Ride Review: Eibach 2.0 Coilovers on the Ford Bronco

We will just come out and say it. The Eibach 2.0 coilovers are likely the best 2.0 coilover or shock we have tested on almost any application.

That said, being a 2.0 shock is inherently their weakness; at least for our 2022 BadSquatch two-door Bronco. Let’s back up a bit to add some context.

If you are new to the Shock Surplus party, we like to test the vast array of aftermarket shocks, coilovers, springs, and other suspension components on our rigs and rides to give our customers real-world reviews rather than rely on the manufacturer’s marketing malarky. We strongly believe that there is no “best shock” out there, but there is definitely a shock that is best for you and your needs, and that’s what we are always hoping to delineate with our testing.

So when order banks opened for this new generation of Bronco’s, we saw the potential and knew we had found our next test subject. Right off the rip, we could definitely tell Ford did their homework when speccing the Bronco for their future buyers, giving it the suspension to fly through the desert while still having the features to get you through the rocks if you are so inclined. That is no surprise to us, though, as the Bronco has always been capable in the dirt going slow or fast. The original was not only the first 4WD to complete the Baja 1000; it took home the gold, and the new kid has followed suit, being all but unstoppable in 4600 class Ultra 4 Racing. Suffice it to say, when we finally took delivery of our little three-pedal Badlands, we were confident we had a winner on our hands. No platform is perfect, but these Broncos are certainly brimming with potential.

The Ride So Far

Before we wax too deep a lyric on the Eibachs, let's talk about the road so far for a good reference. We obviously urge you to take a peek at the full reviews of each of the previous kits we ran, but here is a brief synopsis of the journey to date.

HOSS 2.0 ESCV

Being a Badlands model, our Bronco was guaranteed a set of End Stop Control Valve 2” body Bilsteins as standard, however, the Sasquatch package did award us with a slightly different shock and spring to the standard Badlands models; albeit with a nearly identical tune. To guarantee your fenders are free from attack by the factory “35” inch Goodyears, Sasquatch models sit a little higher and have a little less upward suspension travel, however, from what we have seen the ride feels pretty darn similar to a regular Badlands.

As far as stock suspension systems go, these offer some of the best performance for high-speed off-road driving we have seen to date. That is to be expected, though, since it is in the name. Right out of the box we could fly over moderate whoops at speeds that really should not be possible on a stock rig, and that all comes down to their End Stop Control Valve design. That is not to say they are anywhere near perfect, even when they are in their happy place. Although the internal jounce stops kept us trucking better than any 2” body shock should, we found that they were engaging a little too often, causing it to feel like we were just ping-ponging from stop to stop. In the rear, we also found that the engagement of that stop was a little too abrupt, so when the Bronco was boogying through the bumps, the back end certainly had a penchant for getting out from underneath. (RIP Johnson Valley Bush; you will be forever missed). I am sure the short wheelbase amplifies this, however, we have not heard anything different from the four-door guys.

When speed drops or the terrain changes from dirt to asphalt, these dampers struggle. The ESCV design offers great support, but the 2” body can't prevent jarring impacts from larger bumps without trade-offs. The compromise? They're stiff over smaller off-road bumps and almost everywhere on-road. These shocks excelled in the desert, however, felt punishing on a forest road. We prioritize control over comfort, but these pushed our tolerance, which is notable.

Bilstein 5100

Probably the biggest surprise of the bunch, the Bilstein 5100s felt like they slotted in as the perfect shock for the average driver on a tighter budget. We expected these to feel just as firm as the stock parts in their normal ride zone with a fraction of the bottom-out support and were certainly right on one front, but we were pleasantly surprised by how much more comfortable and livable they were compared to the stock Billies. Where chatter from a washboard road or the hard thud of expansion joints on the highway felt like they were rattling your brain smooth with the standard ESCVs, the 5100s would all but float right through. You may still feel those little inconsistencies through the seat of your pants, but it is more than livable, to say the least.

The lack of the internal stops also allows them to be far more predictable and easier to drive at their limit, which, unfortunately, is a whole lot lower than stock. Selling shocks for as long as we have, we are aware that that may not matter for the vast majority of drivers, however if you like to party, these are not for you. During our high-speed testing, we became comfortable with the god-awful sound and sensation of running out of travel in both directions. They never felt like they were truly fading all that badly, but they were definitely holding us back. That is where we think the 6100s or 6112s will slot in perfectly, providing a huge bump in comfort for more sane use, and the additional support you need to let loose or save you when an obstacle sneaks up on you. That is a tale for another day, though.

