Squeaking from Fox 2.0 Performance Coilover, Lower Bushing

I have a set of the Fox 2.0 Performance coilovers on the front of my truck, about 80k miles, and recently the squeaking/squealing noise that I was getting from the Front Left side of the truck was getting pretty loud and consistent.

I pulled out the coilover and noticed that the Rubber Bushing surrounding the metal bearing was sheared off.


I called Fox and they gave me the part numbers to "rebuild" the bottom bushing and the only place that had the parts listed online was Jegs.com. The parts also wouldn't be available until the end of September.

I was thinking of buying One new coilover for the Left/Driver side and continue using the originally purchased coilover on the Right/Passenger side with 80k miles as that would allow me to be on the road within a week. The bushing on the Right/Passenger side is still intact, but I do see cracks in the rubber bushing surrounding the bearing. If I go this route, I would assume the Right/Passenger side would sag a little more than a newly installed Coilover but I'm just not sure if that's a good idea. I do know that I don't want to drop another $900 for a pair of front coilovers.

I wouldn't think that continuing to driving with the bad bushing on the Left/Driver side would be a good idea, but if I spray some Lubricant around the bushing the squeaking/squealing does go away until it dries up.

Just looking for some advice from the forum members on what I should do to get back on the road ASAP.

I crossed post on the Suspension forum as well.

 

Fox wouldn't sell then directly to you? You have to order then from a third party??

 

They said any fox dealer should have the parts and didn't mention anything about selling the parts directly.

 

Not involving fox but I ordered parts directly from manufacture and bypassing the middle man before. Call back and suggest that you looked around and parts are on backorder and need them now?

 

Fox doesn’t sell directly to the users. They sell to distributers.

 

If you have part #s call around and see who has them in stock. Places like ORW, 4WP, etc Sell Fox product and you pay be able to find something in stock and ship it to you.

 

I quit buying Fox products for my off road vehicles for that exact reason... when I need a mission critical part they were months away from a replacement. Desert season starts and the shafts on your sand rail are pitted and they tell you april, never again.

 

Didn't know that. .

Try accutune in SoCal?

 

I was gonna stop by my local 4WP store in Glen Burnie, MD and see what they can do

 

That's the reason why I'm a little reluctant to buy another coilover from Fox but I also don't want to have to spend another $1k for another set of coilovers from another manufacturer.

Although, the Fox 2.0 Performance series coilover did give me the right amount of lift without being too much. Other manufactures like ToyTec provide a little too much lift for my tastes and functionality.

 

Why would you wait for desert season to start before trying to rebuild your shocks or replace a pitted shaft and then blame the manufacturer for your lack of preparation?

 

I mean if you have the means, 80k is well over a rebuild interval. I’d send them both in and have the problem fixed while they’re there.

 

You are probably correct.

I'm thinking about just buying a set of Napa Strut's that are already assembled and install them today just so that I'm able to drive. They're having a flash sale for 25% off and for $100 a side I'm just curious to see how these compare to the "higher" end Fox coilovers. I'm thinking they should at least hold me over until the Fox's get rebuilt.

Any thoughts on the assembled NAPA strut's?

My truck is all highway so I really have no need for a lift and if I drop the ride height back to factory, at least I won't have to worry about CV boots wearing out prematurely. The only extra costs would be alignments.

 

That sounds like a good course of action. You could just keep the struts just in case afterwards.

 

Call fox and ask the what size uniball you need - you can buy them from many sites like kartek, ruffstuffspecialties.com, filthy motor sports etc. Here’s what the sizes look like.

http://shockseals.com/common.htm

You can run your shocks without the boot if that’s what part is going to take too long to source. King may make a boot that fits - lots of rod end parts can go between fox and king when rebuilding them. If it’s just a noisy uniball you might be able to get away with triflow dry lube. You should check uniball for any play to see if it’s worth cleaning vs. replacing. Bummer Fox wouldn’t just tell you part numbers for what you need unless you’re only talking about the boot.

 

It sounds like they gave him part numbers. They just don't sell to the public.

 

Fox doesn’t make uniballs - no reason to buy them direct - the boot can be replaced later.

 

my preparation for desert season is just fine... mid september, the thrust of the post is the 6-7 month wait for a common part. My contact at Fox at that time gave me a list of retailers that have bought/sold those particular shafts and I got lucky and found a retailer who had 2 in stock and I didn't miss desert season that year.

 

So you post about not supporting a company because they provided the information that you needed to not miss desert season due to lack of your preparation?

You failed to mention the second part of that situation because the first didn’t meet your agenda.

 

I ended up installing a set of NAPA Proformer Strut Assembly to at least get me on the road. I bought them during a flash sale they had this weekend and got them for $100/ea. So far, the ride height isn't much lower than the Fox 2.0's but I'm sure they'll settle a little lower as they wear. They ride pretty soft and plush to be honest and for now are squeak/squeal free. I will run these NAPA struts for awhile and get my Fox's rebuilt in the meantime.