Climb2Descend

Hey guys, so I've seen a lot of people asking about Fox 2.0 shocks and so I wanted to provide my feedback and warning on them. I had them for about 1 year. After the third off-road trip they have failed on me, and Fox would not warranty them. Initially I thought these shocks were pretty good, I had some things I didn't like about them, the squeaky coil hat and not actually being able to be adjusted but I shrugged those issues off, after this last trip and the failure of them I will never recommend these shocks and I recommend to steer clear, and honestly I will never do business with Fox again (I even have a few of their products on my mountain bikes).

I did a lot of research before I bought them last year. I read other peoples opinions and came to the conclusion that these shocks would be suitable for my application. The type of off-roading I do is driving on forest service roads, or unmaintained dirt roads in national parks. I also looked carefully over the Stage3motorports reviews of various shocks and ended up purchasing them from Stage3. So I decided a 2.5 with reservoir was excessive for me and I could save some money and buy a quality mild off-road shock from Fox and be good.

The last trip I did on them made them fail, I drove them in Death Valley and did normal high clearance 4wd vehicle roads. Dirt roads that you see Subarus and other awd/4wd cars on in national park areas. Roads that you would expect a "off-road" marketed shock to handle no problem. For people familiar with Death Valley I did Racetrack Playa and Titus Canyon. These roads have a lot of washboard, but are mild high clearance trails. My truck has a total of 25k miles, the shocks have about 10-15k miles on them. I should also note that my stock truck did both of these trails last year on completely stock shocks and there is no problems with those shocks.

The fox shocks failed, on both sides the shock shaft bushings completely disintegrated, the bushings failure resulted in the shock shaft moving up and down and filing its way through the top hats. This resulted in a groove being worn into the top hat. At the time I only noticed that the bushings failed.

I emailed Fox service and explained the situation, they stated that the bushing was normal wear and tear. So they sent me new bushings for free. When I went to replace the bushings I noticed the groove worn in the top hats. I then emailed them back and updated about the top hat situation and sent them a bunch of pictures.

I also asked to see if we could figure out a path for me to pay to upgrade to a 2.5 shock(I suggested paying the difference between the two and they keep the shocks) since I don't trust these shocks and hesitant to put them back on my truck due to failing so quick. They stated that they don't sell direct and that I would need to purchase from a dealer. They said I can only send them in for warranty evaluation and that they are about 5-7 days turn around time right now.

So I did, since they were right at the year mark and this seems like a premature failure. So after paying out of my own pocket to have them sent in, and after they confirmed they received them, I waited a week. I emailed for a status update, they said they are 3-5 weeks turn around right now (interesting change of events) and that my shocks wouldn't be completed till 5/24. I asked have my shocks been evaluated for warranty and approved for warranty? They stated that they don't see anything warrantable on the shocks as they have been well used off-road by the looks of them, and the sticker turned gold due to excessive heat, and this type of use is likely what lead to the bushings failure.

I ended up going off on them since they market it as an offroad shock and it can't be used as one and told them to cancel my service request and to keep the shocks since I wasn't going to put them back on my truck and I didn't want to try and sell the shocks second hand to a fellow f-150 person. Fox responded by agreeing and said they will cancel my service request and dispose of the shocks.

So, if you are going to go off-roading with your truck I highly recommend not buying a Fox 2.0. They just don't hold up to the weight of our trucks and they are a poor design (non adjustable without wall mounted spring compressor, bad bushing design etc). My personal choice is that I would never even buy Fox again due to their customer service, but that's my personal choice. If you just need a level for your truck there is better/cheaper options then the Fox 2.0, I think the bilstein is the best choice for a mild shock upgrade and level. If you are going to go offroading on washboards for long periods of time a 2.5 seems necessary on these trucks.

HeavyCal

Yikes that sucks! Fox coilovers are definitely not cheap either. Thanks for sharing your experience.

LoneWolfTrucker

But they give you a window sticker!

Seriously, bummer OP. And thanks for sharing so we all don't fall into the same trap.

5.Bro

You should have told them to put a disclaimer on their shocks. "FOR MALL CRAWLING USAGE ONLY"

crownroyal

Is this a common occurrence? Would the same thing happen with the 2.5? I was getting ready to pull the trigger.

dlbb

man that sucks. and sadly this isn't the first review of fox 2.0 i read with about the same complaint. for me, they seam like a high cost & high maintenance option. definitely not fitting to my low maintenance lifestyle. i can't blame you for going off on them, actually surprised they wouldn't let u pay to upgrade to the 2.5's

Mark_604

I have them on my 2014 f150. They've seen it's fair share of washboard roads as the in-laws live down a 80km logging road. They haven't failed me yet but the ride isn't exactly "cushy". If I had to do it over again I would get the 2.5s from King but they didn't fit my budget at the time.

I really think the 2.0s are geared towards street performance first, with the option of going off road once in awhile. Definitely not high speed washboard runs.

Climb2Descend

The 2.5 is a totally different design and based around a real off-road shock. If you like customer service though you might want to look at the other companies(Icon/King) and see if they have better customer service, but obviously I had a bad experience with Fox.

crownroyal

Thanks for posting!

antoniodef

iTrader: (1)

I have them on my truck. No serious off-roading, just logging trails and fire roads. Knowing to pay more attention to them from your post, would bushing failure be visually noticeable before the damage to the top hat?