Icon 2.5 EXP

After our foray with some stock diameter shocks and stock-sized tires, it was mighty time for us to step up in both departments. With these rigs rolling out of the factory with just shy of a 35” tall tire as standard, we knew just like us, many of you would be ready to step up into 37” tire territory, and Icon’s release of their new 2.5 EXP coilovers felt like the perfect opportunity for us to take that leap. 37s are big, tall, and heavy, so fitment and being able to control that added unsprung mass was definitely a concern. We will touch on the foibles and frustrations of a tire that big later, but suffice it to say that these new Icon johnnies did a killer job.

Similar to a Bilstein 6100, these EXPs are circlip adjustable 2.5” body coilover that allows you to lift your Bronco between a few select settings while retaining the stock springs. They do require some minor modification to the top hats on all four corners, which we definitely were not stoked on, but are otherwise a simple and mostly bolt-on upgrade that made a world of difference. By no means are they cushy, but they are a heck of a lot more plush over the smaller stuff than stock, while being able to fly over the big stuff off-road without a care. It will not turn your Bronco into a trophy truck by any means, but the combination of the bump in body size and travel really does allow you to get away with more than it feels like you should. They may not be for somebody who wants to drive a pillow, but they are comfortable enough to live with every day while still giving you the support to send it if you are so inclined.

You may have seen we did have a little bit of a mishap where one of these shocks did explode on us, however, they were early production parts, and after investigation, it was found just to be an issue with IFP depth. This, without getting too technical, is such an easy flub to make that the same thing could happen on just about any brand's shocks. We will definitely be doing a deep dive on this later, but suffice it to say we do not hold it against Icon, and neither should you. In short, if this is as far as your budget will get you, and you like to push the limits off-road, they are a killer compromise.

Although we certainly do not blame Icon for the shock failure we had, and neither should you, we needed a replacement post haste to get us back on the road and ripping. The wonderful team at Eibach not only got us a complete Stage 2 kit, but they got it to us in less than two days, which is something we are certainly very thankful for. Being down the road from us in Corona helped, but we would be lying if we said these shocks didn’t save our butts. Since we damaged a coil during Shock Gate 2022, we needed a fully loaded coilover as well, so the lateral move to Eibach was a no-brainer, especially since they had a set already allocated to us for testing.

Eibach Bronco Coilover 2.0

The fact they came fully loaded, no assembly needed, was also something the guys behind the wrenches were incredibly pleased about. This made installation a heck of a lot easier, and anytime we can avoid the dangers of a spring compressor, we are happy campers. Their threaded steel body design also means you can adjust preload or ride height with them still installed on the Bronco. Just slide a jack under it so there is no load on the suspension, grab the included spanner wrench, do some turns at the collars, and you are mint.

We were pretty happy with their out-of-the-box settings on our 2.3 two-door, so we left them as is. Still, if you are so inclined, you can be confident that you can make adjustments without spending all afternoon ripping out your coilovers or having to mess with a spring compressor. They also take the time to include a chart with their instructions that provides approximate lift heights at their out-of-the-box, lowest and highest recommended preload values, which is a huge bonus on a threaded body coilover. Normally this is a luxury only found with circlip adjustable parts like the Bilstein 6100s and Icon 2.5 EXP, so having at least some reference to go off of is really invaluable. This is especially important on a threaded body coilover without defined ride height settings on the shock body. Their listed heights were also incredibly accurate in our case, with us seeing 2.5” of lift in the front and 1.75” of lift in the rear. Basically, it was dead on for the front coilovers and only 0.15” off in the rear.

With that said, our Bronco has a fair amount of additional weight hanging off the rear with the larger 37x13.5 spare tire and tailgate reinforcement, so we are fairly confident if that was not the case, we would see exactly as much lift as they advertise. These also have a wide range of ride height adjustability, as you can see from the chart below, so if we wanted to, we had tons of room to go up or down.

Note from Eibach about lift heights:

• All lift heights are in inches and are approximate values. Actual lift will vary depending on options and additional weight on the vehicle.
• Adjusting the front coilovers approximately 11/16” at the spring collar will provide you with 1” change in ride height at the front.
• Adjusting the rear coilovers approximately 1” at the spring collar will provide up to 1” change in ride height at the rear.

