Cheap 2" spacers. Need new shocks?

reka12

reka12

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2007
138
0
I'm not a redular to this site so i dont know if this has been discussed already but, i just got toddco suspension 2" spacers for DII rear airbag suspension because on my salary, as a 16 yr old kid working fast food, thats about all i can afford while still paying for gas.

Instilation was alright. Directions were not too clear but it was pretty easy to figure out. But when i hit decent size bumps, i get a nice thump coming from the back. I'm pretty sure its the shocks over extending so i pressed the offroad button to raise the rear and then i really heard a lot of knocking and felt like i was bouncing on the air bags with little shock resistince.

The knockin form the shocks doesnt bother me at all but will the shocks eventually just give way and break or will they be fine?
 
WNYDiscoIIErik

WNYDiscoIIErik

Well-known member
Jan 29, 2006
4,133
1
Clarence, NY
www.lucky8llc.com
You shouldve skipped the 2" spacers and went with a spring replacement. Your airbags are going to eventually shit the bed, and your airbag spacers will be useless. Return them if you can and buy 2" lift springs for all 4 corners. Youll be much more satisfied.
 
reka12

reka12

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2007
138
0
nope. not the watts linkage. checked b4 i rolled out. and hey if you wanna buy me some springs all the way around i'd be happy to put em on ;) .
 
reka12

reka12

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2007
138
0
But I am still under Carmax warrenty for 2 more years soo if something does happen, take of the spacers send it in, and im back to stock and i get new bags for free if they do bite the dust.
 
reka12

reka12

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2007
138
0
Dad here. Does the OME N108s have more travel? I am curious to know if the existing stock shocks are extending out all the way or if something else maybe binding. I guess we can put a jack underneath the trailer hitch and see (?).

Go easy on him guys. He is 16 yo and paying for this truck pretty much on his own. We know the spacer blocks are not ideal, but for his budget they have made a big difference. He did the install and has done most of the maintenance, including the dreaded changing of the ignition wires. He's learning. School is about to startup again and he will be busy with his job, homework, volleyball and volunteer work. Any help would be appreciated!
 
N

nolift911

Well-known member
Feb 19, 2006
403
0
reka12 said:
Dad here. Does the OME N108s have more travel? I am curious to know if the existing stock shocks are extending out all the way or if something else maybe binding. I guess we can put a jack underneath the trailer hitch and see (?).

Go easy on him guys. He is 16 yo and paying for this truck pretty much on his own. We know the spacer blocks are not ideal, but for his budget they have made a big difference. He did the install and has done most of the maintenance, including the dreaded changing of the ignition wires. He's learning. School is about to startup again and he will be busy with his job, homework, volleyball and volunteer work. Any help would be appreciated!
Click to expand...

Agreed - and kudos.

Not an expert but my guess is that 2 additional inches would indeed over extend the stock shocks. I suppose that with the 2 inches of lift you will be doing some off roading and that setup for the over extension of the shocks will not stand up to that type of abuse for very long.

Suggestion - take the blocks off for now and save up for a spring kit - or at least for new shocks at the correct length? You don't want to wind up destroying shock mounts etc - not worth it.

-Jeff
 
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reka12

reka12

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2007
138
0
Hyperextending the rear shocks makes sense. On the front, the spacers are installed below the lower shock mount, therefore giving the front the full travel range of the shock as before. On the rear, the shock has to span the distance created by adding the two inches underneath the bags. Does anyone know how many inches the rear stock shock travels and how many for the OME N108?
 
WillTN

WillTN

Well-known member
Oct 14, 2004
1,858
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Franklin, TN
www.tnrovers.com
The N108's are about an inch longer. They are made to be used with a two inch lift like OME springs (about 1.5-2" of lift). They work with the 2" RTE springs (give you about 2.5" of lift) too so they should be fine for 2" spacers. While they are longer then the stock shocks they are not so long that you'll need to extend your ABS or brake lines. You can get OME N108's for about $75-90ish depending on where you buy them, EE sells them. And like you said your good on the front with stock length shocks since the shock mount on top of the spacer.
 
michaels

michaels

1
Aug 20, 2007
2,730
45
Nashville TN
your rear shocks are absolutely over-extending (bottoming out, or is it topping out?). i have the same problem right now. i'm running RTE 2" eith stock shocks in the rear. i got answer and put the springs on this weekend before the shocks arrived and i've been having to avoid going off road until i put my OME shocks on later this afternoon. (if only it will stop raining!!).

follow their advice and get the OME shocks in the rear. FWIW, i still have plenty of travel in the front with my new springs and stock shocks.

cheers,

mike.
 
reka12

reka12

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2007
138
0
I found that OME N108 have 8.97" of travel (source not verified). I could not find the travel for stock LR shocks but looking at replacements on the NAPA website (some cheap POSs I a sure), their travel is 8.37". Big difference!
 
WillTN

WillTN

Well-known member
Oct 14, 2004
1,858
0
Franklin, TN
www.tnrovers.com
reka12 said:
I found that OME N108 have 8.97" of travel (source not verified).
Click to expand...

Thats about right. Extended length: 23" / Compressed length: 14.5" so about 8.5 (from EE's web site)

N108's are all you really need. You might run into problems trying to but a longer shock on the rear with the air bags, but I don't know because I don't run the air bags. But if you don't want to run the N108's swap the rear to coils and buy some 10" Bilstein 7100 remote reservoir shocks at about $170 per shock.:)
 
A

awatkins

Guest
reka12 said:
...Instilation was alright. Directions were not too clear but it was pretty easy to figure out. But when i hit decent size bumps, i get a nice thump coming from the back. I'm pretty sure its the shocks over extending so i pressed the offroad button to raise the rear and then i really heard a lot of knocking and felt like i was bouncing on the air bags with little shock resistince.

The knockin form the shocks doesnt bother me at all but will the shocks eventually just give way and break or will they be fine?
Click to expand...

I'm having someone else install the exact same spacer as we speak, but the first thing that occurs to me is to verify that the spacers at the rear are properly fastened down, and that the air springs are fully engaged to spacers at the bottom, and the pins and clips in place at the top. If any of that can move around I can imagine it would make quite a ruckus on bumps. The other thought is to verify that your ride height was correct to begin with. In principle adding a 2" spacer to a properly functioning SLS D2 should have approximately the effect (plus 1/4" or so) as pressing the off-road switch did without the spacers, since all the spacer does is add 2" to the length of the spring (yes there's a change in spring rate). My point being if your shocks didn't "thump" in offroad mode before, they shouldn't thump in normal mode now.
 
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