The FRF Shock Shootout! All pre event details and discussion here

[BIRDMAN]

Maybe we can plan to have the manufacturer/vendor trucks duke it out at the TRR and keep this independent shock testing separate from that.

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[pat'sRAPTOR]

That would be sweet love that idea bird!!!

 

[kawie95]

*subscribes*

This is going to be awesome! I can hang out and snap some video with my camera. It does decent quality.

 

[BigJ]

Another question raised via PM:

Some of the shock setups listed are designed to compliment other mods, all of which work together. The RPG setup comes to mind; they spend a ton of time dialing in their stuff to work with their leafs and their bump stops.

How informative will testing the RPG shocks be, for example, on a truck without after market leaf springs? Without their bump stop kit?

Or in other words, is anyone *really* going to drop $5k on shocks as a first mod? Or, rather, are they going to have already added someone's bump kit, and someone's leafs?

Speaking for myself, the shocks are the last component I would add, not the first.

Thoughts?

 

[vanilla_gorilla]

Another question raised via PM:

Some of the shock setups listed are designed to compliment other mods, all of which work together. The RPG setup comes to mind; they spend a ton of time dialing in their stuff to work with their leafs and their bump stops.

How informative will testing the RPG shocks be, for example, on a truck without after market leaf springs? Without their bump stop kit?

Or in other words, is anyone *really* going to drop $5k on shocks as a first mod? Or, rather, are they going to have already added someone's bump kit, and someone's leafs?

Speaking for myself, the shocks are the last component I would add, not the first.

Thoughts?

Agreed! I think a bump stop kit, regardless of vendor, is and should be the first mod, or second after the perch mod. The problem with the kit is the leafs, not sure how different or similar Nationals and Deavers are and how much of an impact they difference will make.

But how would you view UCAs and steering rods in teh mix?

 

[Aaron]

Another question raised via PM:

Some of the shock setups listed are designed to compliment other mods, all of which work together. The RPG setup comes to mind; they spend a ton of time dialing in their stuff to work with their leafs and their bump stops.

How informative will testing the RPG shocks be, for example, on a truck without after market leaf springs? Without their bump stop kit?

Or in other words, is anyone *really* going to drop $5k on shocks as a first mod? Or, rather, are they going to have already added someone's bump kit, and someone's leafs?

Speaking for myself, the shocks are the last component I would add, not the first.

Thoughts?

FWIW I actually considered doing shocks first in the rear before a bump kit.

Until I tweaked my truck, then that priority shifted to frame reinforcement/bump kit being job 1

My point being, I'm probably not alone in considering shocks before bump kits.

 

[BlueSVT]

Agreed! I think a bump stop kit, regardless of vendor, is and should be the first mod, or second after the perch mod. The problem with the kit is the leafs, not sure how different or similar Nationals and Deavers are and how much of an impact they difference will make.

But how would you view UCAs and steering rods in teh mix?

They're likely very different... Stock springs would b a must for the testing.

 

[BigJ]

Agreed! I think a bump stop kit, regardless of vendor, is and should be the first mod, or second after the perch mod. The problem with the kit is the leafs, not sure how different or similar Nationals and Deavers are and how much of an impact they difference will make.

But how would you view UCAs and steering rods in teh mix?

(Experts PLEASE jump in but) I'm not too concerned with the UCAs and steering rods. I think the change they make is different enough from the change a shock makes, to still allow for *relative* comparisons. Meaning, the steering is going to be the steering, and while it may not be the best (with the stock parts) it won't directly affect what we see in terms of the truck floating over the whoops, or not (for example). It will probably affect the driver impression in terms of control, but again if the playing field is equal across all setups, in theory that impression should be consistent. Right?

FWIW I actually considered doing shocks first in the rear before a bump kit.

Until I tweaked my truck, then that priority shifted to frame reinforcement/bump kit being job 1

My point being, I'm probably not alone in considering shocks before bump kits.

Huh. Ok. Good to know.

So are we talking about two different tests, then? One test compares the "everything stock" setup (expect for frame reinforcement to protect the owner's truck) and the other test runs the same shocks but with a "plus aftermarket springs" setup?

---------- Post added at 12:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:12 PM ----------

So for example, just going with the parts it looks like we have available as of this moment:

1) Fox OEM + stock leafs
2) Fox OEM + National leafs (Std)
3) Fox OEM + Deaver leafs (Std)
4) ICON 2.5s + stock leafs
5) ICON 2.5s + National leafs (Std)
6) ICON 2.5s + Deaver leafs (Std)
7) ICON 3.0s + stock leafs
8) ICON 3.0s + National leafs (Std)
9) ICON 3.0s + Deaver leafs (Std)

LOL. Yikes. Doable... but wow, that's like 3 or 4 days of testing already...

 

[Squatting Dog]

Don't forget driver a,b, and c

Driver a
1) Fox OEM + stock leafs
2) Fox OEM + National leafs (Std)
3) Fox OEM + Deaver leafs (Std)
4) ICON 2.5s + stock leafs
5) ICON 2.5s + National leafs (Std)
6) ICON 2.5s + Deaver leafs (Std)
7) ICON 3.0s + stock leafs
8) ICON 3.0s + National leafs (Std)
9) ICON 3.0s + Deaver leafs (Std)

Driver b
1) Fox OEM + stock leafs
2) Fox OEM + National leafs (Std)
3) Fox OEM + Deaver leafs (Std)
4) ICON 2.5s + stock leafs
5) ICON 2.5s + National leafs (Std)
6) ICON 2.5s + Deaver leafs (Std)
7) ICON 3.0s + stock leafs
8) ICON 3.0s + National leafs (Std)
9) ICON 3.0s + Deaver leafs (Std)

Driver c
1) Fox OEM + stock leafs
2) Fox OEM + National leafs (Std)
3) Fox OEM + Deaver leafs (Std)
4) ICON 2.5s + stock leafs
5) ICON 2.5s + National leafs (Std)
6) ICON 2.5s + Deaver leafs (Std)
7) ICON 3.0s + stock leafs
8) ICON 3.0s + National leafs (Std)
9) ICON 3.0s + Deaver leafs (Std)

-Greg

 

[BigJ]

Right Greg. When I say "test" I mean 6 total runs (or more depending) per setup. 2 per driver skill level, at least.

I'm guessing 1 hour seat time per setup. So that's 3 hours per setup for all three skill sets.

9 setups * 3 hours seat time per setup = 27 hours total seat time
2 hours average per setup install (how long does it take to swap springs? An hour?) * 8 installs = 16 shop hours.

27 + 16 = 43hours. That's 3 or 4 days.

And that's just the parts we've already been promised. Add another 11 hours for each new shock setup we take in.