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

Paid less than that through MCM Fab for the fronts. Went through ADS directly for the custom rear shocks only because I am no longer local to MCM Fab.

 

When I was shopping ADS pricing, Headstrong was the best deal and their customer service is great!

 

Yah, hindsight is 20/20. Got my tears thru HS

 

X2

 

Good afternoon TW Peeps. So Im getting ready to install my ADS 2.5 remotes in the front, 2.5 piggybacks in the rear this weekend. At the same time Im installing Camburg UCA's and an AAL. Is there anything I need to be leery of when I do this? Im planning on wheels and tires in the next week or two. Should I wait to align until after the tires. Can I install them and call it good or do I have to adjust anything? Asking for a friend!

 

I have a similar set-up and this was from my experience,

If you plan on keeping your sway bar you'll need a relocation kit.

Front: the more preload you give it, the less down travel you'll have and the more violent your shocks will top out. I set my ride height 1/2 inch higher than the middle of the shaft, works out great, but won't gain much of a lift.

Rear: best time is now for adding an aftermarket bump stop, make sure your reservoirs are clear of the parking break lines. I had to bend the passenger cable mount a bit and wrap the cabling with some vinyl tub as an extra precaution. Double check your brake line length to make sure they have enough slack at full droop. Leaf springs are crazy heavy, best to have a buddy help. I was able to change mine out alone, but my back was not happy with me for a week after

UCA's are a PTA. The bolts are difficult to take out, and require bending the inner fender out of the way. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to finagle them out. Others have just cut the bolt heads off to remove them and install new ones from the opposite direction.

Alignment: If you have another buddy with a truck/van/suv, maybe you could have them get the tires mounted and balanced while you do the swap, and get it done in one go. It's best to have everything aligned at one time IMO. Check with your shop if they have a lifetime alignment and they honor them on vehicles with modification. If so, you could go once after the shocks are exchanged, and another after the tires. I would usually schedule a visit the day after I planned on any suspension mods, and take care of it ASAP.

Good Luck

 

That pretty much sums it up for the lift. I'll add torque to spec, and maybe add some extended brake lines front/rear to be safe.

 

Can you give me any suggestions for Bump stops I checked the ADS website and they're expensive hell also they come in 3 sizes Im a noob with this stuff

 

Super bumps are great as well as durobumps, archive garage bumps, and timbrens. Since you're trying to save on cost I'd recommend just doing bumps and skipping the U-bolt flip for now. You probably do not need air bumps (the tubular bumps made by king/fox/ads ect.).

 

So I looked on Amazon and its $225 a pair (Ouch) DO I need them all the way around? Is this something I can add later?

 

The idea is if you have the rear end apart already, buy a flip kit with some bumps and do it all at once. The fronts can be changed any time, but its much easier with the control arms loose/drooped. The wheelers kit is what I have and its really nice!

 

For which bump? Wheeler's superbumps offer the best value.

Rear Pedestal: Front:

 

Also, what's $225 when you just spent $3k on shocks!?

 

Ha. Good point. The problem is I JUST SPENT 3k ON SHOCKS. lol. I I appreciate you guys.

 

I had to remove the sway bar completely even with the relocation (they'll come with your fronts). It was making contact with the radiator brackets and the lower end link bolts were gouging the springs. Watch for that. Might have just been my truck.

I set the ride height at 2" over stock. It was slightly above that and I didn't like the ride. You'll probably be dialing in the ride height as you see fit. Mine were pre-set at about 1" over stock (trd off road). I found one turn of the ring gave me 1/8" of rise/drop. Spray plenty of wd40 on the rings and threads before you adjust with wheels off the ground and let it set for a few minutes. I used a 5/16" (I think) pin punch from HF.

The front resi's were a bitch for me. You can crack the hose fittings slightly to free up movement while you set the resi's. If you lose a few drops of fluid, don't worry. They come with plenty of oil. Just don't forget to tighten them back up. I also used HF electrical heat shrink on the bands so they didn't gouge the resi's.

UCA's aren't that bad actually. There are a couple of lines that need to be detached from the body, then the bolt will clear. Don't be afraid to bend the shit out of the body down there. No harm done.

If I think of anything else, I'll post.

 

Need is a tricky word when it comes to mods... so do you NEED an ADS suspension upgrade to go off road?
There are thousands of people that do without and have no issues, the best question IMO is; What do you plan to do with your vehicle?

For those who want to do more extreme terrain, the answer may change if they want to go long distances at higher speeds or mainly focus on rock crawling or trips to sand dunes where they plan on high speeds and possibly jumps. The reason companies like ADS have such a diverse line of products is because they cater to many different types of off-road demands.

The stock bumps are hard rubber, and if you hit the end your suspension travel, it is a real thud and brain jarring experience. Even at relatively slow speeds over some whoops or ruts in the road you can easily hit that limit. Sudden changes is acceleration is what causes damage (Like the phrase, 'It wasn't the fall that killed him, but the sudden stop at the end'). The aftermarket bump stops are far more pliable, and act almost like a secondary shock, they slow the downward direction of the vehicle and squish to soften the blow.

Are they absolutely needed? No, and some people prefer not to use them or buy the expensive air bumps because you can adjust their placement, where the cheaper rubber ones can limit suspension up travel.

I mentioned them, because you are going to have to take your u-bolts off to add the leaf anyways, might as well get both mods out of the way, because its a bit of a PITA to do the work a second time. Spending $150 for the rear bumps or $250 for bumps and flip kit now, saves the hassle later of taking it all apart again. The fronts can be done at anytime really.

I chose the U-bolt flip kit and super bump from Wheeler's because some of the places I like to go have boulders and rocks that can bang up the stock-style u-bolts.

Make sure to have YouTube up and ready while your doing the install, there are so many videos out there that will steer you in the right direction. Watch them a head of time from multiple people, and like @Supra4x4 said, make sure to check on torque specs and have a good torque wrench. Worst kind of break downs are when you are off road somewhere.

Best of Luck

 

You might need extended brake lines for the rears. I went with crown performance. They make a kit for our trucks and they are very top quality. I got all four corners from them. Kinda pricey though ($170ish). You won't need them for the fronts even with extended travel, but I wanted matching lines for all wheels. Don't cheap out on these.

Ubolt flip isn't really necessary, but better to do while you're at it like another had said. Super bumps are a good value. If you're not racing, don't buy hydraulics.

After your alignment, if you make any adjustments more than a 1/4" in ride height, you might need another alignment.

Do one leaf at a time. Always keep one side bolted up. Like dude said above, watch youtube, take notes, and get torque specs! It's pretty straight forward, but there are steps to follow.

I just did this a little over a month ago, so all this is still fresh in my mind.

 

When I installed my rears I didn't have a deep socket set for the u-bolts so make sure you have that in the ol tool box, also putting PB blaster on the bolts the night before install made things easier for me at least.

 

Align it after you lift. It won’t change with wheels and tires. Take before and after measurements from center of the hub to bottom of the fender. In my experience the fronts are best at 22.5 inches or less, after settling. Don’t overshoot your front lift based on the rear lift at install. Things will settle. If you can, wait for it to settle before an alignment but only if you aren’t driving much.

 

toyotabumpstops.com