Fox 2.5 DSC & 2.0 Shocks Review on the Ram 2500, Ram Rebel 1500, and Tacoma
Posted by Sean Reyes on
Since there were numerous team members currently equipped with Fox, along with Kingston’s Rebel, we took the opportunity to go get a feel for all 3 platforms. All three vehicles handled well with the Fox Shocks installed but there were some slight differences in the ride quality depending upon which type of terrain you drive over most often.
2020 Ram Power Wagon - Fox 2.0 Performance
The 2020 Power Wagon has a new Carli Suspension 2" kit riding on Fox 2.0 Performance Shocks. This Ram 2500 truck doesn't see too many high speed environments (wide open desert), but ever since installing the Carli Suspension system, we've been rethinking how fast this Power Wagon is capable of. The biggest improvement we saw from the new suspension and shocks was overall body roll improvement, overall daily-driven comfort, and larger bump compliance, such as surprise-curbs in the dirt, larger rocks, and large articulations in the suspension from going fast.
- The Fox 2.0 improves body roll dramatically compared to the previous Rancho RS9000XL shocks, even with a taller center of gravity from the 2” lift kit.
- There’s also noticeable improvement in bottom-out protection (full compression of the suspension), which helps a lot when approaching an obstacle or large bump.
- General in-cab vibration and chassis sound has been eliminated, subtle but a big plus.
2015 Toyota Tacoma - Fox 2.5 DSC Long Travel
Jeff’s Tacoma was recently setup with a +2” long travel kit, which required a new set of Fox 2.5 DSCs. This truck is currently being setup to run higher speed environments, the rear is equipped with Fox 2.5 12” travel shocks, with DSC reservoirs, on an Icon RXT leaf pack. This truck is still being dialed in, and will be seeing some re-tuning of both front and rear to accommodate Jeff’s driving style and desires out of the truck.
While the front end was performing well at slower and medium speeds, the main pilot Jeff would like to see some more compression valving built into the shock. Even though the DSC can adjust the compression higher, he’s looking for a firmer baseline to build off of.
The rear shocks also need a tune-up and rebuild, both compression and rebound are likely being changed as well. The rear of the truck was bucking quite a bit over the whoops and tough terrain at moderate speeds, this can be resolved easily.
2020 Ram Rebel - Fox 2.5 DSC
Kingston’s (@roaminglost) 2020 Ram Rebel is entirely purpose-built for overlanding. With the added weight in the rear of the truck from the Super Pacific camper, Goose Gear organization, and various other accessories, the truck needs substantial help to control weight transfer in any and all terrain. The truck was equipped with Fox 2.5 DSCs that give the fine-tune adjustment in order to adapt to different weight loadouts of the vehicle.
- The front-end was setup with 600lb coilovers to accommodate the diesel engine in the truck, along with the plan to equip it with new bumper and winch.
- The front’s performance was solid and planted in the easy stuff.
- In the rockier terrain, and higher speed sections, the frontend didn’t give as much as we like to see. It wasn’t quite harsh, but also lacking that bottomless suspension feel.
- Once the truck sees the heavier weight in the front, the feel will improve over all terrain as the front springs will be put through more travel due to greater weight transfer.
- The rear suspension is equipped with Icon’s 1.5” Dual Rate springs to support the weight of the vehicle, along with progressive air springs to handle harder bumps and bottom-out events.
The Bottom Line
The beauty here is that you don't have to go all the way to a $3-4k shock system to see improvement. A standard set of Fox 2.0 Performance series run closer to $700-1000 depending on your application, and are a night and day difference over factory shocks. You also don't need to be doing high speed off-road to see the benefits as well, there’s noticeable improvements on the daily drive, and easy trails to camp.
