dasswright

Howdy
Seriously considering losing the billstein 5100s and going with the oe style king coil overs . I have a 4" spindle drop bracket lift kit with the 4" spacer under the top shock mount. Wondering if it would be worth it / noticeable difference, if I eliminate the spacer and run a longer shock. The add cost is 200, + I believe 3 weeks wait time to get the custom length. Wondering how much more down travel I'll get and what the pros and cons are for running the full length/ losing the spacer vs. The oem king and leaving the spacer. I hear there's an additional 25% increase in travel. Anyone running kings with some review type educational input?
The truck - 04 f1 4x4 lariat, currently running 35" nitto trail grapplers. Planning to regear, to 4.56 and run 37" tires and glass fenders or a raptor 1 piece front.
I do a lot of driving. Tons of highway , Mtn hwy, pulling a 16ft utility trailer long distance . I live 8 miles off the hwy down a dirt road . Looking for a setup that will handle the street scene well, while also giving some room to hit the dirt roads HARD.
Eventually going to work on the rear . Maybe not kings . But planning some airbags for those heavy work loads, but I'm not sure what shocks to run in rear. I know kings would be ideal. But for the 15% increase I don't know that it would be worth the money. Anyone have any suggestions for a inexpensive rear shock that would work decent in conjunction with the kings up front. ?

Should I lose or leave the front shock spacer ? That is the big question .
Any info ideas advice would be greatly appreciated. .
Thanks Men

buster096

You would gain no travel from getting a longer shock. When they build the shocks for your lift they don't increase the shock size, they add a lower shaft spacer. Get oem kings built for your lift to have better ride and geometry and add preload to gain your lift, ditch the spacer. If you want extra travel get uniball UCA's or long travel.

dasswright

Hmm. I've thought about LT. But it's a bit out of question at moment. I'm running icon uniball ucas.
Ok, so the oe shock with bottum shaft spacer, minus the upper mount spacer.
will not do anything for travel , but will assist in correcting geometry and ride quality ?
Excuse my ignorance . I'm a bit new to the scene . I've noticed the front shocks seem to be loading a bit at an angle as the crappy plastic sleeve thing is cockeyed. Guessing due to the spacer ?
Thanks for your input , buster

buster096

Basically yes, and a full length coil over looks a whole lot better than that giant spacer on there. And the increased angle of the shock may be due to the spacer but I have no idea, the shock should be at an angle tho, your suspension wouldn't cycle properly if it wasn't.