SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1506040
THE FUTURE OF OFF-ROAD SHOCK TECHNOLOGY Elevated Speeds And Increasing Terrain Challenges Have Evolved The Off-Road Shock Designs Story by Stuart Bourdon Shock absorbers have been around for a long time, but those dampers of old didn’t look anything like the shock absorbers found in off-road suspension designs these days. We spoke with three of the premier off-road racing shock manufacturers to find out what they’ve been cooking up for off-road racers and off-road recreation. Bilstein, FOX, and King have all invented new ideas in shock absorber and suspension technology, either already available or ready to launch soon. Some of these great new ideas are designed specifically for racing applications, while others are meant to deliver off-road racing technology breakthroughs to the recreational off-roader for a weekend of fun. No matter what you’re looking for, flying fast over the whoops or cruising slowly through the rocks, these shock absorber manufacturers have the latest technology and vehicle applications to help you have fun playing in the dirt. King Shock’s Latest Technology King Shocks is not only the Official Shock Absorber of SCORE International, but the company has long been one of the premier off-road racing shock absorber manufacturers and continues to bring the latest in shock absorber technology to the market. Ramses Perez, Sr. Director of Marketing for King Shocks, gave us a peek at the latest current suspension technology and design that King offers for off-road racers. "The latest suspension technology for racers we offer would be our Bump Stop Bypass," said Perez. "It features externally adjustable tuning, high force generated throughout the entire shaft displacement, and a more linear and consistent force curve compared to the current emulsion-style bump stops. The new King Bump Stop Bypass offers the traditional King structure and design, including a large race-fin reservoir. King is the only one to offer this technology." When asked what King Shocks might be looking at for the future and what new suspension tech he thought might be right around the corner, Ramses said, “It’s challenging to predict with certainty, but considering the recent focus on ‘electronic shocks’, the next big idea in off-road suspension design could involve further advancements in adaptive and responsive suspension systems. This might include real-time adjustments based on terrain conditions, enhanced ability control, or even integrating AI to optimize suspension settings for peak performance.” Ramses also talked about their hottest new shock design for the recreational off-roader. “There are a lot of spectators at off-road races who want the best product possible for their vehicle too. Vans seem to be hot right now, and our brand-new Sprinter 2500/3500 4wd OEM Upgrade Kit is now available. We have also just come out with a 2022-and-up Toyota Tundra 3.0 IBP front and rear bolt-on Upgrade kit. Come see us at Off Road Expo or the SEMA Show– Toyota has introduced a few new trucks to their 2024 lineup with our suspension products.” Bilstein’s New Shock Developments Bilstein has been a player in the off-road shock absorber business for decades and a leader in new technology and vehicle applications. Bilstein’s Head of Marketing, Steve Von Seggern, filled us in on the state-of-the-art Bilstein shock absorber technology. “Our newest project has been developing top-level racing shocks for UTVs,” he said. “It was a three-year development process, and we wanted our engineering people to look at everything we already knew and all we could discover during testing and development into the best all-out race shock designed for UTVs.” Bilstein discovered during the development of its new UTV racing shock that many of the well-known UTV teams were losing races because of shock failures. “We were surprised because UTVs are lighter and smaller than trucks and buggies, but the suspension geometry is different and it works a shock harder,” said Von Seggern. “We spent a full year in durability testing driving the car as hard as we could until we broke something. We finally got to the point where we were breaking the car, but not the shocks.” Bilstein’s new UTV shock starts with an aluminum extrusion. It’s all hard-anodized aluminum– even the exterior parts. The new shocks are four-way adjustable, offering high and low-speed compression adjustment as well as high and low-speed rebound adjustment. Atypical of standard four-way adjustable shocks, this new Bilstein shock for UTVs offers an internal two-stage compression bump stop adjusted by a knob on the outside. There’s also a rebound bump stop that slows down the shaft speed of the shock. Von Seggern said, “You don’t need a limit strap and you don’t get a harsh ‘clunk’ upon shock ‘top-out.’ The compression bump stop and the rebound bump stop are ‘tunable’ and have their own shim stacks.” For the recreational off-roader, Bilstein is just about to launch direct-fit external-bypass shocks for lifted (3.5 to 5 inches of lift) Jeep Wrangler JKs. “We took all we learned from developing the race shocks and put it in a package that fits the Jeep,” said Von Seggern. “Bilstein has offered them for the Jeep Wrangler JL and Gladiator JT for a couple of years now. They have knurled anodized aluminum adjustment knobs. You don’t need any tools to change the damping. We’re also in the process of developing a kit for the new Ford Bronco.” “Next on the horizon would definitely be electronic on-the-fly control, but for now, we don’t have anything like that for the UTV,” Von Seggern commented. “However, we believe the technology we use on the Ram TRX shocks might be suitable for the UTV market.” FOX Second-Gen Live Valve Shock We talked with Dane Garvik, Marketing Manager of FOX Vehicles Group, about their latest shock absorber science. In doing so, we discovered the company’s biggest innovation within motorsports is its second-generation Live Valve system. Combining a fast-semi-active valve and Fox’s patented damping architecture, Live Valve can instantly adapt to changes in terrain and other inputs in real time. According to Garvik, the semi-active valve is controlled through an in-cab monitor to produce multiple suspension system performance setups. The semi-active valve has a three-stage system in the head of the shock package. Aside from the three-stage semi-active system, the unique oil flow paths for compression and rebound make next-gen Live Valve shocks special. “In most shocks, the compression and rebound adjustments affect each other,” explained Garvik. “When oil moves back and forth between the body and the reservoir, it flows through the same path. An adjustment to one affects the other. With Live Valve, the adjustments are independent of each other, and the system can increase compression while decreasing rebound." “The ability to control both compression and rebound damping on external bypass shocks has been available previously, but adding a Live Valve to each circuit allows the shock to adapt and adjust intelligently based on various sensor inputs such as speed, steering, braking, and inertia,” he added. “The separate control of compression and rebound damping allows the shocks to counteract body roll in cornering, moderation of brake dive and acceleration squat, and better control of landings.” Garvin also explained that during cornering, increased compression damping on the outboard shocks and rebound on the inboard shocks provide greater support on the outside tires. This decreases body roll as the weight of the vehicle shifts toward the outside of the corner. This helps lower the risk of rollovers. “For g-out scenarios, the Live Valve system increases compression damping on all four corners to prevent a severe bottom-out,” said Garvin. “It also increases rebound damping – which can be further fine-tuned between front and rear – to slow the shocks from rapidly extending, preventing the vehicle from bouncing out-of-control.” The FOX RAD (Race Application Development) program is the official name for FOX’s off-road racing development think tank. People with skill sets in every aspect of engineering are working directly with drivers involved in several different off-road racing venues ranging from desert, short course, rally, and rock racing. “The teams the FOX RAD group works with look for every poxssible way to improve the performance of FOX shock systems,” said Garvin. “It’s also their job to peek around the corner and look for things no one has tried before that might be the next big thing in off-road shock technology.”