PSA: Use protection, wrap your shaft

These are my ADS bypasses after less than a year on the truck and one Utah winter. Pretty disappointing.




I cleaned them up and was able to remove some of the surface rust, but the shafts are still pitted and the finish on the shock body is toast. I didn't detect any leaking yet, but probably only a matter of time until the pits on the shaft ruin the seals. ADS quoted me $325 for the rebuild, plus $88x2 for new shafts. I figure shipping is another $100 round trip = $600. About half the cost of a new set. Since they're not leaking yet, I sprayed them down with some Mavcoat and threw some boots on. Wish I would have had the boots on from the beginning.





FWIW, these are my old Fox Factory shocks after 1 winter. No pitting or rust except for a little on the top mounting stud. Two caveats, this past winter was much rougher, and I did spray a coat of Mavcoat on the Foxes.

 

That's really disappointing to see. Will have to pick up a set of boots for mine now I guess. Which ones did you go with?

 

Substandard plating on that shaft. Even with a boot it would've eventually pitted.

The seals don't stand a chance now.

 

I just picked up these cheap Pro Comp boots. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-Comp-s...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Tyler at ADS says they carry some too. Not sure if theirs might fit better than the cheap universal ones you can get. I should say that my ADS coilovers are still in decent shape after a couple years.

 

That's pretty disappointing. I don't know anything about the different types of chrome plating, but they say they use a "hard chrome" coating on their smaller shocks like these, and a 70 Rockwell chrome plating on their larger shocks.

 

Damn dude! That's really terrible! Did you send those images to ADS? Those pictures speak a thousand words and I would never buy that brand knowing this.

Oh, and hello my fellow Utahn!

 

Yeah, I don't know what that actually means either. But after seeing those pics maybe they should've gone with at least 71

 

I haven't sent them to ADS yet. I did send them to Matthew at MCM Fab where I bought them. He does a lot of product development and testing with ADS. Haven't heard back from him yet. What part of Utah are you in? I'm out in Vernal. Maybe UDOT decided to use some hardcore road chemicals this winter.

 

How does your frame look just out of curiosity?

 

Damn that's some disturbing looking STD's.... lol. Sorry to see and hear that happen to your suspension.

 

Frame on my 2014 looks fine. A little rust along some of the welds and some spots from where my sliders were mounted (rust is from the sliders not the frame). The aluminized steel exhaust held up too. Pardon all the red dirt.

 

Plating is good. But if its not enough it's bad. It's a quantity thing here as well as shaft material itself. If the shaft itself was quality stuff, then even if the plating was thin you shouldnt see issues like this.

When was the last time you've seen dirtbike forks and shock shafts rust like that. Even after years of abuse and multiple rebuilds.

 

That very disappointing I would definately reach out to ads and see what they say. After years of abuse and winter chemicals maybe but not that soon. I've also seen where the kings guys do not recommend the boots, they say no matter what moisture and stuff ends up inside the boot and then cant get out. They say to get some rubber flashing and zip tie it to the front of the shock and shaft that was the shafts are protected from rocks but can still dry out...doesnt sound pretty but maybe you could modify the boots for a similar effect.

 

I was actually thinking about doing this exact same thing. I am planning on cutting about 1/4 of those boots off and facing the opening towards the back to let stuff drain.

 

Brilliant! Post pics when done

 

I drove to St George in Feb for a Dirt Bike trip. Hit a nasty storm all the way down. I'm still pressure washing salt off from that one.
I have a cousin who lives in Vernal. I'm in SoJo.

My dirt bike forks have never looked like your ADS suspension. Perhaps they had a bad batch/run.

 

Glad I didn’t drop the 4k on ads. Jeez

 

I used to drive my prerunner daily in the snow and I spend a lot of time driving in the salty desert by the big salty lake. My kings, my fox, and my saws all held up to multiple salt lake winters better than that. Keep in mind the salt from the desert mud has done more to my vehicles than the road salt.

 

Bummer. Would like to see what response ADS gives.

 

Not to bash on ADS...but they pretty much said shocks are gonna rust. It's just crazy that mine were pretty chewed up after one winter. I live in somewhat rural Utah, and didn't do much highway driving in winter conditions. From what I could see, we used mostly sand in my town. I haven't heard of anyone else having the same issue with ADS, and I know there are a few guys running them in the rust belt states. Makes me think mine weren't prepped/plated/coated properly, but what do I know? Matthew at MCMFab said he would help me out on the cost of the rebuild whenever I get around to it.

 

I hear after a few years of marriage it’s not uncommon for the shaft to Get rusty.



Perhaps keeping the shaft well oiled in winter would help?

 

Man, I have been looking at places close to Cascade, Idaho.. but this kind of stuff is something I don't have to worry about in Texas...

 

Pros and cons. I'm in the same boat. Trying to decide between somewhere that has 4 season or somewhere that has insane heat. Neither place likes my kind though. I have a truck from Texas, so there's no rust. I would not forgive myself if it got ruined in a couple of years all because I loathe heat.

But this thread (amongst others) is slowly turning me away from ADS. Quite unfortunate because talking to some privateer race teams who have tried blue, black and, red, the ADS had the best valving and most concise product line. I would love to support ADS by buying their stuff, but I don't have a huge company bankrolling me and I'm not a racer (unfortunately).

 

I'm glad I found this thread. I've been wondering if I should do something to protect the shafts of my brand new shocks, and the answer appears to be a resounding YES.

 

Try a polish wheel and a Dremel for the shaft/pitted parts. Also spray rustoleum on the lower part.


ADS Off-Road Racing Shocks - Information, Pictures, & BS Thread


I have seen KING, FOX having the same issues unfortunately.

 

Man, those pictures hurt. I realize Utah winters are brutal but this really seems like an excessive amount of rust for just 1 season of use.

I'm not familiar with Mavcoat so I googled it. Are you saying you can spray the shaft with these? What about the coilover? Is this a better product that fluid film? That's what I've been spraying on my frame.

 

Mavcoat is designed for suspension components but Fluid film works as well. I use both

 

100% that is excessive for 1 Utah winter. For reference I saw similar corrosion on FOA shocks after 1 winter and my kings, fox, and saw shocks look better after many Utah winters.
In fact the kings looked great considering their age and the fact that they were popping out of the bed and mostly exposed to all the weather even when the truck wasn't driving. The kings had at least 5 Utah winters and had much less corrosion than those pictured by OP. The shafts and the bodies looked cleaner.

 

Steel-it on the bodies would probably work and last a good while too.