Pirate 4x4 banner

2014 F-O-A Shock Update?

70K views 298 replies 83 participants last post by  H8DWINGS 
#1 ·
So, how are today's FOA shocks. I know there was a period of bad press, but they're still around. How are they doing in 2014?
 
#5 · (Edited)
I don't get it. What causes them to leak? I got to say I have a set of 2.5's sitting in my shop for over 2 years that I never installed fully charged and they all began to leak over time. I assume that any shock manufacture would leak over that period. Is that true? I want so bad to a loyal customer because it allows me to spend my hard earned cash somewhere else.
 
#13 ·
They were always really good about getting me parts & service when I needed stuff. I just got tired of needing stuff.

Also, watching a reservoir endcap blow off, go through a piece of lexan, and almost nail a co-driver in the head during a race kinda puts a damper on things. I've personally seen 3 reservoir caps blow out on 3 different vehicles.

At the end of the day the cost difference is not going to be that huge in a rig build. One ruined race or weekend of wheeling and you might've well just paid it from the start.
 
#18 ·
When i bought mine it was during their Shitty customer service days. Customer service was handled by email only. It was a nightmare to get any info or a straight answer out of Chris i think was his name. I rember it taking forever to get my order (4 shocks and 4 bumps). then ended up buying parts to rebuild one of my shocks that never worked right from the start. I got it better but there's still a mystery problem with it. Not a race guy so i just dealt with it and moved on. Broke some parts along the way, mostly the cast spring adjusters. Replaced with billet. Once they were working i was, for the most part happy with them.

So a few years go by and i decided to replace a couple 2.0 air bumps with some newer 2.5's. Got the wrong parts when they finally came in. Got that straightened out. But the bumps stick when compressed. Wont come back out. It was only one at first but now its both. I gave up and wrote them off.

Last dealing i had with them was about a year ago. I ordered parts to rebuild 2 shocks that i wanted to re-valve. Parts order came in wrong.

I dont hate them, I dont feel the need to shit talk them. They have a product at a lower price point. If you dont mind a little extra hassle and want to save money, they will eventually work for you.
My pennies are currently being saved for ORI's.
 
#19 ·
I wouldn't run them even if they were free. I rebuilt mine and sold them asap...

Foa took nearly a month to get my parts out and took forever to get shims out. I had new resivoirs and the machining was so bad the ifp in the resi would wobble when moved. The wear band did nothing...

Theyre junk. I now have foxes. Theyre not much more, but thats what you pay for something that doesnt leak and work
 
#21 ·
My foxes didnt leak and only required nitro when they showed up, even came valved with what I wanted. Too bad foa couldnt do it...

Theyre leaking because of the machining. Mine had chips in the oil, nothing was deburred, one pistpm the shims didnt sit flat on, and with the wear band on the piston, it was still loose...
 
#22 ·
When I lived in Vegas I did business with them quite a few times, Nothing but good experiences. They seem to be trying hard to correct there previous issues.
 
#32 ·
My issues, which I have gone on about enough and are old by now, had to do with quality control and customer service issues that were so vast and pervasive in every aspect of dealing with them that they had to be systemic. While I will personally never bother with FOA again, I really was rooting for them in the beginning. I ALWAYS like to see a small company that can come in and beat the big guys' price point with a competitive level of quality and I will always give such a company a chance if I can. So rather than fuzz this thread up with more negativity maybe I can suggest that people who claim issues post up when these issues were (if you must post at all) in effort to stay more on track with what I feel the original thread intent was. That is to say that we all are aware of past issues (or should be by now), but are they still having issues? I will fairly admit that my issues are so old that any company with a half-wit knuckle-dragger behind the helm should have had more than ample time to address and rid the company of them by now. The OP is asking if that has happened. If you had older issues and are posting about them here that kind of unfairly skews what the OP was asking about.
 
#41 ·
Last year was my issue.

Took forever to send out multiple packages, each time feeding me bs that they shipped. When I asked for a number, they didn't have it.

Ultimately zukizzy went above and beyond, and sent me shims to cover what foa couldn't, even though I never met or purchased anything from him.

I have a video of the resi and how they came rebuilt. They were severely low on oil, to the point that the first two inches of the stroke was air...
 
#33 · (Edited)
I am so pissed at my time with FOA that after I replace them I will shooting them with a friends .338 and my 44 mag. That will bring this horrible relationship to a close.

FOA may have what appears good customer service on the outside but they will tell you anything to make you happy just leave you ultimately disappointed.


My Coil Overs..

Leaked during the build out of box
leaked after FOA rebuilt them
Leaked after two trips/ FOA rebuilt them and wound up with two completely different shim stacks in each shock
leaked after another trip out/I rebuilt them
Just leaked on a simple not hard core trip and popped the seal head over the snap groove.

I could add more, but just typing this makes regret ever saving the 250$ over real shocks.

My rear SAW's are older and don't even weep enough oil to grab fine dust.

I dont want to sell these, I dont want them rebuilt, I want them destroyed.....

EDIT: My rig is linked, strapped, bumped. and has no binding issues.
 
