making these old shocks look new again

[FN-2187]

How much time did you spend dialing in the compression and rebound? Icons will ride differently as the valving is designed to be softer the harder the hits get, and firmer on smaller stuff, where your Fox should soak up little hits smoother, largely dependent on how the bypasses (and bumps) are adjusted (sorry if this is redundant or anything, trying to learn myself). Ideally the rear compression damping would be a smooth transition over to the bump stops as they travel through the compression stroke and the bump stops absorb that final hit. IMHO time spent adjusting, testing, and documenting everything is time well spent. And doing it all over again for different conditions...

Aside from other's suggestions you could also look at some mid flaps and/or Rokblokz. Hard to tell what's doing more damage, moisture or impact, but were they mine I'd be washing them often and considering some Amsoil HDMP or something. Rust is evil.

granted, I know very, very little about shock tuning. I haven't tried playing around with the rear compression/rebound at all, but I did adjust the bypasses from one extreme to another and didn't feel much of a difference between the two settings

I see what you're saying about the icons. the part I remember most about riding in the truck with Icons was when we were going over a large whoop section (not exactly skipping over the tops of them) and feeling the truck cycling through all its travel. It wasn't a comfy ride, but certainly softer than mine would feel through the same section.

its hard for me to distinguish which was harder on the shock plating, too. I do remember the shocks being corroded a bit when I bought the truck a few years ago. I'm willing to bet the salt air (lived near to the beach) did these things pretty quick. I have since moved farther away so the salt air wont corrode the rebuilt setup that i re-install when it comes time.

where are you getting your shock tuning information from? any books or links to some material that you're finding helpful? I would like to learn more about these myself

 

[BenBB]

granted, I know very, very little about shock tuning. I haven't tried playing around with the rear compression/rebound at all, but I did adjust the bypasses from one extreme to another and didn't feel much of a difference between the two settings

I see what you're saying about the icons. the part I remember most about riding in the truck with Icons was when we were going over a large whoop section (not exactly skipping over the tops of them) and feeling the truck cycling through all its travel. It wasn't a comfy ride, but certainly softer than mine would feel through the same section.

its hard for me to distinguish which was harder on the shock plating, too. I do remember the shocks being corroded a bit when I bought the truck a few years ago. I'm willing to bet the salt air (lived near to the beach) did these things pretty quick. I have since moved farther away so the salt air wont corrode the rebuilt setup that i re-install when it comes time.

where are you getting your shock tuning information from? any books or links to some material that you're finding helpful? I would like to learn more about these myself

I'm no expert by any means, just trying to help and learn myself. I have experience with desert racing quads, apples and oranges though (back in the day I had a Works shock sponsorship and the hot ticket was triple-rate springs and finned reservoirs heh). There's a ton of resources here and online though:
Accutune has a good overview.
Great thread on here about initial setup.
Another good read on settings and maintenance.
Race Dezert thread with some good links.

Anyway you SHOULD be able to adjust them to your liking, or at least a big improvement, if you take the time to do it. You've got some damn nice hardware right there, and with a fresh rebuild and refinish (no offense but they are pretty ugly right now haha!) I'm sure you can get them working like you want them to. Bear in mind everything is a compromise, and you really need them rebuilt so you have a baseline to begin from, but the perfect setup blasting through a whoop section will likely be less than ideal on the freeway. The best thing about those 3.0's is that once you find the settings that work for certain areas/terrain and write it down, you can quickly go back and forth, and once you get a feel for what does what you can adjust to new trails as needed. Good luck!

 

[FN-2187]

I'm no expert by any means, just trying to help and learn myself. I have experience with desert racing quads, apples and oranges though (back in the day I had a Works shock sponsorship and the hot ticket was triple-rate springs and finned reservoirs heh). There's a ton of resources here and online though:
Accutune has a good overview.
Great thread on here about initial setup.
Another good read on settings and maintenance.
Race Dezert thread with some good links.

Anyway you SHOULD be able to adjust them to your liking, or at least a big improvement, if you take the time to do it. You've got some damn nice hardware right there, and with a fresh rebuild and refinish (no offense but they are pretty ugly right now haha!) I'm sure you can get them working like you want them to. Bear in mind everything is a compromise, and you really need them rebuilt so you have a baseline to begin from, but the perfect setup blasting through a whoop section will likely be less than ideal on the freeway. The best thing about those 3.0's is that once you find the settings that work for certain areas/terrain and write it down, you can quickly go back and forth, and once you get a feel for what does what you can adjust to new trails as needed. Good luck!

those quads are pretty rad!

I spoke with a local shock rebuilding shop and they actually said the same thing that you did. the shocks should have enough external adjustment to get it to preform to my liking. I guess i'll just be doing a full rebuild/re-coat and going from there.

And like you recommended before, I'll just have to find a nice whoop section and just experiment with the settings. its a good excuse to get out of the city and use the truck for what its meant for!

thanks for sharing the links! I'll check them out and try to soak up as much of the info as I can haha

 

[Hedges4]

Basically did what jhollowell did, didn’t replace stickers and a little
More abrasive but looks much better to me. Stripper, steel polishing wheel, combi-s, clear coat, 0000 steel wool. Not perfect but much better

 

[BenBB]

Basically did what jhollowell did, didn’t replace stickers and a little
More abrasive but looks much better to me. Stripper, steel polishing wheel, combi-s, clear coat, 0000 steel wool. Not perfect but much better

WAY better! Can't believe the difference, those decals look like they were only making it worse.

 

[gotsboost]

the set of 3.0s i've got on the raptor now are looking really rough. the bodies are in need of some serious loving, the internals could use better valving and a full rebuild. a few years of living by the ocean has taken its toll on this poor thing.

What are my options for re-coating? I've heard the new thing with shock bodies are cerakoting them for a more durable finish. anybody have experience with cerakoting theirs? as they sit currently, they are badly rusted and I assume they will need to be totally stripped of their zinc before either re-plating or cerakoting. (see pics)

the springs will need to be powder coated when its all disassembled.

they also are a very stiff ride. I'd like to get them re-valved to get better performance off road. as it sits, bumps are more "jaring" and it doesnt seem like the suspension really works as it should. ive ridden in other raptors with Icon 3.0s and its a much different/softer ride.

suggestions on what I should do?

is there a solution for protecting the rear shocks from flying debris being kicked up by the front tires?

wow those are worse then mine. I power washed. Sanded with 80-320 then painted with aluminum paint then ceramic coated mine. And some new sweet stickers

 

[gotsboost]

Picture

 

[gotsboost]

Fronts

 

[Hedges4]

wow those are worse then mine. I power washed. Sanded with 80-320 then painted with aluminum paint then ceramic coated mine. And some new sweet stickers

Sweet stickers are being considered. Yes, you can’t see them most of the time. But it’s a little too plain for me, now that it’s back on