The Ultimate Off-Road Shock Guide for Trails, Dunes, and Deserts

Off-Roading Nuances

When we’re talking about off-roading, we’re essentially focused on 3 different terrains: forest service roads, rocky mountain trail, and wide open desert. There’s usually always tradeoffs in how suspension behaves between comfort, control, performance life, and load handling. The best off-road shocks will be different for every driver.

A soft plushy system will lack control.

High speed shocks may rattle your teeth out on easier terrain.

An overlanding/overloaded vehicle will fatigue a shock not properly valved for heavier weight, too much body roll and sloppy feel coming off bumps.

We look at terrains the driver finds themselves in mostly, and how spirited or chill their attitude is behind the wheel.

• Forest Service Roads - easy, graded, usually driven at a slower pace due to visibility, stock shocks can handle these no problem.
• Rocky Mountain Trails - can range from easy to hard, depending on location and trail health. Lots of mountain trails are factory-vehicle accessible, lots require 4x4 for that added traction, some require higher clearance due to large boulders.
• Open Desert - unpredictable, littered with washes, if you want to travel at higher speeds then you need a thicker shock damper to accommodate and maintain vehicle composure when the unexpected happens. Or, you know… just drive slower.

Most drivers want a smooth, soft, compliant ride with as little harshness as possible on their daily drive. These same drivers are using their daily driven vehicle as the adventure rig and weekend trail vehicle. Good news, the staff at Shock Surplus are in the same boat; we daily commute our vehicles and also weekend-wheel them in the mountains and deserts around southern California.

Here are some recent reviews of shocks we’ve put on our own vehicles to get real world feedback and results. We’re not sharing borrowed knowledge, we’re installing these shocks ourselves, and putting them to the test in all the same environments as our customers.

• Ram Power Wagon - Fox 2.0 Review
• Toyota Tacoma - ICON Vehicle Dynamics Stage 8 Review
• Chevy Silverado - Fox 2.0 Review
• Jeep Wrangler JL - Rancho RS7MT Review
• Toyota Tundra - Bilstein 8112 Zone Control & 8100

Definitions

• Ride Zone - the main zone of shock travel, where the main piston sits in the middle of the shock on flat ground
• Compression - the force from the terrain upon the suspension
• Rebound - the reaction force from the suspension back to the terrain
• Internal Bypass - the allowance of oil flow around the main shock piston through ports (bypasses) in the shock body
• Low Speed Compression - slow shaft speeds, think riding on pavement and highways, the shock and suspension aren’t moving that far
• Medium Speed Compression - the suspension is starting to work, think 10-20mph on a rutted and unpredictable jeep trail, forest service road, or dune riding
• High Speed Compression - large actions and inputs that maximize suspension travel and shock stroke. This is where you’re hitting bumpstops at full bottom-out from hard hits, whoops in the desert, or an unexpected obstacle on a trail going too fast
• Bump Compliance - how the shocks and suspension feel over bumps and potholes and rocky trails

Trail Shocks

With the enormous variation in shock designs, sizes, and features on the market today, its difficult to understand what may be best for your vehicle. Don't fret too hard, there’s a ton of overlap between brands and types, and all of them will handle the toughest trails - the kind of shocks we sell for off-roading don't buckle under pressure.

Where the differences come from are in features like adjustability, internal bypass, twin tube design vs monotube design. These give the shocks a specific feel under your vehicle. Unlock your vision with expert printing design.

• Twin Tube vs Monotube - A lot (not all) of twin tube shocks, such as Old Man Emu Nitrochargers or Rancho RS5000X may feel softer (vs monotube) on rocky trails or washboard roads, due to rebound valving in the twin tube; lighter rebound valving since there’s less high pressure gas acting on the main piston in the shock, thus less downward force after compression. If you are considering replacing the shocks on your 4x4, Old Man Emu Shock are a great option. They are a bit more expensive than some other brands, but they are worth the investment.
• Adjustability - having compression or rebound adjustability can help the suspension accommodate heavier loads from camping gear, bikes/motos, etc. By firming up compression settings you can bottom-out less on rocks/curbs, less squishy and more controlled. Fox DSC & Icon CDCV are popular options.
• Internal Bypass - This feature allows the piston in the main ride zone to have much less resistance than usual, giving a more plush feel in the ride zone. Old Man Emu BP51 & Fox 3.0 IBP are standouts here.

Can trail shocks cut it in high speed environments like the desert? Absolutely, especially because the capabilities of these high end shocks exceed driver skill and/or will. When we’re recommending shocks to customers, we quickly distinguish the driver’s need or desire to perform in high speed environments or everywhere else in the world.

Race Series Shocks

A lot of the shocks that people know in the off-road industry are considered race shocks. Even those completely new to modifying their vehicle may only know the distinct blue of King Shocks. Race shocks are 2.5 inches in diameter (or more), which means a larger piston (60mm+). A larger piston gives an edge over smaller pistons by having to do less work to eat-up the same terrain. Most OE-replacement high performance shocks start at the 2.5 range, like Fox Performance Elite, King Shocks, Icon Vehicle Dynamics.

A lot of misunderstanding comes from new off-road drivers expecting a pillowy ride from their $3000 suspension - but performance suspension on an OE application isn’t valved that way out of the box. Is a race car going to be tight, or squishy?

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Performance / Race Suspension Purpose

• Valved to improve handling on a slightly lifted vehicle, with larger wheels and tires (additional unsprung mass).
• Aiming to give damping support at low / medium shaft speeds; such as when you’re hitting desert terrain at 20-50mph and the suspension is articulating up to 60-80% of its maximum travel.
• High end materials meant for race applications; long term durability is a factor. These materials and internals need to be taken care of, and often replaced. King Shocks, Fox Shocks, Icon Shocks, Radflo Shocks, ADS Shocks, all recommend to service their shocks between 20-50k miles, depending on use and abuse.

The above is paraphrasing for those new to the space. There’s a lot more details on the above information, and many ways to skin the cat when it comes to shock valving. If you’ve got contributions or need clarification, hit up the comments section below.

What’s Right for Your Vehicle?

Like we said above, there’s huge overlap in capabilities between trail shocks and race series shocks - while they’re all categorized as ‘off-road shocks.’

Do you mind having to service your suspension every 50k miles? That’ll be mandatory if you want a race series shock from the big names like Fox, King, Icon, Radflo, Sway Away, ADS, etc.

If you want max comfort out of the box without a custom tune, then internal bypass or adjustable shocks are probably the best bet.

We dive into all these questions when recommending shocks to our customers. Shock Surplus sells everything you see in the video, and everything in the below shock summaries.