Anyone running the Fox 3.0’s?

[piroman683]

I spoke to one of the reps from fox itself. He truly recommended the 3.0s for high speed off-roading. I have a JTRD so due to the heavier diesel engine I decided to go with the 3.0s. I paid 4500 including taxes and shipping from poly performance. I gotta say that they are truly amazing. The diesel platform is notorious for bottoming out and this fixed the issue all together. They are much more expensive for a reason.

I spoke to a sales rep at fox, and a shock tech at fox. Shop tech said not worth it, sales rep said worth it. Sales rep said it’s 15% more dampening with the benefit of the bump zone (which is fairly small). The reason for the huge cost difference is because of the assembly of the shock itself. You get far better performance out of a regular 3.0 4 tube external bypass shock than a 3.0 internal bypass for less money.
The 3.0 IBP is still actually a 2.5in diameter shock just like the 2.5DSC. The 3.0 has more oil and the cooling fins so it does better at dissipating heat that the 2.5’s but mind you, plenty of desert race vehicles run thousand so of miles without having cooling fins on the shocks. The bypass really only help in the bottoming out. But for me that’s less of a concern because I already have the 2.0 bump stops on all 4 corners. So my dilemma here is if the 3.0 are really worth it. I’m not opposed to the upgrade, but am curious to see the results of a revalve on my current 2.5’s. Rest assured I’ll be reporting back on that.
For additional reference, I already jump the shit and rip mine through the desert plenty and the 2.5’s have been great. Only after spending time trying to go faster have I realized I need more compression and rebound in the rear.

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[guarnibl]

I spoke to a sales rep at fox, and a shock tech at fox. Shop tech said not worth it, sales rep said worth it. Sales rep said it’s 15% more dampening with the benefit of the bump zone (which is fairly small). The reason for the huge cost difference is because of the assembly of the shock itself. You get far better performance out of a regular 3.0 4 tube external bypass shock than a 3.0 internal bypass for less money.
The 3.0 IBP is still actually a 2.5in diameter shock just like the 2.5DSC. The 3.0 has more oil and the cooling fins so it does better at dissipating heat that the 2.5’s but mind you, plenty of desert race vehicles run thousand so of miles without having cooling fins on the shocks. The bypass really only help in the bottoming out. But for me that’s less of a concern because I already have the 2.0 bump stops on all 4 corners. So my dilemma here is if the 3.0 are really worth it. I’m not opposed to the upgrade, but am curious to see the results of a revalve on my current 2.5’s. Rest assured I’ll be reporting back on that.
For additional reference, I already jump the shit and rip mine through the desert plenty and the 2.5’s have been great. Only after spending time trying to go faster have I realized I need more compression and rebound in the rear.

How do you identify if you're riding in the bump zone? Any idea? My 3.0's are great off road on my diesel gladiator but you feel literally every minor imperfection in the road even full soft setting. Same road in my stock JL is night and day more comfortable. It's not bad as long as it's a good road -- i.e., long highway drives are mostly fine unless it's a bad section of highway, but yeah (and we have good roads in AZ for the most part).

Running 37" KO2's on 4 1/2" EVO plush springs.

 

[mog]

Isn’t the only frame difference the knuckles?

According to Motor Trend

To cope with the rigors of repeated landings and impacts the Gladiator Mojave frame and suspension were bolstered in many areas as compared with the Gladiator Rubicon. For starters, the Mojave front upper control arms feature an increase in strength for greater buckle resistance. The front lower control arm mounting areas on Mojave frame are also strengthened, but the lower front and rear control arms themselves are the same between Mojave and Rubicon. The rear bumpstop cup on the frame is reinforced on Mojave, as are the transmission and engine mounts. Mojave and Rubicon use the same motor mount isolators and transmission mounts, but the metal on the crossmembers and frame to which they mount has been strengthened on Mojave. And the Mojave rear track bar has a larger outer diameter, larger bushings, and a higher strength tube than Rubicon. And finally, the shock towers themselves were reinforced and strengthened in Mojave.

 

[piroman683]

How do you identify if you're riding in the bump zone? Any idea? My 3.0's are great off road on my diesel gladiator but you feel literally every minor imperfection in the road even full soft setting. Same road in my stock JL is night and day more comfortable. It's not bad as long as it's a good road -- i.e., long highway drives are mostly fine unless it's a bad section of highway, but yeah (and we have good roads in AZ for the most part).

Running 37" KO2's on 4 1/2" EVO plush springs.

