stanleyauto

Would the 6112's work in conjunction with a standard 6" lift (ex..pro comp, ready lift ,bds....etc) to obtain a total lift of 8"?

Toizzz

I am installing these coil overs just after christmas. That said, can i correct some mis-information. Adjusting the position of the lower spring perch by raising the locking snap ring will increase spring preload at full extension of the shock. Something that is required as the shock can only extend a certain distance However once installed on the vehicle The weight of the vehicle will compress the spring further, it better or there would be zero suspension droop. So there is no change in spring preload once installed. However the angle of the a arms with respect to the stock position has changed as there is more shock body exposed below the spring forcing the a arm down and raising the static position of the vehicle. If we exaggerate and move the lower a arm down more and more it would eventually be vertical pointing straight down at the ground. There would be no a arm movement when the next bump came along as the impact could not compress the rigid a arm. The point here is that as this angle increases by lifting the truck, the ride gets progressively worse/stiffer no matter what shock is installed. Also as there is a mechanical limit to how far down the a arm can move (binds up) then as you continue to raise the front higher the less droop the front end has leading to early top out after hitting a bump. (Airborne) The optimization of Static shock position relative to Shock stroke and valving, a arm angle and axle angles can quickly become a very complicated subject. For me, i want to keep the axle as straight as possible with as flat an a arm angle possible.

If you take a coil over designed to work over the full range of mechanical suspension movement and extend its overall length with a spacer mounted on the end then there better be excess mechanical down movement or we are then relying on the binding of the a arms to limit down travel while offroading. Not a good thing for the axles etc. which is why changing control arms works great with remote reservoir systems greater travel.

I was dissapointed upon receiving my fox 2.0 rear shocks to find they actually provided less wheel travel (less compression and extension) than my stock fx4 shock. They did however fix the bouncy rear end. Note that the front fox 2.5 with reservoir do provide improved front end travel over the 2.0 as they have remote reservoirs allowing the internal mechanical design more range of movement. I have no idea how either compare to the stock front as i still have them installed. But like the rear 2.0 I bought the 6112 set to rid the front end of the ridiculous chatter and slightly soft spring rate. I have the 2.7 with softer springs. I did puchase the front 2.0 system but was very disappointed to see the lock ring was a single with a threaded bolt to tighten after adjustment. IMO these are not suitable for adjusting once on the vehicle. Something i had hoped for. Fox confirmed they had not been revalved from the heavier 2014 trucks they were designed for and that the spring rates were stiffer than the 2.5 series specifically valved for the new trucks. So i sold them hoping to save for the 2.5 system or black series. The 6112 set is just under half the price of the 2.5 system and just now became available as the black series is still not here.

Ill update after on how the new 6112 work for me at stock ride height.

By the way does anyone know what changes were made from 2013 to 2014 front suspensions? Parts book shows them as different.

aliass24

The 2013 uses 1 bolt to mount the lower shock and the 2014-18 use 2. Fox uses a 650lb spring for the 2.0 and bilsteins 6112 is a 500lb spring so regardless of the valving each one uses I would think the bilstein should be a bit more comfy. What's the front payload listed on your door jam?

Toizzz

6112 are on but i havent quite had enough time behind the wheel yet. My front end came way up even on stock settig. Lights now bounce off the bottoms of signs where this never happened before. A friend of mine has just changed his truck (same with 5.0) over to pro comp shocks all around and we did a 350 km tour in it today. Michelin ltx tires. It rides very well and his heavier spring rates show a nice flat handling truck with a tight ride. For what he paid we are both satisfied with the results on his truck. We measured fender heights and he carries 1" more rear ride height and 0.75" more front. Similar bed weights. My 2.7l is softer rear springs and 6112 front springs now and sits 37" and 38.5" front and rear fender heights. I carry only a topper on the back for weight. Approx 300 lbs. i will try to update tomorrow after i make a little road trip in mine.

soccercoach61

I'm not sure what your point is. The upper control arm isn't designed to act like a damper - unless the bushings are worn out, it doesn't really have any effect on the ride quality of the truck (that would be primarily shock valving, spring rates, and wheels/tires) and would never reach a point where it was vertical - it would have contact interference with the coil spring itself long before it could reach that point. It's designed to rotate around its attachment point on the frame and provide an upper mounting point for the wheel knuckle.

Yes, there are design limits for how far the stock UCA and LCA can travel, the struts and springs are part of that equation as are the angles of the half shafts. Unless you have a Raptor, nothing about the stock F150 suspension was designed to get airborne. Lifting these trucks much past 3" starts to get into those limits, which is why going higher requires something very different from 5100's, 6112's, or leveling pucks.

