FOX DSC versus King adjustable

[wanderer]

has anybody switched from one to the other? Why what was your findings? This could be from FOX to King or King to FOX love to hear from you guys because this rabbit hole keeps getting deeper and deeper.

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[Nokones]

Personally, I do not have any experience with King. My off-road experience with custom valved shocks has been with Fox Shocks from Accutune. I would think since Accutune markets and services King shocks they must be pretty good.

Also, I think any custom valved shock is only as good as the shock tuner is. A good shock tuner can make any shock to perform well and shock tuner that does not know what they are doing can also make a quality shock perform poorly.

In my road racing days, I was doing business with a Shock Tuner that was a Shock Tuner for a NASCAR Winston Cup Team that knew how to make a $200 shock perform like a $1200 Penske Shock just so I can skate around Shock spec rule that a competitor could not spend more than $200 cost per shock. Cost of rebuilding/servicing the shock was not considered as part of the purchase price.

 

[wanderer]

I have those from accutune now fox but not adjustable…. No really satisfied Going to get a revolve done. I feel like fox is kinda cruising on their Name.
but. I might just. Bite the bullet and go with an adjustable set either fox or king? Not sure which

 

[3TV]

I have used the Fox DSC shocks on one Jeep and King shocks on two Jeeps. One set of Kings was just an off the shelf nonadjustable set of shocks that I bought for 60% off on a Northridge 4x4 scratch and dent sale. I thought the shocks worked really really good on the JLUR they were mounted on and didn't think I needed adjustment clickers. The Fox DSC shocks were custom tuned by Accutune and mounted on my 392 that had a 2 1/2" lift and 37s. I was never really happy with those shocks. I tried dialing in the clickers multiple times, which changed low and high speed compression damping of course, but never got the shocks where I wanted them. I've spent 30 years off and on competing in desert racing. I've used both Fox and King shocks on a number of race vehicles and always preferred King. When I changed to 40" tires on my 392, I also changed to a 4 1/2" lift, which required longer shocks. Given past experience with King shocks I switched to King adjustable shocks from Accutune to go with the new suspension. The King shocks feel more controlled but also plusher at the same time. I have used the adjustment clickers on the King shocks, but more to adjust for additional weight added to the Jeep. If I load it up with camping gear, more recovery gear, tools, and spare parts for a multi-day trip the shocks can start to feel too soft. I just spend the 15 seconds per shock to dial up compression damping a click or two and the shocks feel great again. Right now, the rear shocks are 5 clicks in from full soft and the front shocks are 4 clicks in from full soft.

Shock performance is very subjective, and some people will prefer one brand over another. For me, I prefer King.

 

[Nokones]

My Fox Shocks by Accutune do not adjust the Bump. My two adjustments are low speed and high speed rebound.

 

[Remorseless]

My Fox Shocks by Accutune do not adjust the Bump. My two adjustments are low speed and high speed rebound.

FYI, it'd be high and low speed compression - the collapsing stroke of the shock shaft - that the 2.5 DSCs allow you to adjust. Rebound would be on the extension stroke, and the current Jeep offerings from Fox do not allow you to adjust that.

 

[Remorseless]

So I have no experience with King, but I have a fair amount of experience with Fox in their Jeep applications between my JK, JL, and JT, and some advice for you if you're not enjoying your experience with your current setup, prefaced by some rambling.

So, my JK I ran for 10 years across a few sets of Fox 2.0 w/ remote reservoirs. Some with no adjustability, and some with LSC adjustability. On the JK, with the non-adjustable 2.0s, I found it rode fine, but not amazing. The spring/shock pairing was a set of 2.5-3" coils from Teraflex and Teraflex-valved 2.0s. The valving being paired with the coils was supposed to make it ride better, but the mantra of the day with the JKs was stiffer springs and softer shocks. This isn't my preferred setup.

Moving to the LSC adjustable 2.0s on the same setup allowed me to dial in more damping so I felt less spring harshness, but the ride was stiffer than I preferred in general, as the shock had to be made fairly stiff to take a lot of the stiff spring feel out of it. I then moved on to overlanding springs on the JK because it was a time when overlanding was a new word and something I explored. This was a shitshow. Do not recommend stiff, stiff overweight Jeep springs and stiff, stiff shock configurations.

Now, moving on to the JL, I currently have Fox 2.5 DSCs paired with JKS coils. Fox owns JKS and their coils run fairly soft - soft enough that their "HD" springs feel a lot like most manufacturer's standard springs, and their "SD" springs are extra, extra soft. This pairs really well with the shocks - for my preferences - as I can dial stiffness via the DSCs without having to go super stiff to be stiffer than the coil feel to mask spring harshness. This is my favorite setup for ride.

For the JT, I have Fox 2.5 DSCs installed on an otherwise bone stock factory suspension. JL/JT springs tend to ride soft even from factory, so I can again control stiffness via the shock. However, due to what I believe to be the combination of the weight of the truck (she a big girl, 5k lbs+ factory) and the springs and shocks, it tends to wallow and not damp as well at similar stiffness settings compared to the JL. Lightyears better than stock shocks, and not bad overall - easily my second favorite configuration I've had over the years - but noticeable when the two are driven back to back, for me anyway.

