[MichaelW]

Sunday I took a couple of hours to install the Fox adjustable shocks from Poly Performance.

Install was piece of cake and straight forward. No rocket science here. I did however have to modify my Nth shock brackets in the rear along with the bump stop spacer to ensure there would be no unwanted impacts or restrictions.

I have to say the Poly Performance springs and the Fox shocks are a very nice combination. Running around with the shocks on the lowest setting gives you a very nice cruiser ride without excessive sway or lean. I was getting a fair bit of lean with the prototype Nth springs and the shocks (for a TJ) had already failed with Bilsteins's up front and RE shocks in back.

Prior to making the swap to the Fox shocks from Poly Performance I was experiencing a wiggle in the steering wheel at 48mph. Sort of like the precursor to the DW. However after adding in the Fox shocks from Poly Performance the wiggle has all but vanished. Now I just need to find another couple of hours and replace the front panhard bar bracket and switch to the new hardened tie rod and the ultra beefy drag link with the knuckle over.

But work has been keeping me really busy and it's been in the 20-30 degree mark previously but now has warmed up just before this next series of storms hits. So I probably won't be getting to the rest of the hybrid lift until after the first of the year. Then I'll need to talk to the guys at Poly Performance about the rest of the swap over. It appears as though my hybrid will become all Poly Performance as I am very impressed so far.

I'll post up some pictures tonight. I'm already at work and the camera is at home. But I have been so impressed by the ride this last couple of days that I had to share.

 

[RotorHead]

Thanks for the update Michael. They do seem to make some really nice stuff. Let's see some pics when you get time.

 

[JeepDog]

Thanks for the update Michael!! :bounce:

Awesome news....

 

[ryanm]

I just picked my Jeep up today after having the adjustable FoxShox installed on my JK. I also had the Poly performance tie rod, drag link, front track bar relocation bracket and fox steering stabilizer installed.

I have been driving around all afternoon and late into this evening and the difference in handling is very noticeable. I had the skyjacker stabilizer on it before the fox. At first, I was really feeling the fox stabilizer, when I would get onto a choppy surface it would not rebound quickly which made for a pulling sensation that was unsettling. After about an hour of driving that feeling has completely subsided and I have much improved road feel. I would say break in occurred after approx 20-30 miles of city driving and another 30 miles of highway. If your looking at this solution, there are several gotcha issues with the install, Poly will have a more refined solution available in the next couple of weeks. In the mean time, the service manager at my dealer came up with a working solution (Thanks Todd!)

The shox themselves are amazing. I have the Full Traction 3" Ultimate lift and replaced the M-force shocks with the Fox solution. The ride is definitely stiffer. I don't have the mushy feeling that I had before, its solid but still compliant. Its not a kidney buster until you get above setting 8. However, stutter bumps at 45mph on settings above 8 just disappear

The front shocks on my install are inverted and the rear are reservoir side up.

I played with these settings extensively tonight. I found that running the front shocks 1 setting higher than the rear was the way to go. Right now I'm set 6 on the front and 5 on the rear. Its stiff but controlled. I could go back down 1 notch but I like the road feel on the current setting.

Overall, I have much improved control, far less body lean, and it keeps the wheels planted without any hopping.

Assuming you have a reasonably close to stock weight distribution and you set the front and the rear the same, you will get some rebound slop. If you set the rear higher than the front this just pronounces the issue.

Additional details on my setup for comparison, I'm running 35" Baja Crawlers on AEV rims with spidertraxx spacers, and JKS disconnects (I did not like the FT solution that came with the lift) I also have fab fours front and rear bumpers, a warn RC9.5 winch up front and a full size spare on the tire carrier. Depending on how much weight someone else's JK may be carrying will affect how to set these shocks up. If there was no winch and a stock bumper on the front, but someone has the rear tire and a carrier solution I'd try running the same settings front/rear and see how that feels. If someone was running a warn powerplant, I'd consider setting the front shocks 2 settings stiffer. Its a trial and error process based on your weight distribution.

I had a lot of fun tonight and this was a big improvement for my JK! I'd highly recommend this mod for those who are looking for dramatic handling improvements both on and off-road.

I will upload some pictures tomorrow.

 

[Alec W]

LMAO reading this!

I too have poly springs (actually my lift is all poly) and fox adjustable shocks. I set them to 7 (for no real good reason) and right now have 32 PSI in my 37s so she is bouncing around a bit (ok a lot) :bounce:. I think I’ll go reset them at lunch and let some air out

I put 32 PSI in to see if the TPMS would reset with the new wheels and TPMS sensors and it didn’t!! Whose stupid idea was TPMS, what a pain in the backside! issed:

It’s solid on the road however and no wobble or anything.

Ryanm, my fronts are inverted too. Do you have a picture of where you routed the ABS wire and brake lines? I’ll take one of mine over the weekend so we can compare notes.

