BDS/FOX racing rear shocks 98224619

[v7guy]

These came in Friday but I didn't make it over to the shop until this morning to pick em up. They look mighty fine and the guy at the shop was really excited to see em.
The eye at the top screws on instead of being welded and is rebuildable/replaceable, they are right around 27" extended (box says 26.2). It appears the shock itself is rebuildable as well, but I don't know for certain. They remind me a lot of the racing bilsteins on my firebird and appear to be very high quality.

In the box is the shock, bushings and some instructions.

Obligatory pics...
















if my 89 springs ever show up I'll toss all this shit on.
First time I've done the lifted thing so I'm not sure how valuable my thoughts on them will be, but I'll talk about em when they get on the vehicle.

[Me007gold]

If you dont mind me asking, how much you did pay for the pair. Plus the 89's should only be for the front. These are the rear, and it only takes a few minutes to change them out

[bgwolfpack]

...it only takes a few minutes to change them out

X2!

[fishsticks]

Hmm.... my 5500s may have to become a hand-me-down.

[Trail X]

Shock lust...

I want!

[navigator]

Hmm.... my 5500s may have to become a hand-me-down.

As hard as you are on equipment maybe they should just be trail spares!

[The Roadie]

I was thinking rear shocks don't need trail spares, but then I thought how vulnerable the brake lines are at full extension and how the springs might fall out. Eek. Now I gotta carry one.

[OregTrailBlazin]

..... vulnerable the brake lines are at full extension and how the springs might fall out. Eek. Now I gotta carry one.

A ratchet strap would work too!

[v7guy]

...it only takes a few minutes to change them out

X2!

I was going to just wait till I threw the lift on but I'll see about throwin them on when i get home from work in the morning. Want to say I spent 80 or 90 a piece, but I don't remember for sure.

[janesy86]

Nice! Now I want a set of those... And I'd wait til you put the lift on for those shocks, since they are longer than stock.

[v7guy]

Well the compressed length is the same as the bilstein hd shocks so, it doesn't look like they can be compressed too much for the shock itself. I'm not going to bother taking the sway bar off or trying to see how much it flexes without a lift on it so I think it would be ok to go ahead and run em even in a stock configuration. Trying to flex it to the max would more than likely result in a spring falling out.
I'll throw em on here in a couple hours unless someone a sees a flaw in my assessment of the situation.

[fishsticks]

Hmm.... my 5500s may have to become a hand-me-down.

As hard as you are on equipment maybe they should just be trail spares!

You're right actually... the bushings in mine are shot.

[rgraboske]

Well the compressed length is the same as the bilstein hd shocks so, it doesn't look like they can be compressed too much for the shock itself. I'm not going to bother taking the sway bar off or trying to see how much it flexes without a lift on it so I think it would be ok to go ahead and run em even in a stock configuration. Trying to flex it to the max would more than likely result in a spring falling out.
I'll throw em on here in a couple hours unless someone a sees a flaw in my assessment of the situation.

Just a word of caution if you're not lifted yet. These may have more travel than your stock springs, so if you fully extend, you could have a spring fall out. You may want to chack that before throwing these on.

[v7guy]

So I went ahead and installed the shocks. Looks like I've got about 2.75" of compression available at stock height. While driving it looks like I'm using about 1.5-1.75" of the available compression. To be honest it's compressed an awful lot and I'm a bit concerned. I'm seriously contemplating putting the stock shocks back on till I get the lift

Driving around it felt like a good solid damper, stops and bumps are a one or two up and down motions and then bouncing is stopped. The amount of extension on these things are ridiculous. The rear end is noticeably less skittish.

I believe what I had were original shocks with 80K on them so I expected there to be a significant difference.

Of note- have to get washers for spacers, I used about a dozen per shock. Just picked up some 5/8 and tossed em in.

Pretty straight forward... 18mm wrench turns out the bolts, grease the bushings and pins and slide them into the shock. Put the top of the shock in it's mount then slide the 5/8 washers over the lower bushing. Remind yourself what a pathetic girly man you are as you grab the shock and compress it so that you can swing it in it's lower mount and quickly toss the lower bolt in. The bolts looked like they had some thread locker in a previous life so I indulged them.

[chevycrew]

Id run em...

My rears have 2" of uptravel till they bottom out, no issues yet, although I'm in the process of changing them out and moving inboard.

[djthumper]

So you have to run spacers with them too... hmmm

[The Roadie]

The kit, as I understand it, should contain all the hardware you need to make them fit. I invited Matt to the thread.

[djthumper]

The kit, as I understand it, should contain all the hardware you need to make them fit. I invited Matt to the thread.

Thanks Bill, I was at work when I noticed that. I thought he said they were for our vehicle not the Tahoe.

[v7guy]

they definitely don't have all the hardware to fit our vehicles, took me about half an hour to track down some washers.
the pack included two poly bushings, the sleeves to go into the bushing, 3 grade 8 washers and a small piece of zinc coated tube that was about .75" long and slightly too small to slide over the sleeve.

without the washers we have the same issues we did with other shocks, the shock just slides around on the sleeve in the bushing.
The one small section of tube included in the pack that was slightly too small to fit over the sleeve... even if I had pressed it on there was only one in each box and it wasn't enough to space the shock properly in the mount on even one side.

The three washers... the instructions said to use the washers if the sleeves protruded past the bushings. Obviously the sleeve does and three washers isn't even remotely close to enough.

I don't think I mentioned it before but you can wrap your hand around the shock and just brush the axle mounts. There's room around the shock body, but not a lot. I have no idea if this will be an issue when I do make it to a trail since I'm a super shiney ultra newbie asshole. You guys will probably have a way better idea on how it articulates.
I've driven it a bit more and I like the shocks, the front 89 springs should be here beginning of the week and I should have a lot better idea of how it acts on the lifted vehicle it's intended for.

[janesy86]

they definitely don't have all the hardware to fit our vehicles, took me about half an hour to track down some washers.

...and a small piece of zinc coated tube that was about .75" long and slightly too small to slide over the sleeve.

The one small section of tube included in the pack that was slightly too small to fit over the sleeve...

Yea, mine (BDS 5500's) came with 4 of those. They are supposed to act like the washers your using. I could only get tow of the 4 on and used washers for the other side... Which works just fine, but it would be nice if the pieces were all included and fit together right.