Pro Comp MX2.0R resi shock

[johncharlesb]

Does anyone have any feedback on Pro Comp MX2.0R Reservoir shocks, 14" travel, and "medium" valving (PN exp 4206). http://www.explorerprocomp.com/PDFs/07cat/72-91.pdf

There is a used set of four for sale in the Detroit area for $350. The guy claims they only have 500 miles and are too big for his Bigfoot truck. The price, although half off, seems high.

The original plan was Bilstein 5100s.

Thanks,
John

[Polarcub]

I dont have any experience with them but the price seems good. The advantage you have with those is that they are rebuildable. 14" though is likely going ot be too long for you unless you are moving the mounts. It is hard to beat the bilsteins for the price and moderate use. THe 5100s up front work well for the rear the 5150s are a better choice they are vlaved a bit different but neither of these are rebuildable. I ran the bilsteins for awhile and they work well but I quickly found that for what I was doing a 2.0 emulsion shock just was not enough.
FWIW for the price I would just get the new bisteins and then look at moving to a 2.5 or 3.o shock based on your needs.

[johncharlesb]

I was planning on making mounts after cycling the suspension for a long shock. I am willing to go through the bed. I think you are right about getting the new Bilsteins, but wanted the feedback on the pro comps. I googled them and found no real feedback. They are cheap new, so it seems a good topic to punt around.

[shockseals.com]

Not a bad shock and rebuildable and revalveable but I would NOT go through the floorboard for them.

[magic carpet XLT]

i run a set of shocks made by the same company who makes those for them and they work pretty good.

another vote for not going through the floor, you will regret it eventually.

[Polarcub]

Personally I do not regret going through the floor for the rear shocks on mine. The improvements were well worth it. The truck is not a daily driver so the extra noise was not a big consideration. For the amount of work that you will put into building hoops, losing cargo room etc are not worth it for a 2.0 shock IMO. Now something I have been considering for my application that may be of interest to you in this case:
I feel that the 2.5" shock is not enough shock for me, currently I am running a 12" quad bypass bilstein in the rear mounted over the spring plates. Because I am running a 12" I lost a little bit of the bump travel but because the gas tank hangs so low it is not noticable. The bypasses are set up in a near 1:1 ratio so they are working alot, when run hard they are getting pretty warm. I have not put a temp gun on them yet but I am pretty sure a 3.0 would be ideal for me. In light of this I have been considering remounting a 12" shock back in the stock location. I have the mounts still and the crossbar. My thought is too run a lightly valved 2.5 with little to no rebound valving (the bypasses handle that).
I bring this up as on further thought running the bilsteins 5150 in the stock location sand coming through the floor with another shock moved further out on the axle may be something you would consider. It would be alot of work and then you have the dust,water, noise issues associated with coming through the floor to contend with.
I will tell you that moving my shocks outboard and through the floor was the way to go for me, I feel like the rear end is working now and much more controlled, I do need more shock and to dial in the bypasses a bit more still mainly they need to be revalved to allow for more compression .....Sorry for the hijack but I thought this may give you something to consider. The price on those shocks seems okay but my concern would be they are not enough shock on there own IMO especially to move them through the floor. Now running dual 2.0s (the bilstein and the pro comp) may be an option for you but it will take some tuning to get it right.
I will say though I have never heard anything disheartening about those shocks either.
If your looking strictly at a cost aspect at this point I would consider other options for a few dollars more you can pick up a set of 2.5s used (all 4) or for the same price find 2 2.5s pretty easily on RDC....just my two cents. If you do pick them up let us know how they wok out for you.

[SteveG]

I think you guys are misreading this post.

Not a bad shock and rebuildable and revalveable but I would NOT go through the floorboard for them.

I agree with Kris that going through the floor for THESE SPECIFIC SHOCKS is not worth the effort. If you're going through the floor it needs to be for a good shock that you will keep for the long haul.

[Dust]

I think you guys are misreading this post.

Not a bad shock and rebuildable and revalveable but I would NOT go through the floorboard for them.

I agree with Kris that going through the floor for THESE SPECIFIC SHOCKS is not worth the effort. If you're going through the floor it needs to be for a good shock that you will keep for the long haul.

Can you define your position a little more?
What shock would be worth it.... Is it a type, size, or brand?

[johncharlesb]

My concern with these pro comp shocks would be they are for looks. Other than a general discussion of these shocks merits, the question is how they can compare to the 5100s and 5150s in cost and performance. They are $155 new, so more than 5100s at $85 and 5150s at $110. These shocks are available in lengths to keep in under the floor of course. Or does a guy just go from the Monroe Reflex to a 2.5 shock. Now it seems for all the trouble, I should just get 2.5s.