 

[Ipe]

Alec, do the TPMS need to be programmed to match the vehicle? I looked in the manual to confirm the calibration steps but nothing is mentioned. :shaking:

I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of programming/calibration needs to be done so that they can talk to the truck.

 

[Alec W]

Alec, do the TPMS need to be programmed to match the vehicle? I looked in the manual to confirm the calibration steps but nothing is mentioned. :shaking:

I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of programming/calibration needs to be done so that they can talk to the truck.

No clue yet IPE.

Some people say take it to the dealer some say the truck picks up the new sensors after 15 minutes at speeds over 15 MPH. I thought 32 PSI was about the same as stock but maybe I'm wrong. I’ll check what the stock pressure is set to on the old wheels and try one more time. Now I think about it I didn't have a spare on the way in to work this morning so I bet that didn't help :shaking:

Regardless, there is no way I’m running these tires at anywhere close to stock PSI so I need to figure out something. I read on the other forum that the dealers can flash the computer to a new PSI but there are so many conflicting posts over there who knows. I also read that a dealer can disable the system, albeit illegal. Maybe I’ll beg or bribe the service guys to turn the bloody thing off!

You should hang on before you order the sensors for your 35s. I’ll find out one way or the other how this crap works. I’m on a TPMS mission :laughing:

 

[ryanm]

I didn't get a chance to take any photo's today, I'll try to do it in the AM tomorrow before the rest of my day gets scheduled into oblivion. Alec, did you get a chance to try some different combinations on the shock settings?

The only concern I have about the front shocks being inverted is the mounting plate behind the shock body possibly catching the fox shock clamp at an odd angle. The service manager pointed the situation out to me and the next time my Jeep is in the shop they're going to cut out a portion of that back plate to avoid any possible binding.

I have the rusty's extended stainless steel lines, I'll take some pictures of that a well so you can see where its run.

 

[Alec W]

Alec, did you get a chance to try some different combinations on the shock settings?

I set them to 4 and it’s much better.


I twisted my reservoirs out and doubt they will hit the mounting plate. I’m more worried about the ABS line catching when they stuff more than anything. I’m not sure why for about a grand in shocks I have to deal with no instructions or hints to be honest.

 

[ryanm]

I wasn't sure on the instructions issue either. The rest of poly's stuff comes with extremely detailed instructions. I think the mounting of the shock is fairly straight forward, but the settings could definitely use detailed instructions/recommendations.:mr-t:

 

[MichaelW]

Here is my pictures.

These are mostly of modifications I did. I'll try to snap off some quickies of them fully installed.

One of the drawbacks to having a prototype installation is you get to find the "bugs". In this case one bug was the lack of support on the rear bottom shock mount. This revealed itself pretty early on and Nth modified the bracket to add support. The problem was that as this was an on the fly fix there wasn't consideration for tightening the shock mount bracket with a shock installed. There was just no way to get the the nuts and bolts adequately in this prototype version to get the bracket to where it wouldn't work itself loose. I would imagine in the final version the bracket would have been either larger to accommodate tools or perhaps the bolt would have been welded to the bracket and with enough room in the back to use a box wrench to tighten it all down.

I choose a slightly different course and used my old shocks as locator's with the bracket pretty snug then welded the bracket into position. Besides I needed more welding practice.

With the brackets welded into place I snugged up the nuts and bolts for good measure.

But I also had another problem. If you look up to the first picture there is extra steel that could create all kinds of problems when the large shock body came downwards to the bottom mount as it could have potentially impacted this "extra" plate on the bottom of the bump stop extension tower. In fact if you look closely you can see a slight rusting where there had already been certain conditions to create wear on the plate in the original configuration.

So I took the offending pieces off with my die grinder. Now you can see a lot more travel room and lots of extra cushion for my shock bodies to travel in.

The view from the ground up looking through th line the shock will take to ensure I have no conditions that will create wear and tear or premature failure.

Just some more finishing shots at different angles.

Ultimately I will need to consult with my new friends at Poly Performance to see how much of this can remain and how much can I take off as excess with the final goal of adding a full truss incorporating the Poly Performance products.

Here is a lousy shot but a comparison nonetheless of the sizing between the RE's and the new Fox Shocks from Poly Performance.

I will add more pics later.

With the Poly Performance springs and these adjustable shocks the setting of 1 is fine enough for my driving. I'll have to test out the higher settings but from my Rancho 9000 days with the incab controller I still usually used the lowest setting for around town and worked up depending on the aggressiveness of my driving and the frequency of the humps and bumps for off road. I would only use the highest settings for high speed washboard using the increased firmness to keep wheels to the ground for traction and steering control.

 

[ryanm]

Fox shox installed images and fox steering stabilizer