I'd take a look at how much shaft of the shock is still showing. Depending on which part number you got you should have a total usable shaft length of 9.4 or 9.7in (or something very close to that). In either case if your remaining shaft that is shown is less than 3 inches I'd suspect any bump that moves the shaft in by more than 1 inch will put you into the bump zone. I'm also not sure if the IBP's are progressive or if it's just all or nothing as soon as you cross into the bump zone. (i'd think they would make it a little progressive but it is hard to tell from the exploded diagrams they have on online since it could just be a reference image)

 

[guarnibl]

I'd take a look at how much shaft of the shock is still showing. Depending on which part number you got you should have a total usable shaft length of 9.4 or 9.7in (or something very close to that). In either case if your remaining shaft that is shown is less than 3 inches I'd suspect any bump that moves the shaft in by more than 1 inch will put you into the bump zone. I'm also not sure if the IBP's are progressive or if it's just all or nothing as soon as you cross into the bump zone. (i'd think they would make it a little progressive but it is hard to tell from the exploded diagrams they have on online since it could just be a reference image)

showing:
4.5 up front
5 in back.

I've got the ones for 3.5-4.5" of lift, with 4.5" evo plush springs.

doubt I'm in bump zone just driving down the road by what you're saying. I think the shock is just too damn large and just runs stiff as hell out of the gate.

 

[piroman683]

showing:
4.5 up front
5 in back.

I've got the ones for 3.5-4.5" of lift, with 4.5" evo plush springs.

doubt I'm in bump zone just driving down the road by what you're saying. I think the shock is just too damn large and just runs stiff as hell out of the gate.

yeah, youre not in the bump zone. Have you driven it with the clickers at full open (softest setting)? You should have a fair amount of up travel before you hit the bump zone

 

[guarnibl]

yeah, youre not in the bump zone. Have you driven it with the clickers at full open (softest setting)? You should have a fair amount of up travel before you hit the bump zone

Yes. I run at softest setting and it's still way too f'ing harsh on rough roads at 45-65 mph (and bad on service roads too). You just feel every imperfection in the road. Stiffening it up just seems to increase the bounciness so to speak. Long highways are fine... it's local roads that are the problem. I'm pretty picky, but the stock 2 door Rubicon on those same roads feels great.

Ecodiesel, steel bumper group with winch, currie control arms (upper/lower), evo plush springs 4 1/2", bed rack w/ 160 lb roof top tent, 37" KO2s (D rated) -- pressure at 28 psi. It's not like I'm super light, but not extremely heavy either.

 

[piroman683]

Yes. I run at softest setting and it's still way too f'ing harsh on rough roads at 45-65 mph (and bad on service roads too). You just feel every imperfection in the road. Stiffening it up just seems to increase the bounciness so to speak. Long highways are fine... it's local roads that are the problem. I'm pretty picky, but the stock 2 door Rubicon on those same roads feels great.

Ecodiesel, steel bumper group with winch, currie control arms (upper/lower), evo plush springs 4 1/2", bed rack w/ 160 lb roof top tent, 37" KO2s (D rated) -- pressure at 28 psi. It's not like I'm super light, but not extremely heavy either.

what shocks are you running on the 2 Door?

the 2.5 DSC's have different valving than the 2.5 IFP, and both have different piston valving than the 3.0's. (all 3 have the same piston diameter too) 3.0's have stiffer piston valving due to intended use in high speed desert trails which is way different than rock crawling or overlanding. Even if you have plush springs the shocks themselves are still stiffer. Prior to your lift kit what shocks did you have on your JT? For desert runs you typically need stiffer springs and with that you need matching valving on the shock.

 

[guarnibl]

what shocks are you running on the 2 Door?

the 2.5 DSC's have different valving than the 2.5 IFP, and both have different piston valving than the 3.0's. (all 3 have the same piston diameter too) 3.0's have stiffer piston valving due to intended use in high speed desert trails which is way different than rock crawling or overlanding. Even if you have plush springs the shocks themselves are still stiffer. Prior to your lift kit what shocks did you have on your JT? For desert runs you typically need stiffer springs and with that you need matching valving on the shock.

My 2 door is a bone stock Rubicon. But taking my 392 down that same road warrants the same -- perfect ride and I don't feel any harshness.

It was stock before the 3.0's. I really thought the adjusters would be the answer on the 3.0's and it would be great on road and if I needed to stiffen I could... but in reality the softest setting is just too harsh (as you said stiffer piston valving).

I'm probably just going to run either 2.5 DSC's on my 392 or 2.0's with reservoirs. Same use case but no camping (just smashing Moab twice a year which is a mix of off road slow crawling and high speed fun here/there).

