Shock Rebuild Issues

stewwalker · Dec 30, 2017

I had my shocks rebuilt by a popular outfit in California. Took them off, packaged them up, and shipped them from Texas. Total process took about a week and a half. At the time I had a company car so it wasn’t a big deal.

While doing some maintenance today, I noticed my drivers front shock shaft was wet. It appears it’s leaking a tiny bit after 13k miles, 1500 of those offroad. I’m not super impressed with the factory shock service life. I’ve come to the conclusion that if you use these trucks as advertised, the service life of parts is cut in half, if not more. Couple that with me not trusting workmanship from outfits i can’t physically go to, and I’m up ***** creek.

I’m looking into biting the bullet and upgrading to 3.0’s and icon’s delta joint uca’s in an attempt to save long term headaches, but I’m not sold on the idea. I also can’t get a solid answer on real life service intervals on certain parts.

biturbomg · Dec 30, 2017

Is there a big cost savings doing a rebuild vs a new oem set? What is expected life on a daily driven truck? Also would the Gen 2 take off be an option to replace the Gen 1 shocks front and rear?

dixonk · Dec 30, 2017

biturbomg said:
Is there a big cost savings doing a rebuild vs a new oem set? What is expected life on a daily driven truck? Also would the Gen 2 take off be an option to replace the Gen 1 shocks front and rear?

It’s 500 bucks to rebuild all 4 and I have seen new sets on eBay for 2500.

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biturbomg · Dec 30, 2017

dixonk said:
It’s 500 bucks to rebuild all 4 and I have seen new sets on eBay for 2500.

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That makes it very worth it if they don't leak or have issues. Best place to get this done?

dixonk · Dec 30, 2017

biturbomg said:
That makes it very worth it if they don't leak or have issues. Best place to get this done?

I got mine done at GJ Motorsports out of Chicago. They don’t have a long 8 week waiting list like the place in Sacramento has. It took them about a week to get me a set to my door. I have put about 7500 miles so far and they have been flawless so far.

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siooss · Dec 30, 2017

I went with Forged-Offroad
Ford Raptor Fox Shock Exchange Program – Forged Offroad – We Rebuild Shocks

Total cost for me, with upgrades, was $1,356.30.

I got $375 of $500 core deposit back, because they had to refinish the rear pair of shocks I sent them, which was a $125 charge. If your shocks are dirty, they charge $50 cleaning fee, if your front bushings are bad they charge $65 fee each, believe if your front shocks need refinishing it's $125 charge, and I believe other fees depending on damages in the shocks you send back.

I installed these myself, which was rather challenging, as I'm not an expert mechanic type. I had access to military base auto hobby shop and used their lift and strut compressor, so add another $78 in shop fees, lift fees to the cost.

My thinking with these upgrades was to extend the shock life before next rebuild is needed, barring no leaks, or material failures. Now I can add nitrogen to shocks to maintain recommended 200 PSI and with the metal spherical bearings and internal upgrades, figured these rebuilds will last close to 100,000 miles, based on my driving/usage.

stewwalker · Dec 30, 2017

siooss said:
I went with Forged-Offroad
Ford Raptor Fox Shock Exchange Program – Forged Offroad – We Rebuild Shocks

Total cost for me, with upgrades, was $1,356.30.

I got $375 of $500 core deposit back, because they had to refinish the rear pair of shocks I sent them, which was a $125 charge. If your shocks are dirty, they charge $50 cleaning fee, if your front bushings are bad they charge $65 fee each, believe if your front shocks need refinishing it's $125 charge, and I believe other fees depending on damages in the shocks you send back.

I installed these myself, which was rather challenging, as I'm not an expert mechanic type. I had access to military base auto hobby shop and used their lift and strut compressor, so add another $78 in shop fees, lift fees to the cost.

My thinking with these upgrades was to extend the shock life before next rebuild is needed, barring no leaks, or material failures. Now I can add nitrogen to shocks to maintain recommended 200 PSI and with the metal spherical bearings and internal upgrades, figured these rebuilds will last close to 100,000 miles, based on my driving/usage.

How do you like the spherical bearings? I put mine in yesterday. Too soon to have an valid opinion.

Rick@FreedomMotorsports · Dec 30, 2017

stewwalker said:
I’m looking into biting the bullet and upgrading to 3.0’s and icon’s delta joint uca’s in an attempt to save long term headaches, but I’m not sold on the idea. I also can’t get a solid answer on real life service intervals on certain parts.

What answers do you seek?
Price has come down some since I quoted you for ICON's back in March. Been selling quite a few on the Delta Joint UCA's (2 week lead time) too.

Biffler · Jan 3, 2018

Two summers ago I had a complete set rebuilt locally. 3 out of the 4 didnt make it through a weekend at Silver Lake. In the first 10 minutes of being in the dunes they completely faded and shortly after puked their guts :flipthebird:

. At the time I had two sets of fronts and got tired of pulling and rebuilding, so everything had to go. Ended up going with Baja Kits LT and absolutely love it.

biturbomg · Jan 9, 2018

Seems based off this thread rebuilds have a high fail rate so the money saved may not really be saved if they are getting 10k miles before issues. If oem shocks are in the $2500 range new what do the 3.0 cost?!

Shock Rebuild Issues

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