The point of the ramble above though is that springs can play a significant role in how the ride is, and shocks kind of layer in on top of that, at least for normal street and trail driven Jeeps. Also, I really recommend adjustable shocks whichever brand you go with, but I kind of go against the grain and recommend starting with the manufacturer's valving before having them custom valved, so you can identify a baseline for how you want the shock adjusted (more or less damping vs baseline and in what kind of scenarios). I think either Fox or King will deliver you a nice riding shock, provided you make a smart choice in configuration of the shock (body diameter, which kinds of adjusters they have available, how likely you are to actually spend time dialing).

 

[Nokones]

FYI, it'd be high and low speed compression - the collapsing stroke of the shock shaft - that the 2.5 DSCs allow you to adjust. Rebound would be on the extension stroke, and the current Jeep offerings from Fox do not allow you to adjust that.

Correct, I made a mistake. My double adjusters adjust the bump and not the rebound. I don't know why I thought it was the rebound.

 

[DGT]

The Bilstein D8 8100 DSA's are another relatively new option to consider. I've had the Accutune Fox 2.5's and the Bilstein 8100 DSA's for the JL. The primary difference I've noticed is, as advertised, the Bilsteins are regressive and the Fox's progressive dampening. The regressive gives the shocks a firmer feel on initial high speed hits, and firmer adjustments overall. The Bilstein rebound is also not as bouncy. I'm sure that can be tuned out of the Fox's by Accutune. My JL is heavy at 6100#.

 

[3TV]

Another option is the Metalcloak Black shocks. They also have digressive valving, so feel firm compared to a shock with progressive valving. But a Jeep handles better and feels crisper and more precise with the digressive valving. Metalcloak has them set up for a Jeep with lots of armor, and in that scenario, they ride very nice. I have the Metalcloak Blacks on my 2-door Jeep and Kings on my 4-door Jeep. When I drive the 2-door my initial impression is, "this suspension feels the best." Then I get in the 4-door and my initial impression is, "this suspension feels the best." I think that means that both the Metalcloak Black and the King shocks work very well, even though they feel quite different. Both are better than Fox DSC shocks in my opinion.

 

[PotterJLUR]

Bilstein 8100 DSA is the correct answer, I was cheap and went with the 8100 non-DSA but I am really happy with them.

 

[wanderer]

i have the MC black shocks wasn’t crazy about them . Digressive so every little bump you feel it
but off road they are good started with mc springs too stiff switched to lighter synergy springs still pretty stiff ride.

I put fox remote without adjustable compression now good / ok on street but not off road so next issue do i go fully add king or upgraded adjustable fox?

 

[AccuTunedJL]

i have the MC black shocks wasn’t crazy about them . Digressive so every little bump you feel it
but off road they are good started with mc springs too stiff switched to lighter synergy springs still pretty stiff ride.

I put fox remote without adjustable compression now good / ok on street but not off road so next issue do i go fully add king or upgraded adjustable fox?

I'm going to guess we recommended the Adventure Tune for those Fox 2.0 shocks. It usually results in a very smooth ride for a daily driven vehicle, but like you mentioned, will give up some off-road performance. We're happy to revalve the shocks to be a bit stiffer so they perform better off-road. Unfortunately you may give up some of the comfort on the street. The more feedback we get, the better the revalve should be.

Unless you are doing a lot of high speed driving in the desert, the remote reservoir 2.0 shocks are still a great shock. Bumping up to a 2.5 shock will naturally provide a firmer ride, but in this case that may be what you prefer. But if you were to get say the Fox 2.5 DSC shocks, you would also benefit from having the adjusters.

Great feedback from others on the topic, definitely get in touch with us when you are ready to get those shocks revalved!

 

[KeithM]

Setup: Rubicon, 1" spacers at each corner, Mopar LCAs, Teraflex progressive bumps, 35s

Have Fox Performance Elite 2.5 DSCs for 2-3 inch lift - added a hockey puck front bump extension in the front for shock safety until I bother modifying lower shock mount. I swapped to Mopar sway bar links, I think in the rear (sorry, I don't remember, but there was contact risk).

Pulled the trigger on Fox because of a Black Friday sale I couldn't refuse (>$1,000 off todays pricing!). 1 shock started weeping immediately - I didn't want to bother sending the shocks into Fox where they *might* warranty the shock (didn't keep my stock shocks, didn't know how long the Jeep would be down). I would have been fine if they would just send me out a seal kit, but they wouldn't even do that.

Performance of everything has been great. The Jeep boogeys pretty good in the dessert and on fire roads (I use the Tazer Sway Kill a lot). The dual adjuster is fun to play with to suit my mood.

Fox has (had?) better compressed length options for the JL for how much travel you get. I was about to go custom King with welded rod ends and OD top cap to get closer to Fox, but at the time King wait times were very long.

Have had Kings in the past (desert trucks) and have been happy. Doing it again today, I'd order some custom Kings through somebody local (lucky for me Accutune would be local enough).

 

[Nokones]

i have the MC black shocks wasn’t crazy about them . Digressive so every little bump you feel it
but off road they are good started with mc springs too stiff switched to lighter synergy springs still pretty stiff ride.

I put fox remote without adjustable compression now good / ok on street but not off road so next issue do i go fully add king or upgraded adjustable fox?

Call Accutune and listen to them. They will need to know exactly how your vehicle suspension is setup and the corner weights in both the street trim and trail trim and what you want out of your shocks and where you want the shocks to perform best for you, Dirt or Street.

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