TREMOR SHOCKS (suck)

[MTUcrash]

Correct, my special order Tremor has not arrived yet. That would be good news to me if Ford left the sway bars off the '22's, but here is a pic with one on the 2020 trucks. I think I'm done with those... on the road or off. However, if you carry appreciable weight in the bed or carry a high center of gravity for any reason, then you may want to invest in an anti-sway bar. Then your choice in shocks and valving may change again as sway bars add spring rate to the equation.

2020 Ford Tremor Suspension | How It Works | F-250 Super Duty, F-350, PowerStroke Diesel - Autoblog

Our resident suspension engineer climbs under the Ford F-250 Tremor to explain its suspension, including how the diesel and gas engines make a difference.

www.autoblog.com

Yes, there is a anti-sway bar on the front, but not on the rear.

 

[Mike Alcocer]

I did not change the springs. 6 months ago I did a 1.5 level in the front. If your going to do shocks, you should do all 4 with like product. Yes, you will notice a remarkable difference.

What type of lift? Did you do any sort of shock extension or relocation of the stock shocks? This might explain a lot.

 

[Lunch Box]

What type of lift? Did you do any sort of shock extension or relocation of the stock shocks? This might explain a lot.

1.5 ready lift, you can do up to 1.5 without any issues. Did do an alignment. It was a level, not a lift.

 

[Type_Oh]

I looked on the Tremor shocks to determine who made them, thinking Rancho may have, but the are stamped "FoMoCo", Made in USA.

According to my dealership service advisor, the OEM are made by Fox.

 

[Lunch Box]

According to my dealership service advisor, the OEM are made by Fox.

Well crawl under your truck and at the base of the shocks they are clearly stamped FoMoCo, which stands for ford motor company.

 

[MTUcrash]

Well crawl under your truck and at the base of the shocks they are clearly stamped FoMoCo, which stands for ford motor company.

Doesn’t mean that they were made by Ford, just means they were made exclusively for Ford. Means you can’t buy them directly from the manufacturer, only through Ford.

 

[Lunch Box]

Doesn’t mean that they were made by Ford, just means they were made exclusively for Ford. Means you can’t buy them directly from the manufacturer, only through Ford.

Ok, if that's what you want to believe, that's fine.

 

[MTUcrash]

Ok, if that's what you want to believe, that's fine.

I worked for a tier 1 automotive supplier, making pistons for all the major auto manufacturers. They had exclusivity contracts so we could not sell them aftermarket, only to them. Pumping out pistons for sometimes $5 a pop, so they can place it on a shelf in the service departments and sell to the public for $55 each. Not saying that the shocks are surely made by Fox, as I don’t know who makes them for sure. Just saying that is how the automotive world works. We also had to cast FoMoCo on our piston castings for Ford….

 

[Mike Alcocer]

1.5 ready lift, you can do up to 1.5 without any issues. Did do an alignment. It was a level, not a lift.

Never been a fan of spacer leveling kits. Just changing one aspect of geometry and leaving the rest stock.

The Tremor suspension was specifically built as is with matching components. No where does readylift claim there $140 leveling kit works on the Tremor package. In fact multiple people on their webpage ask if it fits and those are the only questions readylift didn't respond to.

My guess is the Tremor shocks don't have an extra 1.5 of travel in them. And you may have been maxing them out. The Carli kit for a 1.5 Tremor lift includes new shocks, most likely for a reason.

Ok, if that's what you want to believe, that's fine.

Do you think Costco makes Kirkland products? Read the back label usually tells you it was made by another name brand. Product labeling usually has little to do with who manufactured it.

 

[Lunch Box]

Never been a fan of spacer leveling kits. Just changing one aspect of geometry and leaving the rest stock.

The Tremor suspension was specifically built as is with matching components. No where does readylift claim there $140 leveling kit works on the Tremor package. In fact multiple people on their webpage ask if it fits and those are the only questions readylift didn't respond to.

My guess is the Tremor shocks don't have an extra 1.5 of travel in them. And you may have been maxing them out. The Carli kit for a 1.5 Tremor lift includes new shocks, most likely for a reason.

Do you think Costco makes Kirkland products? Read the back label usually tells you it was made by another name brand. Product labeling usually has little to do with who manufactured it.

Man you are really hung up on this, take a break, it's my truck, I am extremely happy with every aspect of it. Worry about something that concerns you and accomplish something positive for yourself.

 

[kmtweb]

Would you by chance have the part numbers for the shocks that you purchased?

 

[Lunch Box]

Would you by chance have the part numbers for the shocks that you purchased?

 

[Busa Dave]

Ok, if that's what you want to believe, that's fine.

You need to look into this more. FOMCO does not make shocks. I replaced mine with Billstein's. Better on and off road.

 

[Mike Alcocer]

Man you are really hung up on this, take a break, it's my truck, I am extremely happy with every aspect of it. Worry about something that concerns you and accomplish something positive for yourself.

Not hung up on it. But someone viewing this thread may think this is a great idea and works totally fine only to find out down the road that they are tearing their truck up because they read a forum post and listened to some guy.

It's pretty telling that the lift manufacturer doesn't answer whether the lift is good for a Tremor. Pretty telling that after installing the lift you claim the stock shocks suck and one is blown out. Pretty telling that you listen to the same off road shop selling you into this progressive hole.

I honestly don't care if you cut your truck in half. But I feel an obligation to challenge what you are doing so that others don't think it's a great idea and at least consider the pitfalls of following your path.

