TheWhiteBeast

FINALLY more than one person with some common sense.

dovey

I really like where this conversation has gone.......... now if we could just get a company like Camburg or RPG interested!

dovey

Or BDS of course.

TheWhiteBeast

Yeah if they could make a long travel suspension ALA raptor style for a good price, I would buy it.

mbwhite

This is a great thread, this is what i will be doing in the spring. The lift is def the way to go, apparently rancho seems to have the best overall feedback for the 4 " lift. Never mind the blocks for the rear, do the rear with the rpg setup and deaver leafs. My question is are the icon coilover upgrades worth the extra 1300 over the rancho shocks? are the rancho shocks that bad? has anyone with the 4" lift and rancho shocks had any issues? how does the ride compare to a icon coilover?

Also, does the upper control arm just allow for more wheel travel or does it give it more travel with the same shock? i'm assuming the extra travel comes from the longer shock travel, but does the upca just allow for the greater movement without binding up on something?

mbwhite

here is a link, BDS has a 6 inch lift with the coil overs.

http://bds-suspension.com/kit-customizer?kid=573F

the only issue with this setup is there are no upper control arms offered and it comes with a block to raise the rear. too bad they don't make this setup in a 4 " lift version.

Kytann

The BDS has Fox Shocks. And it's more expensive than a Rancho 4" plus Icon coil-overs.

The main difference between Fox shocks and Icon shocks are the shock valving type. Fox's are progressive. Icons are digressive. You can call up each company and confirm if you like.

Each type has it's own advantages and disadvantages.

Short version if you don't want to read on is that:

• Progressive (Fox) are good for high speed off-road driving. Prevent bottoming during Jumps. Floaty on-road
• Digressive (Icon) are good for high speed on road driving and low speed off-road

.

Also, this link talks about Rally cars using Digressive shocks

Note: Bilsteins (which you may be familiar with. I loved them on my Tacoma) are Digressive. Stock shocks are linear (It's cheapest to make linear). I do not know about Rancho. But they have other disadvantages, which I'll get to at the end.

If you can imagine progressive shocks are the opposite on the graph of the digressive shocks.

To understand the advantages we have to look at high speed damping versus low speed damping.
High speed damping is when the shock moves quickly. Like when hitting a sharp edged bump. Say you run over a 2x4 on the highway, that's high speed damping. In an extreme case landing from a jump counts, though that is pretty extreme.
Low speed damping is more like the sway you feel when cornering, or going over large dips in the highway.


Progressive shocks:

• Rate increases as shock travel speed increases
• This allows semi-soft low speed damping. Soaks up alot of small bumps like nothing.
• But feels very floaty and uncontrolled when driving on the road.

Digressive shocks:

• Damping rate Decreases as shock travel speed increases
• This means it'll soak up large hits with just the same composer as small hits. So that pothole you just ran over will disappear the same way a sidewalk crack does. (not quite, but close)
• Unless you go through all of your suspension travel, then you hit the bump stops.
• Controls suspension movement on the highway very well
• All good sports cars that handle well, they all have degressive shocks

Now as to how the normal Rancho 9000's compare to the Icons. I do not know how their valving is. But I do know they are triple-tube shocks. Versus mono-tube shocks for the Bilsteins, Icons, and Fox.

In general, this is a case where the smaller the number of tubes, the better. A Mono-tube has more surface area for it's piston to operate than a twin tube. And by extension than a triple tube. Rancho tells me there design is triple tube to fit space for the adjustability.



edit: Interesting. I just meant the youtube videos to be links, not embedded. Better this way I suppose.

2011BLK_SCREW

I know the OP is asking for 4" kit, but dosen't the camburg kit (a-arms and coilovers) advertise 3" of added lift. And that is without steering knuckle.... is it designed to not come in contact with the spring? or does nobody run it at the 3" setting?

mbwhite

Many thanks to Kytann, its people like you who make these forums a great source of information. Appreciate all that info.

mbwhite

You are true in saying this. However my understanding and reason to go with a 4" proper lift is that by going with a leveling kit, even only 2 inches in the front, you are creating issues with the angles of your driveline. The 4" lift will remedy this and give you the proper angles and prevent premature wear.

My question is, are the angles created by a 2" or 3" "level" (either by the fox coil over, icon coil overs) dangerous enough to justify going with a 4" lift?

Are the angles going to cause that much wear? I really didn't want to have to cut into the chassis of the truck to make a 4" lift possible when relocating the differential. I bought the extended warranty on my 2012 fx4 SCREW and i am pretty sure ford isn't going to appreciate a lift like that.