ADS shocks

After using this setup for several months, I wanted to provide an update for the gallery. I think I’ve put about 8k miles on since the install. I’ve towed 6k miles with an 5500 pound TT and have several off road adventures on this setup now.

I got new wheels and tires about 7k miles ago. New wheels are 17” vs the old 18” so I Picked up a little more sidewall. New tires are Toyo AT3’s, load range C. They are a lot softer and not nearly as stiff at my old cooper XLT’s load range E’s. Switching wheels and tires helped me understand just how much these components figure into the whole “how fast can I go and not destroy my truck” equation. More sidewall is more better.

As far as the suspension is concerned, it’s fuckin awesome. The rear leafs are nice and settled now. I’ve still been running the bypasses completely open on rebound and compression. The on road comfort is great this way and I can run trails pretty fast. Granted, I could probably get more performance from the rear of I play around with the bypasses, but I’m just kind of lazy I guess. With about 18-20 psi in the tires I can run 30-40 mph on some pretty rough roads (big potholes, dips, rocky) as long as I steer clear of the larger rocks that cause pinch flats…I’m still trying to find my pressure sweet spot for off road stupidity with this tire setup.

The bushings on the Deavers do creak some, but that quiets down once I get them wet or muddy.

The bypasses definitely click and clack, but it’s only really noticeable on road when my windows are down. I’ve gotten used to it and it’s just part of the deal.

The UCA’s are easy to live with the zirk fittings but I do need to get my alignment adjusted a bit. I’m noticing a bit of extra wear on the outer edges of my new tires.

Towing with the Deavers is great. No regrets dumping my airbags and stock springs. These springs get softer with more weight. You can really feel what “progressive” means with the 748’s. I have no doubt they’ll handle more weight from things like bumpers, chase racks, or extra gear as I add it over time.

All in all, I’m happy I upgraded. ADS is good stuff so far. These ought to keep me satisfied until I scratch the LT itch some day.

 

More updates:

Ram some trails last weekend and got the rear wheels off the ground by about a foot (according to my trail buddy following). These Deavers, bypasses, and hydro bumps are the shit. I had my wife and 4 kids in the truck and she was like “that was a pretty soft landing!” The rear definitely outperforms the front, but this system still has me smiling.

I definitely used up most of the travel on my hydro bumps with that hit but man do they help smooth things out.

 

Time to turn some tubes.

 

That’s awesome! I’ve been flogging mine for almost 50,000 miles now and still smiling every day. I’ll be rebuilding the shocks next summer, and may take that as my opportunity to upgrade to bypasses in the rear. It’s the only thing I wish I would have done different…

Are you still running all of the tubes wide open, or have you tuned them in at all yet?

 

Still wide open on all 3. I just haven’t found a reason to stiffen anything yet. It rides pretty smooth on pavement and I don’t think I’m overworking the bumps yet, even catching air.

 

Yea I was hoping to do more tube turnin with all these tubes at my disposal, but honestly running everything wide open has me pretty happy! I’ll bet if I ran harder and more often I’d mess with it more but it’s pretty plush on the road and soaks up my off-road shenanigans pretty well as is.

 

I’d be pretty tempted to turn some knobs…


Have you considered adding a couple turns to the upper compression tubes? Since you like the ride you have now, it may make sense to leave the lower (ride zone) compression adjustment alone and just add a little more damping via the upper tube to smooth the ramp up into the very top bump zone. Take a a little heat off those hydro bumps…

 

You know I might do this now that you guys are mentioning it.

 

What can it hurt? Since ADS uses staggered tubes, each “zone” gets controlled individually. You’ll keep the ride zone and just firm up the section right before bump. Might do the same on the rebound…

 

Have any of you run both the ADS 2.5 and 3.0? I’m wondering how much of a difference the 3.0 makes. Do you notice a difference at high speed and crawling? Mainly trying to understand how noticeable the dampening is and why someone would choose the 3.0.

I plan on carrying a lot of weight (Overlanding). The shop I’m having the work done at already ordered the 2.5 with clickers for front, clicker resi for rear with Dobinsons leaf springs, which is what they recommended. They said I don’t need the 3.0 and it would be overkill. I’m still second guessing things though. I’m already spending this much so what’s a little more to get the 3.0 is what I’m thinking. Just don’t want to regret later. Any input is appreciated.