You are correct about the preload, there is no change in preload once the spring is installed on the strut. However, each change in height of the 6112's snap ring (i.e., moving the snap ring from the lowest setting #1 towards the highest setting #5) does result in a change in the preload of the spring - since the shock is fixed in length, the coil spring is compressed a little more with each higher setting. The same thing is true for the 5100's.

My original question was whether or not installing the 6112 on the highest setting #5 (for approximately 2" of lift) would be a little rougher ride than leaving it on #1 and reinstalling the ReadyLift level kit (also for approximately 2" of lift). Setting the shock on #1 (or factory height) should theoretically keep the same travel as the factory strut/spring combination, which is why there was no problem using the ReadyLift level kit on the #1 setting. In reality, my 6112's provided about 3/8" additional lift when combined with the ReadyLift level. It sounds like from your last post you experienced the same thing. You should see some settling of the suspension after you drive it a while. Mine was initially closer to 3/4" higher but settled down to 3/8" after about 20 miles of driving.

There is no interference with the UCAs and the ride and control is so much improved over the factory it's like night and day. I'm assuming that there probably would have been little to no difference in the ride with the setting on #5 and no ReadyLift level, only in the ride height, as the springs were engineered to work at multiple installed heights.

Toizzz

My point was to clarify the miss conception you had and get you to think about it a different way. So its okay if your not sure you understand. Just think about it a little bit more. Eg. If the wheel travel is only 7" total and we start in the middle. We have 3.5" down travel. If we lift 2.375" you are left with 1.125" of down travel when driving down the road. This type of change is not for me and i feel people should be educated on its negatives.

Sometimes its not clear what effects minor changes make. So if you exaggerate them you can see how they affect you. In normal operation the a arm cannot move straight down vertical pointing at the road But if it did it would work like a jack stand and you would have no shock movement at all. So as you move from horizontal (perfect function) to vertical it gets stiffer and stiffer. So lifting by using spacers or on the shock clips will give you this result. Practically however the stock range of motion will limit you far more than the ride quality change. But it is there. You installed a spacer on a coil over designed to give adjustable ride heights. The only reason to do that is if the stock range of motion can be extended lower, maintaining wheel travel at 3.5" up and down. Without binding. Have you jacked up your truck and measured fender height when the tire starts to come off the ground. What is the difference. Maybe you found a new improvement we all should be using. Be careful the tire does compress slightly with weight so take it only until you stop seeing increase in fender to the top of the tire.

soccercoach61

I don't have a misconception. The lower spring perch mount on the 6112s (and the 5100s) controls the amount of ride height lift from 0" to 2.1" depending on which grove you install the clip in. The preload changes based on the compressed height of the spring. If you don't believe me look up Hooke's Law.

What gets stiffer and stiffer? You are not understanding how the upper control arm actually works. It has a semicircular rotation around a fixed point on the frame. You learn nothing by exaggerating the motion of a part in a way that it is impossible for it to do, and it is impossible for it to work as in your exaggerated example. And it has no effect on the ride quality.

Bilstein ride height adjustable shocks have a longer travel and different valving to compensate for the change in spring preload, which changes based on where you mount the lower spring perch (groove 1 thru 5). The 6112s have a much larger body and a custom engineered coil spring. They are designed to work within the limits of the stock suspension parts travel. I installed a spacer on top of a shock that is adjustable from 0" to 2.1" of lift. I installed it at the 0" or stock setting. Putting a spacer on the top of that did not go outside the limits of either the Bilstein shocks, the ReadyLift spacer, or the remaining factory suspension parts. My 6112s have less preload than someone who installed the clip in groove 5 without a level puck. My ride is probably a little different and I got 1/4" to 3/8" additional lift in the front end. I've driven the truck over 1000 miles both on and off the road with no issues.

Sorry you aren't understanding this.

Apples

You two misunderstand each other's points of reference, or perspective, that's all.

I will say that in addition to whatever it is you're both trying to say to one another that in the case of a torsioned control arm bushing the more the arm is moved in either direction from the bushing's installed/design height, the more the rubber casting within it is twisted and therefore the force required to move it farther is increased.

Have fun with that!

soccercoach61

Probably so... thanks for adding that twist..

locknload

Well I took the plunge and I drop my truck off Tuesday for a 4" BDS lift (spacer, my installer talked me out of FOX coilovers) and I wanted to upgrade to 5100s but I ordered 6112s and 5160s. I think I'll be really happy with this set up as I initially wanted an upgraded spring as well as shocks. Also installing 4.10 gears and going down to 18s from 20s and trying the Duratracs. Both nervous and excited at the same time. This thread has helped quite a bit, thanks.