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

I've been working mine out the last few weeks, 3300 miles road trip, about 1000 on dirt. They are happy to soak up washboards, feel better the faster I go, would definitely recommend.

 

Picked up my ADS Kit @HeadStrong Off-Road, Great Meeting the HS family. It was fun talking to you all. Now just need to find the time to install. Super Excited though....

 

Looking good! Thank you for your business we truly appreciate it!

 

FYI- rear shock rotation isn't limited to ADS. There's threads on here about both Icons and Fox's having issues that have resulted in snapping off resi hoses and ruining rears. I just had my Fox 2.0 rears rebuilt because of this nonsense. Any stem mount rear shock will turn eventually. Best you can do is tighten the hell out of the topnut and check it routinely.

 

If I wanted to do my truck front first then back, is that ok? How will that handle? I am looking to do the 700lb springs ( I think that is the higher) since I will be getting a bumper and winch before winter). Is this a feasible option? I would probably get the rear within 6 months to 9 months, but I want to pay cash

 

Good to know, I'll keep an eye on this. I tightened mine as far as I was comfortable tightening them. Hopefully won't run into any issues.

 

You should be fine, your truck will look a little funny for awhile while you're nose up but you won't damage anything. Do know your truck will ride like a locomotive until you get some weight up front with 700lb springs.

 

With Icon's, I took a grinder to the bucket per their instructions to make sure it didn't smack on the resi fitting. People scoff, but I haven't had any issues with them contacting the mount. I just got back from doing the Mojave Death Race which had me following a mountain biker going way too fast in the middle of nowhere in the pitch black and didn't have any issues.

 

Or save to buy front and rear together. It'll look goofy if the front is nose high. Then again, I haven't seen if you could take all the preload off the spring and what it will look like, so do it.

 

Anyone know how to adjust the front CO preload without removing them from the truck? I tried lifting the front wheel off the ground and turning the spring nut, but it's extremely difficult to turn (yes, I loosened the set screw). I decided to stop before I break something. I've heard you have to remove the CO and use a spring compressor before adjusting the preload. That seems crazy considering other brands don't require this.

 

Might just be damn tough if you’re running 700lb springs. When I spoke to ADS on the phone they recommended pulling them off the truck and using a spring compressor. Most companies are recommending this now probably to CYA.

Otherwise, spraying the threaded shaft down with WD-40 or some kind of Teflon dry lube and using a longer punch for leverage may work.

 

Yea, I'm running 700lb springs. I used a 18" long wrench on the punch. Still was really difficult. I can get it to spin but it feels like I'm gonna break something. I lubed it down, but still didn't get easier to turn. Pulling them off to add preload is a pain in the dick. I tried several ways of compressing the spring with it still on the truck but didn't have any luck.

 

@4Running Daily

Any advice for this dude?

 

A 700lb coil is a fucking large coil haha. My 500lb coils are easy to adjust. I find a spanner wrench works better. If you have Uniball uppers, I would just quickly separate the upper control arm and spindle, slap a spanner wrench on it, put a 5 foot cheater on that, and just go for it.

 

Haha. I feel like very few things end well when you’re using a 5’ cheater.

 

I had the same problem. But I found that using white lithium grease in a spray can works great. Still requires quite a bit of force to move, but it’s possible. I was able to put about an inch of preload on them in the end.

 

Do you have 700lbs springs? How much force are we talking? 5’ cheater bar force?

 

Yep. 700 lb springs. And no cheater bar. Used a steel punch that fit the holes exactly and moved it with that. Maybe had 6 inches of length to the punch.

 

Interesting. That’s pretty much what I’m working with.

 

It took a ton of lithium grease spray but it works. I didn’t think it would to be honest. And definitely use a steel punch, I broke the tool from ADS. Haha.