bradler

Anyone familiar with aftermarket shocks have any idea what can make them clunk when going from compression to rebound. I have the SAW 2.25's with internal reservoirs. Two of them were low on nitro so i pulled them apart to check valve shims for damage and make sure the lock nuts were tight. All looked good, i re-set the depth to the floating piston, put new 7wt oil in, checked and no hydro-lock, and when i refilled them with nitro they still make this click/clunk noise when i compress them by hand. Figured maybe it was normal so i put one of the rears back on the truck and with the solid heim mounts on top the noise is translated into a lound clunking that resonates through the frame??

I can't figure it out, other than the ifp hitting then end cap of the cylinder under full compression there are no other moving parts i can think off that could make noise? And this clunking happens when going from compression to extension at any point in the travel, not when they are compressed all the way?? Maybe side to side play if the wear band is worn a little? There was no oil behind the ifp so i don't think the nitro is leaking around and mixing with the oil either. ****, guess its time to get some king 2.5's from thuren....or then bilstein 2.65's.....

sloride

I can't help you with your noise but I will tell you you're on the right track by wanting to call Thuren. Give him a call about your problem and I'll bet he can answer your question. Toss the Lorenz stuffThuren and Carli are the way to go.

doug60

My Bilstein 5100's clunk when temps are cold.

bob4x4

Go with the 2.65's...........I drove Baja Mikes truck through through some huge whoops at speed.Unbeleivable comfort and control
The 2.25s are showing all their short sides now that they have had some time and miles under the stress of the CTD's
Bob

J.Suplanski

Or you could go with the 3 inch Kings like Bob 4X4 and myself are running!

bradler

kool i'll just get the 3in kings and have them charge it to your account

I would love to go that route but the 2.5in Kings are spendy enough. Sounds like the bilstein 2.65's would be choice but any idea on cost for those, i would think they are in the $400 a shock range or more? Wonder if carli has the valving all dialed in yet for those also, i know they were working on it.

Mega07

This is what I have been dealing with since day one with the 2.25 SAWs, Sean was cool enough to replace them for free but I have the same problem with the new ones as well. Keep in mind, I've had them for almost 2 years...I went so far as to take the front shocks off and enjoyed a clunk free ride for 2 weeks. Put them back on and it's back. Unfortnately my current economic situation won't allow me to change them....if you find a solution let me know.

Shank

I have the same problem. Its worse in cold weather. I think it the metal on metal on the shock ends. No rubber bushings.

bradler

So I'm not the only one! I agree its worse when its cold and I've hammered on mine for a 1.5 years before it got bad but its getting really loud. Definetly with the solid metal to metal heim mounts on top the clunk goes right into the frame. I talked to both sean and then chris at SAW and they were really willing to help, offered to tear them down and re-build them to see if they can figure out what the problem is. Its puzzling though after having them apart because there isn't a lot in there that seems like it could make any noise. If they figure out a fix I'll let you guys know.

But if not, does anyone know if the King 2.5's will fit with the Lorenz towers? Seems like they should, I know Thurens towers are only 1/4 - 1/2in taller than the Lorenz and think both shocks have com10 bearings up top and use 1/2in bolts. My only concern is that the SAW are ~3/4in shorter than the Kings with 10in travel because of the way the SAW end caps go on the outside of the shock body. Wonder if the kings would bottom out before i get to the bump stops because of this...

enafzige

Hmmm, I don't know what to say about this, other than tell you my experience.

I started out with the 2.25 SAW kit w/ dual purpose leaves. There was a drastic difference between this kit and stock...so much so, that I felt a huge difference just pulling out of the driveway. It wasn't long before I found a set of railroad tracks with a nice "hump" crossing, and got familiar with getting some air on the truck. The posted sign is 15 mph, as it's pretty steep and rough, but I found that at about 45 - 50 mph, you could really clear both tracks nice. However, sometimes the suspension really felt like it bottomed hard...maybe this had to do with how hard I was into the throttle coming off the "hump" and the amount of nose dive on landing.

I took the truck on some trails locally. These were far more than fire roads, and included some 2 - 3' whoops. At about 15 - 20 mph, you could feel a nice bump in the front with shocks hitting bottom.

