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Airshocks....ORI?

pennsylvaniaboy

pennsylvaniaboy

make fullsizes great again
Joined
Jun 27, 2020
Member Number
2192
Messages
1,065
Soo I just recieved a chassis kit, I have my drivetrain, and axles sorted out. The next major component to the equation is suspension. I am brand new to this full buggy. I have been thru leaf spring, coil/spring, and now going all in. This is a crawler, haul roads kinda thing. Not ultra4....im a little more ultrapoor. So air shocks? or ORI? My plan is 14" travel, and looking at Fox, king, Radflo, or ADS. 2.5" x 14
 
pennsylvaniaboy said:
Soo I just recieved a chassis kit, I have my drivetrain, and axles sorted out. The next major component to the equation is suspension. I am brand new to this full buggy. I have been thru leaf spring, coil/spring, and now going all in. This is a crawler, haul roads kinda thing. Not ultra4....im a little more ultrapoor. So air shocks? or ORI? My plan is 14" travel, and looking at Fox, king, Radflo, or ADS. 2.5" x 14
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Last I checked, ORIs are a year out on back order. Filthy Motorsports gets sets in regularly that aren't spoken for as they've had them on back order for a year, but they are more expensive than if you order and wait in line. I'd do ORIs or coilovers over airshocks if you're rig is projected to be over 4K lbs. If you're around 3-3.5K....airshocks could be a good match.
 
I have some 16" air shocks I'll give you if ya want, Fox 2.0's.

Edit: a 16"air shock is pretty close to a 14" coil over in length
 
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My rig is 3900# and I'm on 2.5 Fox air shocks. Does fine for crawling and getting too and from trails. I couldn't justify the cost of coilovers or ORIs. I even managed to find them used, so that sealed the deal.
 
'84 Bronco II said:
Is that from a crawling, or higher speed perspective? I'm not disagreeing with you, but I am curious on your take of why ORIs suck.
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budget.

ORI are crazy expensive.

And 2.0 coilovers are better than 2.5 airshocks for the same price.
 
chaplinfj60 said:
what do you mean?
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light vehicles and long shocks make for springs that bow and eat shocks. when the rates are low, sub 150 you run into this especially on a 2.0 shock.

unsure of the technical term in spring talk, but its similar in concept to slenderness ratio
 
mobil1syn said:
light vehicles and long shocks make for springs that bow and eat shocks. when the rates are low, sub 150 you run into this especially on a 2.0 shock.

unsure of the technical term in spring talk, but its similar in concept to slenderness ratio
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awww i noticed my 150 did that some. :beer:
 
mobil1syn said:
as long as you have enough sprung weight so you can get springs that will stay vertical during compression.
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Yes.
Motion ratios will solve some of that too.

My favorite thing about airshocks is that they're stupid simple to work on and a great tool to learn how to take shocks apart and revalve them. But emulsion coilovers are the same and will offer more performance IMO.
 
Sluggy said:
I have some 16" air shocks I'll give you if ya want, Fox 2.0's.

Edit: a 16"air shock is pretty close to a 14" coil over in length
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hmmmm i do have other parts I need.....Length isnt set yet, just figured 14" shocks would get me the travel I want.
 
What are you expecting your rig to weigh? For anything over 3500-4000 pounds I wouldn't want to go with 2" air shocks. For crawling, Johnny's rig on 2.5 air shocks crawls really well. My YJ was @4900# on 2.5" air shocks and it crawled quite well also. My buggy has 2" coilovers and I don't see any great advantage for the stuff we do. Seems to me coilovers start to emerge when you want to do higher speed stuff, which I rarely do.
 
one of these?

1695665759193.png
 
JohnnyJ said:
My rig is 3900# and I'm on 2.5 Fox air shocks. Does fine for crawling and getting too and from trails. I couldn't justify the cost of coilovers or ORIs. I even managed to find them used, so that sealed the deal.
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So you run the same stuff I do, Rausch, AOAA, Harlan, Windrock, etc. So you know the speeds we see and the terrain we hit. My hope to be at 3500# but that remains to be seen.
 
white-rhino said:
What are you expecting your rig to weigh? For anything over 3500-4000 pounds I wouldn't want to go with 2" air shocks. For crawling, Johnny's rig on 2.5 air shocks crawls really well. My YJ was @4900# on 2.5" air shocks and it crawled quite well also. My buggy has 2" coilovers and I don't see any great advantage for the stuff we do. Seems to me coilovers start to emerge when you want to do higher speed stuff, which I rarely do.
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See my quote above, your's and johnny's rig are good examples of what I will be building. Trail ready, not stripped comp buggies.
 
pennsylvaniaboy said:
See my quote above, your's and johnny's rig are good examples of what I will be building. Trail ready, not stripped comp buggies.
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So John's rig is 3900 on 39 reds. Mine is 4820 on 42 reds. 50# per corner extra per tire/wheel makes us about 700 pounds different in sprung weight. Mine has more tubing to make the "willys" look, longer wheelbase and more sheet metal. And then I carry more tools to bail him out. :lmao:

John has 14" shocks. I have 16". I think I have more flex but wheeling together, we each have our good or bad moments.
 
mobil1syn said:
so it will be fullsized rig not a small two seater, 2.0 foxes c/o with a reservoir
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no this will be hopefully a 2 seat lightweight buggy with tons and 40's. the heaviest items on this buggy will be the axles.
 
Radflo, Fox, King, SAW, all good for your use.
 
mobil1syn said:
light vehicles and long shocks make for springs that bow and eat shocks. when the rates are low, sub 150 you run into this especially on a 2.0 shock.

unsure of the technical term in spring talk, but its similar in concept to slenderness ratio
Click to expand...
That's a problem I have on my buggy, especially in the rear. 100/125 in the front and 80/100 in the rear. 14" shock with 7" of ride.

I found a company that builds stainless sleeves that slide over the shock body under the slider and is suppose to help keep them from getting tore up. I haven't ordered a set yet though. The other thing we've sorta thought about is building an adapter ring to run 3" springs in the lower positions.
 
Bebop said:
Radflo, Fox, King, SAW, all good for your use.
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Sooo I'll use radflo as a example from wideopendesign....a 2.0 coilover and 2.5 airshock are the nearly the same money, but then you still gottta buy springs for the coilovers.
 
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