#35 ·
FOA's, leaked out of the box and rebuilt them 3 times…guess what leaking…

again

Bilstein 9100's…never a problem
ADS…unbelievable customer service, AWESOME shock
 
#36 ·
I've been running and racing with FOAs for a while now. the biggest problem for sure has been QC. the first thing that needs to be done before you ever use them is pull them apart and filter the oil and clean the chips out! all 4 brand new shocks had metal in them. i think all of them have leaked at least once or twice but its really no biggie, pull them apart and change the seals...its easy. the costumer service is a pain in the ass! JD will tell you anything to make you feel happy or good but its usually bs and 40 phone calls in one day with no answer then you try calling from a different number and he answers was interesting.
over all I'm still going to race with them because they're cheap and they work good enough.
im am really interested if the new piston design is significantly better since ill probably ordering some bypasses soon
 
#38 ·
uhmm, what didn't you understand about rebuilt 3 times…new seals and shock oil...
 
#40 ·
I've had 2 pair of the coil overs they worked good but leaked and had a lot of side to side movement in the shafts. I simply took them apart cleaned them up with all the top shelf stuff then sold them. Ran mic down and they weren't true so I honed and got it as close as possible. They held up long enough for me to save and get replacements(ADS) I ran their bump stops(FOA) and they worked great up front ordered a set for the rear and they refused to collapse even with zero nitro in them. Called and they sent new seals still no good....they refunded and let me keep the bumps, I gave them to a machine shop to check them out...they fixed them, I sold them. I've personally never had an issue with JD. yeah he blows smoke at times but has always came thru. I have a sponsored rig running FOA's and he loves them says they bend over backwards to get what he needs taken care of I guess that's the difference when you win your region in dirt riot. If your in the lime light they hook it up I guess. Either way they need QC extremely bad. QC equipment is damn expensive but worth every penny if your customers are happy which in turn creates more revenue. They have potential I just think they need to slow their roll and get QC up to par.
 
#53 ·
It's funny, everyone brings up old issues, I wanted to hear about people who bought with in the last 6 month.
I have the shocks, I like them, but when I got them I tore them down, cleaned, inspected, and put new oil in them. I want to say they are 3-4 years old.
 
#54 · (Edited)
Best thing I ever did for my rig was pull all the FOA crap off. I know why the p/o gave me his nitrogen tank and the pimp ORI charging kit when I bought it lol. After dealing with their customer service I just said screw it and changed everything out to FOX, it may have changed now and that would be great for them and their reputation. The only people I know who have ever gotten great customer service and products from them were people who are sponsored by them. Sold my FOA bumps to someone who was sponsored and he said that his race vehicles FOA's never had problems.
 
#59 ·
I have a set of 14" 2.0's on the front of my SAS'd Explorer. While doing the SAS, they sat for about six months, only used for mock-up. First trip out, they got super soft and started to bottom out. Pulled them apart and found that gas had gotten past the IFP and into the oil. Called FOA, they told me to purchase a seal kit because there were a "lot of variables" that could have caused that. Seal kit arrived, and they had sent me complete rebuild kits instead. Called Chris, he said to use it on FOA.

While resealing the shocks, I noticed it had been valved completely wrong and there appeared to be scoring within the reservoirs that went from end to end. Could not have been caused by the IFP movement, but most likely, by the fabrication process. Also noticed they had machining shavings and debris inside the shock bodies. Got the right shims, flushed them out, and put them back together. After charging, the reservoirs started immediately leaking out the valve end seals. Both of them.

Sent FOA (Chris) a long email about my problems, including a picture of the inside of one of the reservoirs. Chris sent me two new complete reservoirs and all new seals. Upon receipt, I took them apart, and noticed they had polished the inside of the replacement reservoirs. Now, they have worked without any issues for about a year. Before I purchased them, I knew nothing about coil over shocks, now I can rebuild one in my sleep. I also ended up with a bunch of extra shock parts.

Their quality control needs to be increased. I suggested to them they charge a few bucks more a shock and hire a QC person, and someone who loves their products and will be there just to answer the phone and help customers. When calling, its hit or miss on what you get because they all seem in a hurry to get off the phone, except Chris. He is very helpful. I was near the point of throwing them in the trash and getting another brand when they redeemed themselves by sending me basically everything but the shafts and shock bodies. I think they could be a great company if they only increased there QC.

Oh, and don't get the helper springs from Viper. Maybe they would work for a buggy, but with the round springs they overlapped when compressed, popped and did not stay level. I ended up getting flat springs from Eibach. Thanks to Dave's Off Road Supply, who I originally purchased the shocks through. He offered to pay for the seal kits to keep my business, but I declined. If wasn't his fault, why should he have to pay?
 
#60 ·
Howdy all! Just now stumbled across this thread.... been so few threads with any issues for so long I forget to search for them.
Kills me when people start with the "nut swingers" BS...when 95% of the people bitching are the same way only the opposite. Putting in their $.02 about issues they had years ago...

Anyway, like the OP asked...who's got feedback on the new stuff? I'd love to hear it, good or bad. I deal with very few issues thru the shop, so I have to assume it's going pretty well. Shit can still happen, but with the amount of shocks going out the door vs the issues we deal with....I'm pretty happy.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top