- I don't know how many of you are like me when it comes
to buying suspension, but when it comes down to it,
I just try to find the best bang for the buck,
which means I'm trying to find the absolute best performing
longest lasting, highest quality suspension on the market
for the cheapest price possible.
But the questions remain, is that even possible?
And what exactly should we be looking for to determine
if it's high quality?
Well my friends, let's find out.
Here's one of the biggest challenges when trying
to pick out the right suspension on our website.
Regardless if you own a Jeep, Toyota, Chevy, Ram, Ford,
Nissan, Subaru, or whatever it is that you drive,
there are just too many different options
for different prices.
Now, naturally, the more expensive something is,
the better performing and higher quality it is, right?
Well, I would say in most cases, that should be correct,
but do you really need a $5,000 suspension kit
for a daily driver that may see the dirt a half a dozen
times a year?
Probably not.
That's a whole nother story for a dedicated
rock crawler though.
A dedicated rock crawling rig might have five grand
just in shocks alone.
So then what should we be looking for in a suspension
for the purposes that we're building our rig for?
With suspension in most cases, there is a give
and a take to performance.
If you're looking to keep it on the budget friendly side
of your build, then ride quality, articulation
and durability isn't going to be as good as the kits
that are going to cost more, in most cases anyways.
But if you are looking to keep it budget friendly
and still want to maintain a good quality ride,
then the shocks are going to be the biggest thing
to look for there.
At the minimum, look for kits that come
with monotube shocks, as they will give you a smoother ride
and are much more resistant to shock fade due to cavitation
compared to their lesser counterpart, the twin tube shock.
Some budget-friendly kits will come with shock relocation
brackets or hardware and will repurpose the factory shocks.
If you can swing it, I would highly recommend ditching
the factory shock absorbers and upgrading
to a monotube shock, as most vehicles will come
with the cheaper twin tube shock.
Plus, if you're going to be replacing the factory shocks
at some point anyways, might as well do it right away.
Now with that said, if your vehicle already has
a newer brand name shock installed, like a Bilstein
or Fox or something like that, then unless they're worn out,
I would just keep running that until they are worn out
to help keep the cost down.
Other things to look for that will cost a bit more
are kits that don't have any type of lift spacers
for the coil springs, struts, or leaf springs.
Reason being is that the suspension kits that come
with coil springs or struts, or leaf springs that
are longer and match the size of your lift you're putting on
instead of the spacers will be engineered specifically
for your exact situation and will perform better
than just throwing in a generic spacer that's not going
to offer any kind of increase in performance,
well, except for ground clearance, of course.
Factory coil and leaf spring rates are designed
from the factory to work with your particular vehicle
without any other suspension modifications,
like a lift kit for example.
And once you start changing the suspension's geometry
and lift height, you start changing the handling
characteristics of your vehicle, and spacers aren't going
to compensate for that, whereas replacing your coil springs
or leaf springs with ones that are designed to fit
the intended lift of your vehicle are engineered
to compensate for the new handling dynamics
of your vehicle after it is lifted.
This not only provides better on and off-road handling
and performance, but will be safer as well.
The only three exceptions to this would be, number one,
maybe just adding a leveling kit.
Number two, the spacers are under an inch thick.
And number three, spacers just might be all you can afford
for now.
And it's not that running spaces are an absolute no-no,
but try to avoid them if the budget allows for it.
So we already know what to look for kits that offer
the upgraded monotube shocks.
We know we should avoid coil and lee spring spacers
if possible.
So then what else should we be looking for
in a good quality kit to get the best bang for the buck?
Well, a few more things, one of them being a kit
that comes with at least a new front replacement
heavy duty track arm, and heavy duty adjustable
track arm bracket.
And if you can swing it, a kit that has both front and rear
replacement track arm and adjustable track arm brackets.
Under constant use or extreme loads while off-roading,
track our bushings and track arm brackets can become
a weak point and they'll either fail or eventually fail
and are one of the leading causes to death wobble.
Therefore it's best just to upgrade them right away
since you'll be replacing a bunch of other components
at the same time anyways.
Also make sure the kit comes with extended front
and rear sway bar links, extended brake lines,
along with brake line relocation brackets when applicable.
The extended sway bar links will retain the factory location
of the angle of the sway bars.
And if you're going to be flexing out your suspension
out in the trails, it's also important that you don't
stretch out or even tear apart your brake lines
because well, you're going to need them to get off the trail
or get back home.
Also with extended sway bar links and extended brake lines,
look for suspension kits that have the extended bump stops
as well.
The extended bump stops will help keep your new,
larger tires from getting stuff too far up
into your sheet metal, which is not only going
to damage your sheet metal or fenders,
but could potentially cut your tires wide open
on the sheet metal sharp edges, and cutting
a brand new tire, well, that's just no fun.
So make sure the kit includes extended bump stops as well.
Next on the list, that is obviously going to continue
to raise the cost, but offer better performance
and durability is going to be replacement control arm,
whether they're replacement upper control arms are arms
for independent suspension or lower and upper control arms
for the solid axle rig.
Control arms will adjust the suspension's geometry
to adjust for the additional ride height with the new lift,
but not only that, they'll offer more strength
than the factory control arms and will be much more
resistant to failure due to prolong use and abuse off-road.
Some control arms will also offer better flex joints
to help aid and better off-road articulation
and even less feedback from vibration into your vehicle,
giving you a smoother ride.
But again, the more extensive you go with your kit,
the more parts that are going to be in it,
the higher costs are going to be.
But if you plan on really putting your rig to work,
regardless if it's on the road or off the road
or on the trails, then it's definitely worth it.
Like I always say, plan for the worst and hope for the best,
build your rig for the unexpected, but also be realistic
with what you really intend on doing with it.
Unless you have bottomless pockets of course,
then let me point you in the direction of some of our 10
to $12,000 kids.
So guys, to sum it all up, when we're looking for the best
quality suspension for the best price for you
and your particular situation, just take it in steps,
calculate what it is exactly that you want to spend
on a lift or upgraded suspension, and then determine
what you can all get included in that kit that fits
in your budget.
Try to stay away from any coil, leaf, or strut spacers
if possible, look for kits that include the upgraded
monotube shocks, extended sway bar links,
extended brake lines and extended bump stops.
Most kids will already include regular track bar relocation
brackets, but if there's still room in the budget,
look for the heavy duty adjustable track arm brackets
and heavy duty track arms as well.
Then if there's still some money to spare,
replace the control arms, at least the front and rear lowers
on solid axle rigs, and at least the uppers on independent
suspension setups, but upper and lower control arms
on the independent setups, if possible.
And if you guys are doing any more than what we've already
gone through in today's video, well, then you've already
committed to spending whatever amount it takes to build
your rig so that it can tackle just about anything.
And if you guys have any other suggestions as what you did
to build your rig, definitely make sure and let us know,
or even if you guys have any questions about which
suspension kit you should go with,
make sure and let us know in the comments below.
Don't forget that you can find all the different types
of suspension options on our website at Trail Build Offroad,
with several special financing plans available,
it makes it just about affordable for anyone.
Other than that, guys, we definitely appreciate all
of you for watching and all of your support.
I'm Josh from Trail Built and we'll see you guys
out in the trails.
(upbeat music)