ADS Off-Road Racing Shocks - Information, Pictures, & BS Thread

I have friends who run SAW stuff on LT trucks with great success, but for the sake of keeping this thread on topic (ADS), I will only comment on my experience with ADS.

The op might have already heard from his ADS factory tour...

As per what ADS vendors have told me:

Their seal heads use a unique triple seal set up which leads to better protection and longer service life than the other shock mfgrs. They also have a teflon lined bronze wear band. The pistons are a plated 7075 aluminum---rust will never be an issue. DownSouth Motorsports can vouch as well for ADS quality. I got my setup through Matt @ MCM Fab. Cool guy to deal with and very knowledgeable.

 

A lot of the stuff like the teflon wear bands are very common with the top name manufacturers. As far as the 7075 aluminum is concerned I cannot say much about that. I know some other manufacturers have issues with rust on the east coast states, and even with west coasters who live by the coast peninsulas and other large bodies of water due to the sea salt in the wind. I will say however that there are some manfuacturers using a Nitrosteel plating on their shafts, which I've found personally to be pretty awesome. Oh wait we are talking about the Pistons oops. Lol.

Honestly I have no idea what the other mfr's use for metal on their Pistons, but I know a lot of them use an all aluminum body, coupled with nitrogen charged air, and the oil running throughout the shocks on a constant basis, rust should (typically) not be an issue. Unless you live in rust central.

I must say I am pretty impressed with their overall build design, and they definitely give the big name mfr's a run for their money.

 

Most companies have a 6061 piston, the ADS is 7075 hard anodized.

The Icons use a cheap 2 piece piston design. There is nothing special about their shims to make it degressive valving. Just the center area where the shim sits is countersunk to preload the shim.

Nitrosteel shafts dont hold up to the salty elements as well as hard chromed. ADS offers both though.

Not all companies use a teflon bronze wear band. For example, fox uses a cheap plastic wear band which are known for having blowby issues.

The ADS shocks are cadmium plated and than clear ceramic coated.

You will be hardpressed to find any other shock that offers what ADS offers.

I have yet to have an unsatisfied customer with ADS, and had several customers make the switch from ICON to ADS with no regrets.

 

I sent a PM, but essentially you can get them from Brian at ADS, Marie at Headstrong Offroad, or Micah at DSM.

I do love it! Had a chance to really test it on Saturday and I'm still very impressed. Also, if you have any, post some pics of your setup here!

Great info here. I know about some of the benefits/higher quality parts but I'm still learning things through to you all about my own equipment haha!

 

Got it thanks.

 

I am one of ADS top distributors and have spent alot of time with ADS putting together many shock options for Toyotas with different suspension set ups

 

You bet...

 

Great info man!

Thanks for clearing this up for both myself and others who may be in the market for new coilovers. I saw some ADS on a long travel Tacoma out here on the roads and incidentally at the local wheeling meet some time ago. The stuff looked top notch!

 

Absolutely beautiful! What size tires? I know I could look at your build thread for like the 100th time but oh well haha

 

285s I believe

 

Thanks man. Lol they're 285/75r16's as Matt said below \/\/\/\/\/

 

Nice, I love how they look on it! Looking to get that size put on after about 5-10k more miles. Any trimming needed?

 

Oh yeah, definite trimming is a must if you plan to make full use of the 285's and your suspension.

I'm running wheel spacers so I had some custom trimming done buy my buddy Anthony(DTFtacoma) along with a cab mount chop.

Here's what my truck had done:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...-white-dcsb-tacoma-tx-pro-11.html#post7996338

 

Can you elaborate on "out performs"? Is it a smoother, more supple on road ride? I am running ICON with CDC all around, and I am looking for something that is just a bit smoother on and off road

 

Of all the customers I have swapped from ICON to ADS, all have said it had a less harsh on road feeling, more controlled off road feeling, and better overall feel. Firm but not harsh.

 

SUBD!

 

Brain at ADS needs to create a TacomaWorld account since business in the booming stages right now! Hands down, the greatest customer service from these guys, and like Taylor, I got a chance to tour their shop and was shown the building stages of their awesome work! Tucson, AZ FTW!! From the Hydro Bumps to the 5 TUBE Bypasses I was extremely impressed and sold almost immediately

Now my truck only had one real suspension upgrade since I purchased it. The setup included Bilstein Adjustable 5100s paired with OME 885x coils. After adding in the Maxtrac Spindles, the 5100s were set to 0, and then were used and abused to the very end. I still have the upmost respect for those shocks as they went to hell and back, never failing me.

With that said, I was looking for the same dependability and build quality as the Bilsteins, while upgrading to some Coilovers that could keep up with Rinzler. ADS went above and beyond my expectations. As mentioned in the above posts, ADS sells nothing short of a Race Series Perfomance Shock. Brian and I talked about my style of wheeling while also using my truck as a Daily Driver. Sure enough when everything was settled, I went with the best Coilover setup they offer

ADS Racing 2.5"Coilovers with Resis & Clicker Adjustors (14" 650lb Eibach Spings)






After some suspension testing, ADS had once again proven themselves to be among the best! I've ridden in many different setup tacomas from LT to MT and hybrids of both. These shocks soaked up the nasty ruts and small washes with a breeze after playing with the compression adjustors, and they did it just as good if not better than the big names. I am an extremely happy customer and have found my one stop shop for racing shocks


Stay tuned for another Rinzler style modification as well Remember that customer service starts with the small things and ADS certainly understood my love for color matching and customization!

 

Lmao, not sure where you're getting this "reliable" information but you are completely wrong. Icon is made in house in riverside CA in the same building as pro-am race products and power steering solutions. I've been there multiple times.

 

not really, their claim to fame is they make the 5.25 bypass which is the biggest shock on the market. The Leducs ran them on their TT I think. Ive heard nothing but good things about them and their customer service tho.

I am back and forth between King and ADS when I swap my truck over since Icon wont make me a 3.0 or 3.5 bypass

 

ADS consistently has at least 5 of the top 10 ultra 4 drivers running their shocks. Unfortunately, some people just cant get past not having a "name brand" shock even though ADS surpasses the build quality of pretty much any shock on the market. Also, most people will base their decision on who is willing to give them something 15$ cheaper