Longevity of 3.0s

I keep looking at various mid-travel set ups of rmy '13 scab, but Utah has a LOT of salt exposure. Just had my stock stuff rebuilt, and didn't upgrade then because of my (unfounded???) worries about how long 3.0s, UCAs, and LCAs would last for dd use as well as monthly offroad year round out here. I'd plan on hosing them down with fluid film pre-winter every year, but is that gonna be enough for similar longevity as the stock stuff???

DP

daveypetey said:

I keep looking at various mid-travel set ups of rmy '13 scab, but Utah has a LOT of salt exposure. Just had my stock stuff rebuilt, and didn't upgrade then because of my (unfounded???) worries about how long 3.0s, UCAs, and LCAs would last for dd use as well as monthly offroad year round out here. I'd plan on hosing them down with fluid film pre-winter every year, but is that gonna be enough for similar longevity as the stock stuff???

DP

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If you put this in the suspension forum I think you'll get a lot more feedback try moving it over there!

---------- Post added at 11:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:47 PM ----------

daveypetey said:

I keep looking at various mid-travel set ups of rmy '13 scab, but Utah has a LOT of salt exposure. Just had my stock stuff rebuilt, and didn't upgrade then because of my (unfounded???) worries about how long 3.0s, UCAs, and LCAs would last for dd use as well as monthly offroad year round out here. I'd plan on hosing them down with fluid film pre-winter every year, but is that gonna be enough for similar longevity as the stock stuff???

DP

Click to expand...

If you put this in the suspension forum I think you'll get a lot more feedback try moving it over there!

If you live in someplace that sees winter. Plan on changing all heims / spherical bearings yearly.

Fox at one point had a rebuild schedule based on use.
In 45k miles I rebuilt mine once. So 25k each cycle or so. With monthly off road and Chicago winters.
When I rebuilt them, I had to buy pretty much all exterior components. New tubes, caps, tappets, etc. basically all new components beside the shaft. Except one had to be replaced because it was bent, but that shock was problematic from day 1.


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you can definitely extend the life of the shocks by just wiping them down. Especially the shock shafts. Any gunk on there is going to go straight to your seals and tear them up. Just try to keep everything clean and don't let grime/salt/de-ice fluid collect on them. Putting something on to protect them from corrosion will help too.

You might also see about getting the bare metal parts like the shock tubes powdercoated to help protect them from corrosion.

Check out Amsoil HP Heavy Duty Metal Protector. Great stuff, but it will leave a yellowish tint on your shocks, but you spray anything metal with it, suspension, etc...

Aaron said:

don't let grime/salt/de-ice fluid collect on them.

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There ain't shit you can do when it's 0 degrees for weeks at a time and there is ice/slush/snow/salt mix everywhere you drive.

Buying a beater to drive in those conditions is the only answer to keeping expensive things/vehicles in nice shape.

EricM said:

There ain't shit you can do when it's 0 degrees for weeks at a time and there is ice/slush/snow/salt mix everywhere you drive.

Buying a beater to drive in those conditions is the only answer to keeping expensive things/vehicles in nice shape.

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I'd be tempted to try out shock wraps at that point to at least protect the shaft/seals. But yeah, unless you have a heated garage to let that sucker thaw out in and wipe it down then, it is what it is.

Aaron said:

you can definitely extend the life of the shocks by just wiping them down. Especially the shock shafts. Any gunk on there is going to go straight to your seals and tear them up. Just try to keep everything clean and don't let grime/salt/de-ice fluid collect on them. Putting something on to protect them from corrosion will help too.

You might also see about getting the bare metal parts like the shock tubes powdercoated to help protect them from corrosion.

Click to expand...

^^This. Even most manuals says that you need to keep em clean and recommends to wax the bodies pretty often.

daveypetey said:

I keep looking at various mid-travel set ups of rmy '13 scab, but Utah has a LOT of salt exposure. Just had my stock stuff rebuilt, and didn't upgrade then because of my (unfounded???) worries about how long 3.0s, UCAs, and LCAs would last for dd use as well as monthly offroad year round out here. I'd plan on hosing them down with fluid film pre-winter every year, but is that gonna be enough for similar longevity as the stock stuff???

DP

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I live in place that use lot's of salt on the roads and my stock shocks look horrible like every other aftermarket part. Powder coat on most of parts are mediocre but you can get those powder coated much better when you take those to PC shop by yourself. I took almost every aftermarket part for sandblasting and for new PC. Coating is lot thicker and top of that it has now clear coat for extra protection.
Shouldn't be problem any more.
I had Icons before and all i did to those was wax every now and then plus cleaning every time i could on winter times. Those looked like new after one winter and i can't say that about stock shocks. I still have Icon UCA and it still looks like brand new, nothing but good to say about that.
Now i have Fox shocks and all i can say that those have horrible zinc coating and i can say that those will go bad on first year. So my plan is to powder coat shock body to give extra protection. Quality on Fox shocks are not as good as other companies products. It's just my opinion but i just ordered 3 pairs of Fox shocks.