2014 Honda shocks vs 2015 Honda dual rate shocks

[ohanacreek]

I swapped out the 2014 shocks for 2015 only $163 for the pair shipped to my house.

You can definitely see the dual rate setup.

The coils are visibly thicker on the 2015 shocks(left)

10.67mm vs 9.89mm

They are also larger in diameter at approximately 80mm vs 75mm for the 2014.

I had a 1.25" spacer (roughly 32mm) on the 2014 shocks and had 13.25" of clearance.
It rode like an empty deuce and half.

No spacer on the 2015 I'm sitting at 12" under the front skid.

No ridden yet, so can't speak for the ride yet

I'm going to make a custom lift to get 13 -15" under the front and that much in the rear with the preload turned down so the ride is better.

 

[bigc]

are those made by KYB also ?

 

[ohanacreek]

No idea. Can't see any markings on them with them installed

 

[Hondasxs]

Ya. KYB 4k24 is what's stamped.

 

[ohanacreek]

They ride WAY BETTER like a Cadillac and doesn't bottom out, probably could get it to but, not on stuff the 2014's bottomed on consistently.

 

[wyo700]

Glad to see this I was wondering about it. Probably will get some now.

 

[ohanacreek]

Fox Shock they are not, don't get me wrong.
Price is pretty good and it's an incredible improvement over the 14's, I've ridden one with Fox and WOW, then I looked to buy some and WOW.

The 15's are the best combination of spacers capability to absorb the fairly big holes at speed and the 14's soft ride.

 

[wyo700]

Ordered the '15 shocks yesterday from my dealer. $165 for the pair. He was unaware that they had changed and had another customer call the day before and asked about different shocks since the '14 shocks were so terrible. Glad these are available.

 

[bobbyhill]

Are you going front only?

 

[Hondasxs]

Yes. Only fronts.
I haven't been on a trail ride with mine yet, just around the farm. Though it eliminates the "bam" felt when bottoming out the 2014 shocks, it does not provide any additional lift. I have decided to still add shock spacers to mine to obtain a little lift.

 

[wyo700]

Ya only fronts for me the rears are fine. As long as it gets rid of the hard bottoming out and helps hold the front end up when going down hills I'll be happy. Hate the sound of it bottoming out and I have come down many hills where there is rocks on the trail and have hit them because all the weight going forward and compressing the front shocks.

 

[ohanacreek]

Yes. Only fronts.
I haven't been on a trail ride with mine yet, just around the farm. Though it eliminates the "bam" felt when bottoming out the 2014 shocks, it does not provide any additional lift. I have decided to still add shock spacers to mine to obtain a little lift.

Definitely improved the "bump" and softened a severe impact that with what the 2014's (no spacers) would have felt like "Holy$)(!+!, I tore the front end out from under it!" to a more mild "ok that was a bad hole" and has a fairly good ride over everything else. Where as with the spacers I felt every grain of sand I drove over because of the extreme preload.

I got my lift pieces finished, but haven't had a chance to test them out yet, going to in the next couple days, if they work I'll take them off and have them powder coated.

Side "B" Rear

Side "B" Front

Back if the napkin math tells me I should get my height back I lost from getting rid of the spacers.

I'm only worried about the extra "droop" the suspension will have at no load.

The Strongmade pieces I based them off of were @3/16", these are over 50% thicker at 5/16" so not worried about strength and I kept the additional holes so I could bolt in spacers as additional bracing using Grade8 hardware.

 

[ohanacreek]

Finally got a chance to add my modified lift. My math was right on. I got an additional 1.5" which is what I was hoping for, 4" total in the front, 4.5" in the back, In the front I don't have to worry about the droop angle. The factory mounts themselves prevent the tire from dropping any lower than the Strongmade lift. I had to compress the shocks a bit to get the holes to line up. That all makes me happy because I was most worried about the droop angle. I am now back to where I was without accessories and with the strong made lift. In the back I have the suspension on the middle setting. If I go all the way down on the preload I loose about .75" and all the way up gain about .75" (from the middle setting)

Going to have it powder coated and install it. For now I reinstalled the 2014 shocks and the StrongMade Lift to keep my tires from rubbing a hole in the floorboards.

 

[wyo700]

Got to try out the new shocks this weekend. Purposely rode it a little harder not slowing down like I used to when I would see a hole or something I knew would have bottomed out. All the riding I did never once did I bottom out. These shocks are a great improvement. Would recommend them to anyone that has a 2014.

 

[green02crew]

I have a 2015 and bottomed out hard while riding in Jericho park this weekend. Didn't seem like a bad hole either. So although better, they still aren't perfect.

 

[ohanacreek]

I have a 2015 and bottomed out hard while riding in Jericho park this weekend. Didn't seem like a bad hole either. So although better, they still aren't perfect.

Agree, Fox or Walker Evans they are not, but the improvement over the 2014's for $150 is worth it.

I have 28" tires on 12" wheels so I have a extra bit of sidewall to absorb impacts, over a 14" wheel. I rarely get the kind of impact with the 2015 shocks that I did with the 2014 shocks, that made me think I might have lost a corner of the suspension.

 

[Blaino517]

I also put the 15 front shocks on mine and they definitely make a world of difference! I came close to bottoming them out once, I felt it stop but never heard the loud smack noise like the old ones did... Well worth it imo!!
Also ordered the highlifter 1-3" lift kit and it should be in for this weekend!! im thinking I will put it on the 2" setting but not sure just yet

 

[Lynn]

Good information. Thanks for the post.

 

[Joey]

Has anyone changed the rears to the 2015 just to see if the dual rate shocks made any difference?

 

[ohanacreek]

Dual rates are not on the rear just the front.