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

My next build I’m dropping down from 14” 700’s to 14” 650’s. I’m really curious how much difference that will make for me. I think the valving is close to ideal for my needs

 

650s ride awesome on my truck. I'm a 2wd PreRunner but have steel front bumper, ifs skid, sliders and rear bumper. For whatever that's worth. No winch, ever.

 

I miss my prerunner...
2WD is so much fun


That’s the thing though. I have a 3rd gen which is already front heavier than the second gen and I have a Lo-Pro winch bumper (135lbs) and sliders (130lbs)

 

FWIW ADS gave me 700’s for my first gen. But I told them my first gen weighs 5k unloaded, and that I wanted something I can push hard off-road and not care as much about on road softness. I am concerned since most first gens run 650’s but they are the shock builders so they know best. We’ll see once I finish welding the resi mounts on.

 

Got my valving shims from ADS. I would have never gotten from the valving that came with the piggybacks to what they sent me. Waaay different. Very impressed. I won’t post it but I would say you get what you pay for. I’ll update once they’re installed. Trying to figure out how I can remove overload spring. Is there a 1/2 to 3/4” lift block?

 

Did you give them your actual weight? I am not sure how many people actually sent that information to them, Tyler said he made that call based on the weight I gave and how I want to use them. He said he rather I run the heavier spring rather than crank the preload and block out the spring.

 

Pic of said setup? Also extended 14”?

 

So you find the 650’s stiff with a full plate bumper? How much does your bumper setup weigh approx?

 

I have 600lb coils with a plate bumper and steel skid plate. I have a feeling they pick up on certain words while talking and base their recommendation on that. I told them I valued ride comfort over off road ability and they recommended the 600's.

 

you also can’t compare a third gen to a first gen.

 

Ahhh missed that, thanks

 

The guy you should have got shocks from told me no go to 700s on 1st gens, mainly due to the leverage ratio. The shock is not as far outboard as it is on a 2nd/turd gen.

My 650s have been working fine, but I did up the valving significantly from how it came from ADS. Did they happen to give you valving specs?

 

they did not, but I should ask for them. I waited long enough I should at least get that. Def regret not getting it through him and having him set me up. Def going that route when it’s rebuild time.

I just want these damn things on, already gotta redo the passenger side cause I rushed welding the resi mounts on. Finished drivers tonight and it clears nicely at least.

 

Drivers side is in, crazy comparing our preloads @Silver02Taco

 

I asked for both of those things to be setup that way. I did it based on a dude on here who I saw is running 37’s on his 3rd gen 4Runner and I figured this would help future proof me when I decide to take that leap. Though I don’t think I’d go to 37’s without long travel for the stronger cv’s and so I wouldn’t need to retub the fire wall. But I didn’t just assume it would work for me this way either, I did testing with the coilover out before I ordered the shocks just in case.







I did get them directly from ADS. It took much longer than I expected and I am concerned that since I didn’t go with a shock builder that knows first gens super well that I might not be happy with the spring setup they provided but they did that based on how I say I use it and my actual weight.

So in the end the custom work done is:
Aggressively valved (we’ll see)
Different hose/resi configuration based on measurements/fitment I did to clear 35’s
Top out protection

 

Anyone have issues with topping out? I feel like mine top out relatively easily/abruptly. For example, a pot hole at slow speeds. I’m running around 1 1/4” of threads on the driver side and 1” passenger side.

 

I know others have posted about topping out. Some have removed lift from the rear and lowered the front and not topped out near as much. I can top mine out by just swerving hard back and forth going down the road. You can hear the thunk on each side with each hard turn. It’s been posted in here that they have less travel then a stock shock does, less travel then a bilstein 5100, etc. even getting the ext version doesn’t yield as much travel as less expensive options. I believe I have my fronts set about the same as yours. All I was hoping to do was get what I had with my OME 886 coil

 

Hey guys! Recently purchased front 2.5 ADS coilovers standard travel that I’m excited about, now I’m looking for the rears, headstrong has 2 sets one for 0-2” lift or 2-3” lift, which ones pair up with the front shocks? Thanks for the help!

 

This pisses me off for how expensive they are. How is this even possible?