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FOA shocks review from Crawltopia.....you get what you pay for

Mr.Clean

Mr.Clean

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Finally a good full break down review of FOA shocks from a unbiased independent. Hate seeing an American company not producing quality products. You read the article and come to your own conclusion but for me being a firm believer in you get what you pay for, this is just another article that backs that up.

http://www.crawlpedia.com/foa_review.htm
 
Pretty much says what most have known for a while.

What I don't understand is they could raise a little still be the cheapest shock around and actually improve the machining stuff.

Or maybe that's as good as it gets at that price point
 
All the rumors were that they had fixed all of those issues in the last year or so.

This just proves that to be false.

It was just posted yesterday btw. So it's not an old article.
 
FOA shocks are a huge risk.

I have known several people that have them. 2 guys zero issues. I have seen those shocks apart, perfect zero issues. Yah couple things didn't fit absolutely perfect but it's a cheap shock.

Other guys I know nothing but problems. Sealing issues top cap issues, shimming issues.

I think its more quality control then overall quality. It's like he has 5 different guys running the machines and 2 are good and 3 have a hard time walking and breathing at the same time.

It sucks cause there is a market for a less expensive shock but it at least needs to have the same deficiencies shock to shock.
 
Always thought they were sub par but some got lucky with them. That's the feedback I've seen anyway.
 
Any feedback on profender? I know they are budget, but I haven't done any research on them in a while.
 
Pretty similar to our experience.

My initial impression was good, I thought the pair we go was decent, for the price.
There is a noticeable difference in quality compared to a top level bilstein or king, but compared to a saw or lower end fox it's off but not super far off. If they spend maybe 20% more time checking this stuff they'd have a decent offering.
The spring collar on the shocks we got was very tight and even after 5k miles still steps on the threads causing it to stick. It is super annoying.
The anodizing has faded significantly, they don't leak, or haven't yet, but they work..
And for the customer we have using them is happy. We knew that it was a risk but t price was good enough to take the leap.
I'll have those shocks apart soon to revalve them. I'll try and get pics.

Here is my final impression, for a guy who is savvy enough to work on his own shocks, and could spot the out of spec stuff and also may not be the richest dude.. he's the target, maybe he needs a big shock because he has a heavy foot.
I'd say they're good enough to handle the needs of most. Now for those of us who appreciate Tighter qc.... well that's why king and fox are there to take your money.

And for the record, I do think they're a good shock. No they're not perfect but they are also not a total waste of money either. This isn't internet babble, I have a lot of seat time with these and have quite literally trusted them with my life. I wouldn't hesitate to put these on Ethel.. just a fun get out there and do it rig. But for Lucy I'd step it up..
 
sreidmx said:
Pretty similar to our experience.

My initial impression was good, I thought the pair we go was decent, for the price.
There is a noticeable difference in quality compared to a top level bilstein or king, but compared to a saw or lower end fox it's off but not super far off. If they spend maybe 20% more time checking this stuff they'd have a decent offering.
The spring collar on the shocks we got was very tight and even after 5k miles still steps on the threads causing it to stick. It is super annoying.
The anodizing has faded significantly, they don't leak, or haven't yet, but they work..
And for the customer we have using them is happy. We knew that it was a risk but t price was good enough to take the leap.
I'll have those shocks apart soon to revalve them. I'll try and get pics.

Here is my final impression, for a guy who is savvy enough to work on his own shocks, and could spot the out of spec stuff and also may not be the richest dude.. he's the target, maybe he needs a big shock because he has a heavy foot.
I'd say they're good enough to handle the needs of most. Now for those of us who appreciate Tighter qc.... well that's why king and fox are there to take your money.

And for the record, I do think they're a good shock. No they're not perfect but they are also not a total waste of money either. This isn't internet babble, I have a lot of seat time with these and have quite literally trusted them with my life. I wouldn't hesitate to put these on Ethel.. just a fun get out there and do it rig. But for Lucy I'd step it up..
Click to expand...


Let us know if they tightened the lock nut all the way, and if there are bugs in the oil.. :haha:

I know way too many people that have had bad experiences with them, both before and after the fire. Glad they made the mistake, to steer me away from them.
 
Maybe I'm just cheap and don't really care about having a flawless product... But my FOAs are and always have worked great for me. I also used them on a SASd duramax and they worked fine on it as well. I think a lot of it comes down to being picky. Of course I would go with the best of the best if I didn't have to worry about budget, but honestly how many of us "need" that? I've gone just as many places on coil springs and $50.00 rancho shocks as other guys with name brand stuff. And how many guys are tearing it up on leaf springs? BUT... As for the real problems that were mentioned that sucks and maybe I got lucky?
 
F.S.F.W said:
Maybe I'm just cheap and don't really care about having a flawless product... But my FOAs are and always have worked great for me. I also used them on a SASd duramax and they worked fine on it as well. I think a lot of it comes down to being picky. Of course I would go with the best of the best if I didn't have to worry about budget, but honestly how many of us "need" that? I've gone just as many places on coil springs and $50.00 rancho shocks as other guys with name brand stuff. And how many guys are tearing it up on leaf springs? BUT... As for the real problems that were mentioned that sucks and maybe I got lucky?
Click to expand...

I think thats the general concensus when it comes to FOA. Either your one of the few that never has an issue or they are nothing but a headache.

For me personally being in the manufacturing industry being a cnc machinist nothing bothers me more than a company with poor quality control.

I understand alot of people really try to cut cost on their builds and to some its a gamble that they take cause its the only way they figure they can do the project. In your case if you get lucky and no issues it works out. But if your one of the ones who has issues it can often lead to more money spent to fix the issue.

I've personally learned that for me I would rather spend the extra money to get the quality I am after. Even if it means saving up another pay check or two.
 
I think it comes down to what part of a build you would want to cut corners on......Suspension and steering shouldn't be one of them. I've done it on both in the past and in the end, the money and time I spent trying to make it work correctly was equal ( Or more ) as spending money on quality parts in the first place.
 
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