Dialing in the Kit

Eibach states these can be paired with stock upper control arms, however, we already had a set of Icon DJ Pro Tubular arms we were very happy with, so we could never test to see if that statement was actually true. With that said, if installed as they are out of the box, we have a feeling there will be a few Broncos struggling to get aligned back within spec with the stock arms. Both the front and rear coilovers also offer a lot of travel, so we are confident that the stock front upper ball joint will bind, and we can say with complete certainty the stock links limit articulation.

We also found that at the out-of-the-box settings, there was a lot more yaw, sway, and shimmy from the rear of the vehicle, which is a sign the Roll Center geometry was out of whack. We have run other coilovers with more lift in the rear without nearly as much instability, but with how soft these are valved, we think these should probably be paired with a track bar drop. Essentially, you might be able to run stock arms, links, and bars with these coilovers if they are backed off from how they are shipped, but if you want the most out of this system or plan on keeping them at their standard height or taller, you will probably want UCAs, trailing arms, and a track bar drop for sure.

How They Ride

These coilovers are definitely on the soft side compared to everything else we’ve tested, which comes with notable Pros and Cons. On-road they do a great job of gliding over the pavement; eliminating harshness, and minimizing hard hits. Those hard hits though came with some wiggle from the rear. We think some of that is from track bar angle and would be a nonissue at a lower lift height or with a track bar drop. We found a big issue with some tire dribble over smaller square-edged bumps, though, but that was probably more our fault than Eibachs.

This kit is optimized for use with up to a 35” tall tire, and Eibach lists it as such, but in our “infinite wisdom,” we thought we would saddle these shocks with the burden of 37x13.5 Maxxis Razr MTs. Now, on paper, the jump from a 35 to a 37 does not seem all that big, but we saw a 35 lb increase per corner over the stock Sasquatch 35s. If you know how sensitive vehicles, and especially shocks, are to unsprung mass, you know just how big of a jump that is. Although we know better, we never considered the shock’s capacity to cope with that much extra weight, which was a miscalculation, to say the least. There were many situations where a bump would unload the front tires in a corner, causing the steering to go light and our pants to turn brown. With the countless junk repairs, expansion joints, and potholes on the many on-ramps and interchanges of SoCals tired freeways, our Bronco became a “both hands on the steering wheel at all times” type of rig if you catch our drift.

The best way to further explain this dribbling issue is with how they performed off-road, and ironically, that is where these shocks really punch well and above their weight class. If you were to blindfold us, cram us in a Bronco with these Eibachs installed, and send it down a rutted washboard road or small whoop section, we would swear on all that is holy that these were a 2.5” body coilover and not a 2.0. Their small bump sensitivity and bottom-out support far exceeded what we had felt with either the stock HOSS 2.0 Bilsteins and 5100s and get really close to what you might expect from some 2.5” body shocks.

The combination of their unique valving and stellar bump stops allows the Bronco to really stay on top of the bumps and skim through a lot of things you would not think they could. We really think these shocks have been optimized to the absolute limit of their 2” body design with the tire size they were designed around. However, we think that same optimization makes them a bit “unruly” with bigger, heavier tires like ours.

That same ability that allows them to skim over bumps and chatter also means many minor hits will pogo your big tires off the ground and skim turns to float. This means there were many situations where we were nowhere near the bump stops, however, we were not comfortable charging any faster with how infrequently the tires were staying in contact with the ground. From a distance, the Bronco looked like it had more in it, but things were a different story behind the steering wheel, where any inputs started to become purely suggestions. Although the dribbling worsened with speed, it was still prevalent in the lower gears as well.

Final Thoughts

It may sound like we are ragging on this kit, which is certainly not our intention. In fact, these 2.0 coilovers really blew our minds in many ways, and the ways they didn’t were our own fault. Once again, it is important to reiterate that these are advertised for 35s, so our problems were of our own creation, but we think with the lift heights these are capable of, there will be a lot of people considering running these shocks with 37s.

With that said, if you are looking to keep tire size more reasonable, this a great option that offers tons of travel and articulation with a really compliant ride. They do things 2.0s should not do, have the capacity for more than enough lift, and, unlike many higher-end options, do not require a lot of service. As with some of the other options at this price point, they offer a lot more performance than their MSRP would lead you to believe, and we do think they could be a good option for those of you who like something on the softer side. Can you send it a little harder with an Icon 2.5 EXP? Definitely. Do the Bilstein 6112s and 6100s handle a little better? Without a doubt. Is either option as comfortable as the Eibach? Probably not.