The dual purpose leaves road really nice, but left a lot to be desired for carrying capacity. My truck is several hundred pounds over stock, and with a trailer hooked to it, I got made fun of at work for having a 1-ton truck with its tail dragging the ground. I added a set of LT Carli air bags, and they eliminated the sag problem.

I had 35s on the truck when the Lorenz kit was installed. After installing 37s, I started getting bad rubbing on the front of the rear fenders everytime I'd come up our inclined driveway. It eventually rubbed through the fenderflares, and started eating away at the sheet metal. I purchased a set of Lasersmith traction bars and preloaded them to the point that the rear tires had clearance through the entire range of articulation.

Well, I had the kit about a year, and noticed when I parked, that I was leaving oil spots behind. It was not immediately obvious where the oil was coming from, as I had the Lorenz shock sock booties covering everything up. When I removed these socks, I noticed one shock leaking, and one leaking very bad. Over the next couple weeks, the leaking got worse. The bad shock finally relieved itself of about a dinner plate size of oil on the ground. After some closer investigation, I found that I had also slightly bent my front end into a smiley face.

I called Sean, and he was very helpful. I sent the shocks to SAW, and they rebuilt them completely for free. At this point, I sold the Lorenz stuff as a practically new, rebuilt kit, and purchased the Carli 2.65 Bilstein kit. I was able to bend back the front axle housing slightly, and fabbed a custom front truss with C-knuckle reinforcement. I got the truck aligned, and the camber was 0.2° on passenger, and 0.3° on the driver's side!!!!

Of course, I immediately took the truck out to the railroad crossing again...but this time, there were no harsh landings that bottomed the truck, even hitting it at 60 - 65 mph. I took the truck to the same offroad trails with the 2 - 3' whoops, and was able to run at 45 mph and the shocks never bottomed.

There was a drastic improvement over stock with the Lorenz kit....and there was a drastic improvement over the Lorenz kit with the Carli 2.65. The 2.65 bilsteins have so much more valving in them than the 2.25s, that there's really no comparison. Moreover, the Carli rear leaves have an offset centering pin that lets 37" Toyos clear with no difficulty.

Maybe this didn't help you with your problem any, but hopefully it helped with the direction you may want to go. I had read hours upon hours before I purchased the Lorenz kit, and just thought it'd be worth sharing my experience if it could help someone else out.

In my opinion, these trucks need at least a 2.5" quality shock to be driven offroad. I was told this, and didn't listen at first. If you get a smaller shock thinking you're going to save money, you stand a much greater chance of bending the front housing if you do decide to have a little offroad excitement.

The Carli stuff is expensive, but it's built for a lifetime of use, with very high quality. I would recommend buying piece at a time as the budget allows, and end up with a kit that you can have fun with, put confidence in, and that will last the life of your truck.

As a final note of my rambling, I've learned to avoid second/third party suppliers, and go directly through Carli...call Jesse, Mike, or Sage, and you won't be disappointed.

Didn't mean to digress here, but hopefully it'll help someone down the line...

--Eric

bradler

Eric,

Similar to my experience. Shocks are at SAW for a rebuild right now and I already posted them for sale on craigslist. Talked to Sage and really want the 2.65 Bilsteins but it was 2k for just four shocks!! Not sure if they are worth $500 a shock when Thuren can hook up the 2.5 Kings for way less. I think my towers and coils will work if I just get new shocks but I think the IR coils are significantly stiffer than what Don usually runs...

cquestad

So true so true...I could not be happier with my 2.5's.

If you want to spend the money...do it right.

enafzige

I don't know for sure, but I thought that Thurens springs were about the softest of Thuren/Carli/Kore/Lorenz?

Depending on what valving you're getting from Don, but you may want to think of upgrading the 3-bolt ring at least. Initially, I planned on modifying the Lorenz towers to accomodate the 2.65 Bilsteins; however, Sage said that with the heavy valving of these shocks, that it could be possible to blow the shock tower off the studs.

The factory 3-bolt shock tower ring (which is re-used for the Lorenz kit) uses (3) 8-mm studs (approximately 5/16"). The Carli towers use an upgraded stud ring with (3) 1/2" studs.

If you're energetic, you may consider repainting the Lorenz coils and hardware while you've got things apart. My kit was showing alot of rust only after 1 year. I sandblasted everything, and repainted with Rust-o-leum gloss black enamel, and then clear coated several coats. It actually looked better when I sold it than when I bought it...

--Eric