Fox 2.5 DSC Suspension - A Brief Overview, Procedure, and Review of Proper Suspension Setup

[boogielander]

Test run in the desert. I LOVE how it handles the choppy and bumpy sections and the truck wanted more.

Adjuster settings:
Front:
Low speed - Max
High speed - 3 clicks
Rear:
Low & High speed - max

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[boogielander]

Going on a raptor run this weekend to test my springs.

last time a raptor came with us I ended up towing it out of the ditch hahaha
driver (friend) got distracted by his girl.

 

[Morenar]

@boogielander Question since you seem to have the most experience with the Fox DSC and your writeup is one I have referenced 100's of times. I have been messing with my settings for over a year to get the right comfort level for on road and off road. I came across a Ram 2500 thread where someone was saying they had their high speed cranked up to 6 or 7 and low speed to a lower like 4 or 5 clicks in and that helped with the on road small imperfections and still absorbing the larger things like potholes, etc. I messed with these yesterday on my 1500 and set mine to 5 clicks in on high and low speed in to 4 and it made my ride much more compliant. I went over road imperfections without feeling them. Is it possible to have the high speed set higher number than low speed? I always seem to read that people have the high speed wide open down or around 3 and low speed up to something like 4 or 5 clicks for on road.

 

[boogielander]

@boogielander Question since you seem to have the most experience with the Fox DSC and your writeup is one I have referenced 100's of times. I have been messing with my settings for over a year to get the right comfort level for on road and off road. I came across a Ram 2500 thread where someone was saying they had their high speed cranked up to 6 or 7 and low speed to a lower like 4 or 5 clicks in and that helped with the on road small imperfections and still absorbing the larger things like potholes, etc. I messed with these yesterday on my 1500 and set mine to 5 clicks in on high and low speed in to 4 and it made my ride much more compliant. I went over road imperfections without feeling them. Is it possible to have the high speed set higher number than low speed? I always seem to read that people have the high speed wide open down or around 3 and low speed up to something like 4 or 5 clicks for on road.

oh yeah absolutely you can have high speed set higher than low speed.
for me i only mess with low speed for on road because I needed to reserve some adjustability when hitting dirt, and maxing out low speed happened to work well for me while retaining the handling.

also forgot to add:
current setting with the new springs:
1 click low speed, 1 click high speed for the front. Maxed out both in the rear (simply because I am NOT about to go down to the floor to mess with the adjusters before hitting dirt and then my seat dirty LOL)
1 click low speed with 700lb spring makes it ride like 450lb spring low speed maxed out hahaha. i do get some body roll but it's still manageable for my driving.

 

[Trooper]

I have very similar set up on 2500 Cummins, recently swapped from 5 year set of 2.5" Fox DSC (front only) to the current 2.5" with front a rear DSC, all Thuren for the rest on mine. Drives well at factory settings although I do have the annoying clunk that I cannot find. Buddy has Kings on his 2500, there is a clear difference but both are excellent quality, just depends your use

 

[boogielander]

I have very similar set up on 2500 Cummins, recently swapped from 5 year set of 2.5" Fox DSC (front only) to the current 2.5" with front a rear DSC, all Thuren for the rest on mine. Drives well at factory settings although I do have the annoying clunk that I cannot find. Buddy has Kings on his 2500, there is a clear difference but both are excellent quality, just depends your use

oh yeah if i go up to 2500 (i mean, i've been saying I want to move up to a PW) then Im doing Thuren everything with the most aggressive valving Don Thuren offers and truss the front axle and basically throw the full catalogue at it.

The Fox retains better on road manner than off the shelf kings, but if you have a set of Thuren Kings then you can have Thuren to valve them to do on and off pavement performance nicely.

 

[mplaramie]

I just messed with my shocks for the first time in a year. Went 5 high and 4 low. What a F-ing diffence. Like a new truck. Handles and does everything better on road. Who knew a click here and there made such a difference.....

 

[Ready Go]

I'm waiting on my Fuel rims to be powdercoated, then 285/60 Bridgestone Ascents to be installed...I already know my Eibach Stage1 will be toast with the extra 12lbs per corner, so looking at Carli Commuter 2.5"/2.0", ADS Mesa 2.5"s, or Fox PE DSC 2.5"s to combat the weight change.