 

IMHO, you should be fine with the 2.5” fronts for a slower overland rig, or just about anything that isn’t hauling ass in a serious way. The advantage of the 3.0” coilovers would be additional oil to absorb heat. In other words, you could run them hard longer.

If I were in your shoes (and was two years ago) I would spend that extra money on bypasses for the rear. The rear will likey do more work than the front, and you’ll be able to dial them in a whole lot better than what you can with smoothies with compression clickers.

I’ll be ready for a rebuild next year and will be switching to bypasses…

 

Yeah, my shop guy talked me out of the bypasses because of the clacking noise and the increased amount of dialing in necessary. He said since I won’t be high speed desert running, the resi clickers will be good for Overlanding but possible for a little higher speed running.

I don’t know enough about any of this stuff so I turn to others for guidance. Trying to learn as much as I can.

 

Big difference between high speed vehicle travel and high speed shock travel. If you crank on your clickers, you change the damping across the entire shock compression travel range. Doesn’t do anything to rebound. With a bypass, you can keep your ride zone where you like it, then have a firmer zone as it gets closer to full compression, and firmer yet just before bump. You can also adjust your rebound to slow down travel a bit more before full extension. Think of it as a progressive shock.

If a shop is suggesting that a clicker shock is superior to a bypass or that a bypass is a poor choice in general, I’d look for more opinions. Will bypasses take a bit to tune? Yeah. But then you’re as dialed as you can get.

I’m not saying I’ve been disappointed with my smoothie rears, but sure do wish I would have gone with bypasses after spending more time around them with others…

 

I ran 2.5s on my rig for a little and loved them. But like everything else after seeing some King 3.0 and ADS 3.0 in the wild I was impressed and would make the switch. Currently very happy I went with the 3.0 front and rear… can bearly hear the bypasses working unless it’s over small chattery bumps and G-outs but it’s Ohhhh so smooth compared to my 2.5s with some the hits on the trails and tracks. If you need a lead on some lightly used 3.0 Coilovers or rear bypass shocks DM me!

 

I will likely need 700# springs for Overlanding (heavy gear) which there are none for the 3.0. I actually spoke directly with ADS and they recommend the 2.5 up front and 2.5 resi for the rear. I won’t be doing all day high speed desert running. Mainly crawling/overland.

The bypasses are better suited for a consistent weight in the back but not for loading/unloading gear/weight from what I understand.

 

Having run smoothies and bypasses I'd never go back to smoothies. IMO bypasses are far superior in ride quality regardless of whether you're loaded, unloaded or in between. I used my truck with ADS 2.5 bypasses in the rear for construction work during the week and dirt fun on weekends. That was before going LT.

 

What are you doing during dirt fun?

 

When I had the ADS setup it started as mostly crawling/overlanding and morphed into higher speed desert stuff. I got the ADS bypasses to replace Fox 2.5 RR smoothies and they provided more droop travel as well as soaking up bumps better. Adjusting/tuning them isn't hard and adjustments make a really noticeable difference compared to the clickers on the Fox resis.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m going with ADS 2.5 clicker resi’s front and back with Dobinsons leaf springs. Not sure if that would be any different than the Fox’s you were running. Both the shop doing the work and ADS recommend the 2.5 clicker resi’s for the back for my application. I don’t see why they would try to talk me out of spending more money unless they believe what they’re saying, lol.

 

The length of the shock might have something to do it. I had a leaf spring expansion pack with stock leafs. W/o the expansion pack I'd likely have damaged a shock.
Have you spoken to Matt at MCM fab? He did all the R&D for the Tundra/ADS setup.

 

The rear ADS 2.5 resi’s have 12 inches of travel I believe.

 

If I remember correctly, they’re only a 10” or 11” travel shock. You’re getting Dobinson springs; how do those compare to a Deaver U748? ADS will send you a different shock depending on if you have a stock leaf pack or a Deaver. Curious which shock your shop plans to order!


And whoever just suggested reaching out to Matt at MCM is spot on. The only people that would know more about the ins and outs of ADS parts for Tundra would probably be Tyler or Carl at ADS.

