Fox Fail
 

Well, that didn't take long(12k miles), one of my Fox shocks failed, appears to be from a chip on the shaft. Any suggestions on how to prevent this in the future? This shock is on the front side of the rear axle, the one on the rear appears fine.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...7fd5aa9b71.jpg

Yep. Despite what the shock vendors say, install a boot on the shock. I had the same problem with my ICON 2.5” shock in that same location. Cut a 1/4” hole near the bottom of the boot, on the rearward side to let any water or crud drain out.

Or install what is called a ‘Roost Shield’, which is a plastic shield to guard the shaft from rock impacts.

Fox makes a set of protectors for the 2.0 shocks. They call them roost shields and are cheap at around 33 bucks.

Silicone boots with bottom cut off will work also but look hokey imo.

ride
 

do they even ride better? worth swapping out factory

A blown out monotube IFP shock rides better than the brand new stock crap.

Yes unfortunately the fox 2.0s are prone to failure very easy. The shafts are way to soft and ding up easily. The fox 2.0s use just one o-ring to seal the shaft unlike a packing stack like more high dollar shocks. I’ve rebuilt all 4 of my fox 2.0 remote res that came with my carli kit multiple times. The one plus is that a rebuild kit is dirt cheap and they're easy to rebuild. I have Kings in route as we speak.

a precision shaft like shocks or dirt bike suspension, has to have some form of protection , mainly on the front side where debris impact happens, its just common sense

If the shaft gets dinged, a rebuild kit isn’t going to do much for you, is it?

depending on how bad, he could sand it down to remove any burr's but yea a new shaft would be ideal, i doubt they're very pricey.
Dont ding your shaft, friends


waiting for moderation...lol

Dinging ones shaft can be a painful and expensive repair. Lol