my current configuration and seems to be critically damped.

Todd Z.