Please don’t take our harping on you as anything other than positive criticism! It’s a big investment and we want you to love your new gear as much as possible.

 

Any one had or seen any issues with ADS since Holley bought the company? Trying to decide which route to go

 

Absolutely, I appreciate any and all advice/experience.

It was Tyler with ADS who I spoke with today. He explained to me that the Dobinson’s would be perfectly fine with the Deaver spec. My shop just prefers the Dobinsons. I believe he also said the rear resi shocks are 12 inches of travel unless I misunderstood. Maybe it is almost 12 inches but I thought he said 12. It is my understanding that they certainly get their numbers right. For example they say I can get 4” of lift with their coil overs and I asked if that was realistic because I hear other brands realistically end up less than the the specified maximum. They assured me that it would be 4” if I maxed it out.

 

You’ll likely see 12” of vertical axle travel since the shocks are mounted at an angle.

*Edit: Just confirmed on ADS site that the Deaver Spec shocks are 11" travel, regardless if bypass or smoothies. Additional vertical travel may be obtained with stock mounting locations, as they do not orient the shocks vertical.

If you get the fronts with 700# springs, they will likely come set for right about 3” of lift. There is definitely room to go up from there if you need. Don’t be surprised if the front shocks don’t come with the springs adjusted identically. Our trucks don’t weigh quite the same left to right, and this will compensate for that.

It took a long time (months) for my rear springs to break in and settle, but it sits perfect now. For a long while, I thought I was gonna need to crank the fronts up a bit, but I’m glad I didn’t.

 

Worth noting, it looks like Matt at MCM Fab has a 5% discount on ADS for a couple more days. He already sells ADS product for under MSRP, and is now an additional 5% lower. I just priced rear bypasses and it would be about $200 less than retail, including freight...

discount code is listed on his website till 8/31/23.

 

It sounds like you already made your choices but I'll chime in here. While I dont have any direct experience with the 3.0's, I bet they work a bit "better" than the 2.5's. My rationale is that anything a 2.5 diameter shock does, a 3.0 probably can do better. I run my truck pretty hard trying my best to be Robby Gordon on a budget, so you may not feel the need for the larger diameter shocks, but I actually wish I would have just gotten the 3.0 coilovers instead of my 2.5's when I bought my kit from MCM. I have the 2.5' trip bypasses, deaver 748's, and hydro bumps on the rear and I'd say (in my unscientific and crude analysis) that the rear easily outperforms the front on my truck now. I think if I would have went 3.0" on the front, the performance gap would have be reduced. Though, we're still talking about mid travel suspensions so they're all going to hit their limitations at some point...

In your sig line it says your truck is 4x2. I had a 2wd tacoma for a while and went lots of places in mountainous CO but man it sure is a lot easier to hit that 4wd button. I'd be cautious about the seriousness of your overloading if you're really 2wd. It sucks getting stuck in remote areas with nobody to help get you out...These suspensions are a pretty serious investment and I'd be sure about my rig before dropping the coin on a truck that was fundamentally ill equipped for my intended purpose.

Also, Matt at MCM is your guy for ADS stuff.

Pic of my latest romp. This was airing up at the trailhead after a muddy romp down a very rutted, potholed mess of a "road".

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have 2 Tundras. My 2000 is a 4x2. My 2020 is a 4x4. The ADS is for the 2020.

I spoke with Tyler at ADS and the 2.5 is more than adequate for my application. Plus, he said there is no 700lb spring option for the 3.0 and if I’m Overlanding, carrying a lot of weight, it’s something to think about. If I wanted to max the lift it provides, the lack of 700lb spring will not allow that maximum lift if carrying a lot of weight, aftermarket bumper, etc.

 

Ah I see the 2 trucks now. Big spender!!

I think you'll be happy with the 2.5's. It seems like the faster you go, the smoother they get. There really is no comparison to stock.

 

Well, I have had my 2000 since new, 23 years and still my daily driver, lol. The 2020 is going to be the weekend adventure/family overlander. I purposely bought this gen because it was the last of the Tundra V8’s. I was driving a Tundra before it was cool, lol!