These shocks would be in a pickup, so it would strictly be a loss of cargo area in my application, but others results are different of course. The question is in general for all, but personally I was thinking of building mounts for a 14 inch shock and bolting on Bilsteins allowing for upgrades with the same mounts. These pro comp shocks looked to be an alternative. I would like to build mounts once (just spent hours on front spring hangers and still have more welding to do).

Thanks for the perspective Jeremy, lots of good information. Any drawback to the shock on top of the leaf spring if going through the floor?

[SteveG]

I think you guys are misreading this post.

Not a bad shock and rebuildable and revalveable but I would NOT go through the floorboard for them.

I agree with Kris that going through the floor for THESE SPECIFIC SHOCKS is not worth the effort. If you're going through the floor it needs to be for a good shock that you will keep for the long haul.

Can you define your position a little more?
What shock would be worth it.... Is it a type, size, or brand?

I was thinking something that was intended for more serious off-roading and not something that was designed for the masses.

[Dust]

I was thinking something that was intended for more serious off-roading and not something that was designed for the masses.

Kool I figured as much but... I've been known to be wrong.

[Polarcub]

My concern with these pro comp shocks would be they are for looks. Other than a general discussion of these shocks merits, the question is how they can compare to the 5100s and 5150s in cost and performance. They are $155 new, so more than 5100s at $85 and 5150s at $110. These shocks are available in lengths to keep in under the floor of course. Or does a guy just go from the Monroe Reflex to a 2.5 shock. Now it seems for all the trouble, I should just get 2.5s.

These shocks would be in a pickup, so it would strictly be a loss of cargo area in my application, but others results are different of course. The question is in general for all, but personally I was thinking of building mounts for a 14 inch shock and bolting on Bilsteins allowing for upgrades with the same mounts. These pro comp shocks looked to be an alternative. I would like to build mounts once (just spent hours on front spring hangers and still have more welding to do).

Thanks for the perspective Jeremy, lots of good information. Any drawback to the shock on top of the leaf spring if going through the floor?

With regards to building mounts for 14s...all things being equal if thats the direction I would go with the pro comps. Going to the rebuildable/revalvable shock vs the emulsion shock is well worth it. With that much length IMO I would stay away form the 5100s with the pro comps you can adjust the valving. This will also give you an idea of where to start if you upgrade to 2.5 later. As I said I have not heard anything bad about the pro comps and they are a decent price for what they are.

With regards to the mounting over the spring perches, the only drawback I have with them is based on the length of m shock I lost some bump. With a proper length I see no downside other than the hoops and floorboard issues.

[ChaseTruck754]

Not sure of pricing (too lazy to look) but how about the 2.5" FOA's. Them or a used other 2.5 can be had for not much more than the Pro Comps if I remember right.

[Polarcub]

Not sure of pricing (too lazy to look) but how about the 2.5" FOA's. Them or a used other 2.5 can be had for not much more than the Pro Comps if I remember right.

I tried the FOAs and as attractive as the pricing and customer service is I dont think i will use them again. Some have good luck with them but I had some issues, they ended up on a ranger and the owner was not too happy with them they lasted one trip after a fresh rebuild form FOA.....I can say that the customer service was great though just too much of a hassle having ot ship back and forth etc. This was over 2 years ago and it seems that there is a mixed bag of opinions on them so they may be worth a shot again though?

[johncharlesb]

Not sure of pricing (too lazy to look) but how about the 2.5" FOA's. Them or a used other 2.5 can be had for not much more than the Pro Comps if I remember right.

I tried the FOAs and as attractive as the pricing and customer service is I dont think i will use them again. Some have good luck with them but I had some issues, they ended up on a ranger and the owner was not too happy with them they lasted one trip after a fresh rebuild form FOA.....I can say that the customer service was great though just too much of a hassle having ot ship back and forth etc. This was over 2 years ago and it seems that there is a mixed bag of opinions on them so they may be worth a shot again though?

The FOA 2.5 14" was $170, that looks very attractive at only $15 more than the procomps. The FOA 2" was the same price as the pro comp 2". What problems were you having with them, bad seals? Did you have the high temp seals?
http://f-o-a.com/shop/index.php?main_pa ... ducts_id=4

1:1 with a 2.5 18" FOA for $180?

Hi temp seals are an extra $15.

This sounds like it would be a whole lot better than the comps for only a little more money. I will have to look these up. Thanks for the info!

