I love everything about Carli, hence why I'm using all of their hard parts for my lift, I've just had really great performance, support, longevity from Fox over the last 15 years or so and I'd like to continue to have that, so it's almost a Carli lift, just my own flair with the shocks.

King is really popular, and I'm sure I'd never tell much of a difference between their 2.5s and Fox's 2.5s (except the price!). I had a set of Kings a long time ago that had soft shafts for some reason that kept pitting and blowing seals. Their support pretty much blew me off and acted like if I wasn't romping a Class 1 truck they didn't care to bother, so I just sort of vowed to never go that direction again. With that said, that was yeeeeears ago and I'm sure they wouldn't be popular if they still did business that way, so don't let that sway you away from them, just my own personal reasoning.

Nevertheless, if you go with 2.5s on a truck like this diesel, you're gonna have to learn how to drive with a hard on all the time. It's really the only way to go imo 😁😁😁

 

They do. The commuter Fox 2.0 IFP shocks with custom valving to match their coils are $150 each, about $20 more than the standard off the shelf Foxs.

 

You can get the 2.0s or the 2.0s with reservoirs, no 2.5s from them. I understand why. They are a small company and need to focus on 1 shock to tune as amazingly as they do.

Just wish they would have gone all Fox for their entire lineup. C'est la vie!

 

This would not be a lower cost option it would probably end up being more expensive and then there is the issue with the compression adjusters. It would have to be developed, tuned and tested. What Tricon is doing is great but that might not be the same shock body and or shaft that would ultimately be brought to marke by Carli. The value in spending more up front is the the way that all the parts work together. I have had the most frankenstein build out with like 3 performance suspension companies and parts from two "lift" companies and I have had builds with parts from only two companies and nothing worked together well like when I went to a full system and that was the Carli 6" System for the Dodge that we tested with a pre run at the 2010 Baja 1000.

Buy once cry once. I know quite a few people who have gone down Tricon's route and most of them mind f*^%#€£ the heck out of the build and ended up with two trucks worth of useless parts and some have faired a lot better.
The shock tuning company that he has pursued sounds like they are doing it the right way with taking vehicle weight. My recommendation would be to go get a custom coil to match that setup.

 

I understand and appreciate what you're doing with your lift.

Great point - thanks for the reminder! I'm looking at their Backcountry Kit now...




I'm sure Kings are good shocks. I'm not sure I'd notice the difference between them and Fox shocks unless, maybe, I had a back-to-back test drive in otherwise identical trucks.

I'm sure Fox shocks are good. And I know Fox shocks are good because I had them in my Raptor which could do it ALL ON road and OFF road. And do it for thousands and thousands of miles. And Fox shocks are on a LOT more vehicles than King shocks.

So, why should I spend all that extra money for King shocks? Well, I won't be doing that. I'll be going with Fox shocks knowing I got a really good, reliable shock for the money and getting a shock I know and is proven makes it a good value to me.

 

I spoke with a guy at carli today and talked to him about the shocks and which kit to go with. He asked what I use the truck for. He explained that the regular fox's are great for street, there resi's are good for street and off road, and the kings are for the guys that are planning on beating on the truck. Add a pack rear leafs if you tow heavy and need the capacity. Full replacement leafs if you don't tow that much weight. He also reinforced that if you're gonna spend money on something, spend it on the shocks.

 

Totally agree with that. The shocks are the most noticeable change, other than maybe the full spring pack in the rear.

There's no magic to lifts. Tune-able shocks mean you get to customize the ride to exactly how you want it. Some people may not want to screw around with it and just want to buy something and drive it. Or maybe they aren't technical enough to disassemble a shock and recharge it. I get that, most people are probably like that.

But if you're gonna get in deep, I really think Fox's are the way to go. Parts are much easier to get, shafts are twice as hard and twice the sheer strength. And they're cheaper to boot.

$1700 for custom tuned shocks
$450 for track bar
$315 for coils
$60 for caster bushings
$150 for bump and sway bar drops

Thats a grand total of $2675, about a grand less than the pin top base kit. Not sure how that ends up being more expensive?

Pluses: You have custom tuned shocks to your specific truck, not a tune that suits a wider range. Plus you get adjustable compression in the rear, which I badly wanted for towing.

Cons: You are using 2.0s in the rear instead of 2.5s. You don't get in on that sweet, sweet, tuning they've been doing for the pin top shocks for a while now.

I'm not trying to sway anyone, not at all. I just want to point out theres some really good options out there for less money. You will no doubt LOVE the pin top setup. There's zero argument there. I would argue its the single best setup out there for the F250 Diesels right now.

I just like the Foxes better, so I built something that suits my needs. No better, no worse, just what works for me.

 

The Carli Backcountry 2.0 Base Kit is $2,345.00 - why wouldn't you go with that? It's $345.00 less. (How does it differ from your Franken-lift?)


2017+ Leveling Backcountry 2.0 BASE KIT +$2,345.00

SKU: CS-FLVL-BC20-17
Ford Leveling Backcountry 2.0 System, 2017+ Base Kit

Base Kit Includes:
CS-FLC-05 Front Leveling Coils
CS-FBC20SPKG-LVL-05-PAP Carli Custom Tuned Fox 2.0" Remote Reservoir Shocks, Front and Rear with Reservoir Mounts
CS-FORDBBL-17-F Front Brake Lines
CS-FCASTERSHIM-2.5 2° Caster Shims
CS-FBDF-2.5-17 High Clearance Bump Stop Drops, Front
CS-FSBD-17 Sway Bar Drop Bracket
CS-FPRB-17 Track Bar

 

He went with 2.5's upfront not 2.0's. 3600 plus for the pin top from Carli.

 

Tricon,

Here is a little build motivation.

 

For $345 I got 2.5s up front and Compression Adjusters in the rear...seems like a no brainer to me.

(1) 2.5 Factory Edition costs as much as (4) Fox 2.0s.... They're expensive for sure. But there's so much weight up front I really think it needs it if you're gonna play in the dirt.

 

Im not even going to admit how many times Ive watched that in the past. That and dust to glory lol.

 

That was a fun day. The truck was only 3 weeks old. Lol

 

You gonna go all out and do an unchained setup when they come out?

 

On the ford? Not at all. I am going full kill on the hard parts. I might do pintops but probably just the base kit for now. I am looking at taming the rear axle hop. On Tuesday I spent the afternoon installing air bags... so the rear is going to remain stock except for upgraded shocks. Depending on what happens with my dodge I might wait a year or two and buy a high mileage short wheel 6.2l yank the motor for a proper build and get Sage to get crackin on the gasser stuff. I think that could be a fun project especially with the frames.