 

[Type_Oh]

Well crawl under your truck and at the base of the shocks they are clearly stamped FoMoCo, which stands for ford motor company.

I haven’t had the chance to do that yet. However I did walk past and take notice of the Ford emblem in the driver’s side window. I don’t think they make those either.

 

[Lunch Box]

Not hung up on it. But someone viewing this thread may think this is a great idea and works totally fine only to find out down the road that they are tearing their truck up because they read a forum post and listened to some guy.

It's pretty telling that the lift manufacturer doesn't answer whether the lift is good for a Tremor. Pretty telling that after installing the lift you claim the stock shocks suck and one is blown out. Pretty telling that you listen to the same off road shop selling you into this progressive hole.

I honestly don't care if you cut your truck in half. But I feel an obligation to challenge what you are doing so that others don't think it's a great idea and at least consider the pitfalls of following your path.

Let's clear something up. My truck didn't ride any different after the 1.5 level was installed, which numerous others have done on this forum without new shocks or issues. The shock that was blown out was on the rear, nothing was changed on the rear. The point I was trying to make and if you go back and read my original thread I said I liked the way the truck road and handled UNTIL I made the change. Maybe the word "sucks" was too harsh, but once I felt the difference and how much improved it was in the moment that was the word that came to me.

Most of us on here are adults and responsible for our own actions. If I or anyone else decide to modify whatever and something goes wrong its on me. Some people decide to replace the entire suspension, and talk about how much better it is. I decided not to do that. All I did was change shocks and talk about how much better things were. Yes, i am aware companies manufacture and private label many parts for Ford and others. But I seriously doubt Fox is going to take that on as they are having thier own raw material issues, nor do I think they have the facilities to accommodate that type of mass production.

 

[TomcatF14]

FWIW several YouTube videos and general World Wide Web bitching about OEM Tremor shocks. Every Ford product in the past I’ve ended up swapping into aftermarket with noticeably good results. So far my Tremor shocks don’t suck but if the last 30 years of FoMoCo ownership (or whoever the F built it) I’ll be swapping when they do suck.

 

[RedZilla]

The stock shocks have little to no compressive resistance by design. There dampening is entirely on the rebound stroke and since it is not a gas shock it will move slowly with gravity on the rebound. It is designed to resist dramatic and sudden changes in position (dampening).

If your shop was telling you they were supposed to have dampening on compression and immediately return to full rebound I would find a different shop and not trust anything else they say as they don't know anything about shocks.

There was a rather lengthy and detailed thread on the stock vs after market shock comparisons. The stock twin tube shock is a good blend for all around use. I find it to be just right for off road use and does well at keeping the springs tame at speed over the rough stuff while still allowing full articulation at low speed.

Most people that change shocks and claim they are "way better" are only noticing the improved on road characteristics of having a gas shock with more compression dampening. Which explains the "no longer dips in the corners" statement. The Tremor was designed as an all around vehicle and the twin tube shock is the better choice for a wide range of uses. But if you are familiar with the feel of gas shocks for on road use only then feel free to change shocks. Just don't claim that stock shocks are junk when you don't even know what they are.

It's refreshing, at least for me, when someone who truly understands design characteristics of suspension components, speaks with knowledge about the design objectives and choice of components Ford engineers chose for the Tremor and why.

These threads are kind of like oil threads in that each person argues how their oil of choice is the best and will save them money in the long run and make the truck last longer than OEM oil.

Every four wheel shop and suspension shop is going to tell you how bad the OEM suspension is and offer a solution to "fix" Ford's design flaws for a few thousand dollars. I know some have a very specific application they are going to use their truck for and may want to modify to optimize for that specific purpose. But buying a Truck that was designed intentionally for the best all-around performance for on and off road towing, as well as good general hauling and driving empty, and then spending thousands to "fix" or actually nullify those characteristics just seems silly to me. Spend and extra $3500 only to spend additional thousands after delivery just to undo what you paid Ford to install. Why not just buy a standard built Super Duty and put suspension mods of your choice on. Ford engineers must laugh their asses off reading some of the comments people make and more so the mods they are making.

 

[Skibum1681]

I'm not sure how else to describe a shock with 16,000 miles on it that is blown out without calling it junk...

To me at least, "junk" is the prefect adjective.

OP, where do you notice the huge improvement over stock? On road, off road, every where? In NY our interstates almost qualify as off-road...

 

[Busa Dave]

It's refreshing, at least for me, when someone who truly understands design characteristics of suspension components, speaks with knowledge about the design objectives and choice of components Ford engineers chose for the Tremor and why.

Spend and extra $3500 only to spend additional thousands after delivery just to undo what you paid Ford to install. Why not just buy a standard built Super Duty and put suspension mods of your choice on. Ford engineers must laugh their asses off reading some of the comments people make and more so the mods they are making.

The part that you are not touching on is cost. FOMCO is just like any other commercial automotive manufacturer and saving a dollar on a component part after overhead loads are applied is significant when applied across the entire build. Not to mention specific materials that are required to build components because they may not be available in quantities for a running high volume production line.

The aftermarket does not have those restraints because there are always people who could care less about making improvements to a vehicle because we all know you do not get your $$$$$$$'s back. This truck only needed a level, tires 3 ply sidewalls, wheels and shocks. Others I have owned needed systems installed because additional ground clearance was needed as well as suspension travel.