 

[CrazyCooter]

I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around spending $6k on a race shock to street drive expecting a cush ride? You could have that with 2.0s for about $800.

On the other end of that, I bought the 2.5 Elites and they were WAY too soft for my truck which seems to be build similar you yours but lowe CG.

 

[guarnibl]

I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around spending $6k on a race shock to street drive expecting a cush ride? You could have that with 2.0s for about $800.

On the other end of that, I bought the 2.5 Elites and they were WAY too soft for my truck which seems to be build similar you yours but lowe CG.

I primarily went to the 3.0 because I was going to have a lot of weight and wanted to run cushy off road with that weight (i.e., down forest roads, etc) and also have the adjustability to smash things in the desert and not feel it. But I'm learning now that it's not what I thought. I also didn't really view it as a "Race shock" per se (Jeep isn't a race vehicle and we're not talking an Ultra 4, and if we were, we wouldn't be running these anyway). So wtf is the market?

I should have bought 2.5 DSCs.

 

[piroman683]

My 2 door is a bone stock Rubicon. But taking my 392 down that same road warrants the same -- perfect ride and I don't feel any harshness.

It was stock before the 3.0's. I really thought the adjusters would be the answer on the 3.0's and it would be great on road and if I needed to stiffen I could... but in reality the softest setting is just too harsh (as you said stiffer piston valving).

I'm probably just going to run either 2.5 DSC's on my 392 or 2.0's with reservoirs. Same use case but no camping (just smashing Moab twice a year which is a mix of off road slow crawling and high speed fun here/there).

You're better off with the 2.5dsc for your JT.

 

[CrazyCooter]

I primarily went to the 3.0 because I was going to have a lot of weight and wanted to run cushy off road with that weight (i.e., down forest roads, etc) and also have the adjustability to smash things in the desert and not feel it. But I'm learning now that it's not what I thought. I also didn't really view it as a "Race shock" per se (Jeep isn't a race vehicle and we're not talking an Ultra 4, and if we were, we wouldn't be running these anyway). So wtf is the market?

I should have bought 2.5 DSCs.

The 3.0's have "Race" in the name. As a kid growing up reading the JC Whiplash catalog or later, Summit Racing.....Regardless of what the catalog writer says, "Race" is seldom a good solution for us recreational users. It usually means shorter lifespan, rough, expensive, and special order when you are on the side of the road broke down. Might be stronger, faster, lighter though.......

Trust when I tell you the 2.5s suck out of the box and you wouldn't have been happy with those either. Have you read my thread on tuning my 2.5's?

I've also really come to realize that everyone has a different idea of what a "Good" ride is. My happy place is firm and controlled on the road at 25psi on 37's. I'll air down 16-20psi on the dirt to soak up the small holes, rocks up to 6", and washboard using the suspension for the harder hits and deeper holes.

 

[guarnibl]

The 3.0's have "Race" in the name. As a kid growing up reading the JC Whiplash catalog or later, Summit Racing.....Regardless of what the catalog writer says, "Race" is seldom a good solution for us recreational users. It usually means shorter lifespan, rough, expensive, and special order when you are on the side of the road broke down. Might be stronger, faster, lighter though.......

Trust when I tell you the 2.5s suck out of the box and you wouldn't have been happy with those either. Have you read my thread on tuning my 2.5's?

I've also really come to realize that everyone has a different idea of what a "Good" ride is. My happy place is firm and controlled on the road at 25psi on 37's. I'll air down 16-20psi on the dirt to soak up the small holes, rocks up to 6", and washboard using the suspension for the harder hits and deeper holes.

I'll have to read your thread on that. And you're right, it's absolutely subjective. Accutune actually recommended 2.0 Fox (RemoteR's) for my 392/use case. Said they'd be fine for what I do in Moab on occasion (and still rebuildable), and then I wouldn't give up ride quality on road from OEM. I'll probably do the same on if I sell these.

 

[CrazyCooter]

I'll have to read your thread on that. And you're right, it's absolutely subjective. Accutune actually recommended 2.0 Fox (RemoteR's) for my 392/use case. Said they'd be fine for what I do in Moab on occasion (and still rebuildable), and then I wouldn't give up ride quality on road from OEM. I'll probably do the same on if I sell these.

I'm betting you wouldn't like my tune cause it feels like a sports car on the pavement? In my opnion the factory ride was soft, uncontrolled and bottomed even before the weight was added.

Ive heard Accutune is good to deal with......I would have gladly paid them retail for my shocks with a good tune, but who's Idea of a good tune?

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