Shock Porn - Kings landed today

HoustonRider

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I had the rears on this weekend on my property, and when I hit bumps faster than normal (30-50mph) on 10 mph roads, it absorbed the bumps like my Raptor. You can haul ass.

The fronts are adjusted a bit soft for me, kinda swaying a bit. I didn't have time to play with them tonight, I'll tune em a bit this week.
 

HoustonRider

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Sorry for the delay, I had a few setbacks with King. Long story short, the rubbing (see pics) was largely due to the shocks being labeled wrong (they were labeled driver/passenger), and after a few conversations with King, they decided that there is no "right way" to just try em until they fit and don't rub (seriously). King was gracious enough to send me their cool N2 shock manifold, so I could get the right pressure (200psi) back in the shocks. (I decided to let the N2 out and do em at ride height, for ease).

photocopy2.png


I finally got around to getting the fronts swapped. After I spent some time looking for a quick/easy N2 setup for a while, but realized that wasn't happening, so I found a place that would pressurize em for me again and swapped em this morning.

I loosened the driver side shock and tested the King Manifold gauge to see what they were set at. The gauge showed 0 psi (yes, zero). So pulling it off was pretty easy. lol. this is how it came off.... flat as a pancake. I have no idea why there was no pressure, and so far, pressure is holding fine now.

photocopy.png


I forgot to check the other side before I pulled it, but it had enough pressure that I had to let it out to get the shock off. Swapping these shocks without any pressure on them is pretty easy to do. Takes about a minute or two per side to pull em off.

I swapped em so the hoses were closer to the springs, and I think that was the ticket (King, please fire the "tag guy"). No more rubbing (as far as I can tell). I took it to a shop here in Corpus to get the N2 pumped back in em, and he did the best he could (kinda guessing) and estimated (lol) 200psi in the shocks. I got em home and put the manifold on it and they show about 175 psi in each shock. So he was wrong, but consistent. lol. I seriously have to get my own N2 setup. I hate half-assed anything.

So heres the left shock ready to go again.. lol

photo-2.png


The ride? still tuning it. I have the rears at the softest setting (there is 20 settings on each shock), and the fronts on #1. I like it firm up front, but not too much. Its going to take a while to get it like I want it.

This setup reminds me of my Raptor. ITs not too noticeable on the everyday ride, but when its moving fast or hits bumps hard/fast, these shocks absorb it all. If you're driving over speed bumps or slow through a bumpy road, its not a good ride (like stock). But when you are moving quick, it absorbs the hits very well. Like the Raptor, the faster you go, the softer the ride gets. lol

I'll keep up with updates as they come about.
 

HoustonRider

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yep, I've been in close contact with a VP at King (almost daily) and he's sending me out some replacement stickers, lol.

I do want to clarify a few things really quick.

1) As they sit now and in these pics, I have a 1.5" level on the front. I have about 4 inches of travel before my bumpstops hit, and even more on the shocks, so I'm good. If you notice, this truck gets dirty and even as I drive it in rough conditions, I can tell I've only compressed these shocks about half the distance they have available (front and rear).... so I'm good unless I fall off the side of a cliff or something (rare in S. Texas).

2) If in fact King would have included ANYTHING with these shocks (like a pic of the correct positioning), or had not marked ALL 4 of these wrong, I would have had all of these installed 8 hours after I posted the pics of em in my kitchen. The delays were not being able to reach King for 5 days after I realized the fitment wasn't right, delays in their response and time I need to get this done (I'm a single dad of a 9 year old, and commuting (weekly) 500 miles round trip during a transition for my company).

3) The Ride: Its not like stock. The stock Ranchitos are so slow, they don't have time to rebound after a bump... and your truck bounces all over the road. The Kings are pressurized big time, and have a very fast rebound. Driving down the road, I still feel the bumps, but barely, and they aren't as harsh. Almost like the truck floats over them better.

On the highway, I like a firm ride. I don't like the wind making my truck lean, or a swishy front end. the ride is very nice. Much more solid than stock and very responsive.

At the softest settings, its even better, but stop/go traffic, in/out of parking lots, curbs, city driving, its too soft and floats around.

I'll keep working with the compression settings to find that happy medium I can live with for most of what I do. The more clicks I move em up, the better response I get form the shocks.

**(if anyone has a detailed writeup on their suspension for public consumption, I'm all ears)
 

Rene G

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This is an excellent thread! I'm looking for a really good ride without a huge lift. I also already have a spring leveling kit and OUO traction bars and don't really want to change that, so if I could find the right shocks I'd be pretty sweet!!
 

HoustonRider

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I crawled under the truck again this afternoon, to double check the rears and fronts and make sure everything was still good to go.

I noticed one of the resi's in the rear getting too close to the frame, so I loosened the hose clamps holding the resi's on the shock body and slid the resi around a bit, then snugged it all back up.

I decided to bump the adjusters up a bit, and it was a GOOD THING! The rears were on the lowest (or #1), and I bumped em to #4.

I slid up to the front and bumped the fronts up to #3 (they were on #1).

I was concerned that bumping em up too much would make the ride harsh, but its anything but. Most of the bumps (small ones) have disappeared, and the whole truck feels more nimble and doesn't sway at all. Man, I like it.

I think I'll drive it a bit like this tomorrow and see what happens when I bump em up a few more notches.

I'm diggin these shocks, big time.
 

Erikclaw

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You don't have to remove them to pressurize the no2, just lift the truck so the suspension has no pressure on it. Buy a little 2.5gal tank, gauges,high pressure low flow hose and an adapter to connect to the shock. That is what I did and it is way more convenient. They loose pressure on their own so ever couple of months check them.
You can also run lower pressure, like 150 or so to see how it improves the ride too. 200psi isn't mandatory.
 

Frank_C

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I never got them. Canceled my order the other day. They told me two weeks to build and 4 days to ship. Five weeks later, they were still saying next week, next week, next week.

That actually just happened to me lol. I ordered Icon front 2.5 piggybacks from Truck Toyz. Was supposed to take around 2 weeks, ended up being about a month and a half. Finally got them though, and they look pretty nice!

And to the OP, holy cow those King shocks look amazing!
 

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