John

[Polarcub]

Quick rundown on my experience...when I received the shocks one was leaking form the start, the big one though was that when I received the shocks initially they would not extend when charged. So before forcing them I got in touch with FOA and they told me that it was because of a manufacturing problem on their end. There was a slight bur on an internal part that prevented the extension of the shafts. Their solution was to force the shaft in essence working the bur down.....Well I did that they did offer to take the shocks back and tear them apart at this point but i was in a bit of bind with needing them for a trip. Also the heims were very sloppy loose to the point needed to replace them which I did on my dime since I didn't want to deal with shipping them back etc
As I said the customer service was great Chris does a bang up job on that end, I just got left with the feeling that the shock was not all it was cracked up to be in the end. Well I ended up trading those for some work as I had a set of kings to take their place (Thanks Nick) and to make along story short the shocks ended up on a ranger where they lasted for 1 trip before the owner replaced them.....I did have the upgraded seals on them as well. The short time I had them on the bronco they seemed to work as to longevity of the shock I dont know.....Part of me would like to give them a chance again though as I do like what they are trying to do as I said it seems to be a mixed bag of opinions out there on them some love them others hate them...I think that for the closeness n price in your application it may be worth a shot. There have been a a few threads on FOAs over at race dez Chris usually chimes in so it may be worth the time to give a look see. FWIW I keep looking at their bypasses haha BTW I am not trying to bash FOA in any way as i said their customer service was great and my experience my be somewhat unique and this was almost 3 years ago so they probably have some things worked out better since then. Let us know if you go that direction I would be interested to see how they do.

[randomthoughtsracing]

...
I feel that the 2.5" shock is not enough shock for me, currently I am running a 12" quad bypass bilstein in the rear mounted over the spring plates. Because I am running a 12" I lost a little bit of the bump travel but because the gas tank hangs so low it is not noticable. The bypasses are set up in a near 1:1 ratio so they are working alot, when run hard they are getting pretty warm. I have not put a temp gun on them yet but I am pretty sure a 3.0 would be ideal for me. ...

I am happy to throw a valve change in there if you bring the shocks down to Bilstein. The 2.65 should be plenty on the back of a Bronco and there are lots of updates available.

[Polarcub]

...
I feel that the 2.5" shock is not enough shock for me, currently I am running a 12" quad bypass bilstein in the rear mounted over the spring plates. Because I am running a 12" I lost a little bit of the bump travel but because the gas tank hangs so low it is not noticable. The bypasses are set up in a near 1:1 ratio so they are working alot, when run hard they are getting pretty warm. I have not put a temp gun on them yet but I am pretty sure a 3.0 would be ideal for me. ...

I am happy to throw a valve change in there if you bring the shocks down to Bilstein. The 2.65 should be plenty on the back of a Bronco and there are lots of updates available.

I would love to take you up on that...was out this weekend at the race and got a chance to play some and the need for some more compression was evident...its darn close. Please let me know when a good time will be as I work in san diego so it would be very easy for me to work out.

[philofab]

...
I feel that the 2.5" shock is not enough shock for me, currently I am running a 12" quad bypass bilstein in the rear mounted over the spring plates. Because I am running a 12" I lost a little bit of the bump travel but because the gas tank hangs so low it is not noticable. The bypasses are set up in a near 1:1 ratio so they are working alot, when run hard they are getting pretty warm. I have not put a temp gun on them yet but I am pretty sure a 3.0 would be ideal for me. ...

I am happy to throw a valve change in there if you bring the shocks down to Bilstein. The 2.65 should be plenty on the back of a Bronco and there are lots of updates available.

After riding in the back of his Bronco last weekend (At the MORE race) I'm not sure it could be made much better. That thing rides extremely well in the back for a Bronco. If I remember right the front shocks got way hotter than the rear. I'm kinda surprised he is getting them hot, my 2.5 triple bypasses don't get hot and I'm running them under the bed at an extreme angle. Maybe it's the heat from that evil automatic.

[Polarcub]

...
I feel that the 2.5" shock is not enough shock for me, currently I am running a 12" quad bypass bilstein in the rear mounted over the spring plates. Because I am running a 12" I lost a little bit of the bump travel but because the gas tank hangs so low it is not noticable. The bypasses are set up in a near 1:1 ratio so they are working alot, when run hard they are getting pretty warm. I have not put a temp gun on them yet but I am pretty sure a 3.0 would be ideal for me. ...

I am happy to throw a valve change in there if you bring the shocks down to Bilstein. The 2.65 should be plenty on the back of a Bronco and there are lots of updates available.

After riding in the back of his Bronco last weekend (At the MORE race) I'm not sure it could be made much better. That thing rides extremely well in the back for a Bronco. If I remember right the front shocks got way hotter than the rear. I'm kinda surprised he is getting them hot, my 2.5 triple bypasses don't get hot and I'm running them under the bed at an extreme angle. Maybe it's the heat from that evil automatic.

Thanks Philo...that last trips out before this the shocks did get very hot but that also may have been due to ambient air temps being near or above triple digits as well. The biggest reason I want to revalve is that my compression tubes are both fully closed so I am not using the shock to its full advantage. I do feel like the rear is very close though. I may have the opportunity to have an honest to goodness tuning session come up soon so I may pay to do that so I can get the front dialed in a bit better as well. I was really happy with the bronco this weekend I guess taking an 8 month break gives you a new perspective haha