I found this interesting..it's for a Taco, but applies to Rams too apparently from what some are saying..check the MID curve (not exactly Linear, but on that track), it lists 5 for Low and 7 for High!!

I feel that a lot of Fox owners are ignoring the importance of the High, and only looking at the Low adjustments??

 

[Ready Go]

Actually makes sense...1L/1H is basically Progressive, 5L/7H is Mid-valving and is basically Linear, 10L/14H is basically Digressive.

Linear does a little of everything well, so not surprising that it's liked.

 

[Morenar]

Actually makes sense...1L/1H is basically Progressive, 5L/7H is Mid-valving and is basically Linear, 10L/14H is basically Digressive.

Linear does a little of everything well, so not surprising that it's liked.

So if I understand what I am reading is it’s possible that the higher I go it provides an all around better ride? Like I posted above. I set mine to 4L/5H and it rides better but I may try bumping it up just to experiment. Always read the opposite so was cautious to go higher.

 

[Ready Go]

So if I understand what I am reading is it’s possible that the higher I go it provides an all around better ride? Like I posted above. I set mine to 4L/5H and it rides better but I may try bumping it up just to experiment. Always read the opposite so was cautious to go higher.

I think you're on the right track! I'd try some +/-- adjusting to see.

The way I'm reading it is that 5L/7H is the Midpoint of valving and is a fairly Linear type of response then.

I think going higher is pushing towards a Digressive type of response...better handling, but less comfort.

I feel like that Midpoint 5L/7H (+/-) is possibly a sweet spot(?).

I'm leaning towards the Fox's..maybe from Accutune with their Adventure (Double Flutter Stack) Valving (that skews the Linear towards Progressive).

 

[Ready Go]

I remember reading a Fox or Accutune article that said the valving changes get more pronounced and precise as you crank them up...the graph I added does seem to bare that out.

The difference from 1L/1H to 5L/7H isn't very much..both are fairly Progressive, with 5L/7H being a bit more Linear.

The difference from 5L/7H to 10L/14H is much more dramatic than from 1L/1H..the clicks above the Midpoint 5L/7H make bigger additive changes than they do below the Midpoint..this also makes sense..because the valving pushs over to a Digressive type response which is more aggressive by nature.

 

[Ready Go]

Fox DSC Adjuster Compared to DSC Evo Adjuster – AccuTune Off-Road

accutuneoffroad.com

This article discusses the Fox DSC vs Fox DSC EVO Adjusters..it gives a LOT of insight into the workings of the Adjusters.

The main shock piston is Progressive or Linear/Stacked Progressive, and the Adjuster is Digressive valved and is basically just cranking up the Digressive bias as you click it up..you're making the shock less Progressive and more Digressive as you click it up the scale..and the Midpoint is Linear (the sweet spot).

 

[Morenar]

Tried 5L/6H and couldn’t believe how much Better the on road ride was. Going to try 7H tomorrow .

 

[mplaramie]

Tried 5L/6H and couldn’t believe how much Better the on road ride was. Going to try 7H tomorrow .

Better than 5h/4l? I changed mine because of your post. Then the research, thanks @Ready Go. May change mine 6h/5l tomorrow. Honestly still can't get over how much better the truck feels with the first change.

 

[Morenar]

Better than 5h/4l? I changed mine because of your post. Then the research, thanks @Ready Go. May change mine 6h/5l tomorrow. Honestly still can't get over how much better the truck feels with the first change.

Yeah, it felt better than 5h/4L.
Floated over most if not all road imperfections. Going to run it it a few more
Days to be sure. I also have a 6” bds lift. So it felt better to me.

 

[Ready Go]

I'm super happy to hear the feedback from you all..I feel like 5L/7H sweetspot might be the magic number..everyone has their own idea of what they want though..but, I'm really leaning into the Fox PEs now after your feedback!!

Anxious to hear more

 

[Ready Go]

Keep in mind...Fox actually says..if the Low speed setting isnt giving enough Digressiveness", give the High a click or so to boost the Low Speed valving...so the Midpoint sweetspot seems very valid!!