King vs Fox: 2.0 Remote Reservoir Coilover Comparison

[TRD]

I get asked a lot what the differences are with Fox vs King 2.0 Coilovers so I wrote an article to explain the differences. The article focuses on hitting the high points which impact durability, performance and value. All information is backed up with shock dyno test data and each brands marketing material.

The article focuses on the highlights and I'd be happy to answer any specific questions here.

I have been designing and tuning shocks since 2001 and prior to starting AccuTune Off-Road I was the chief engineer at an aftermarket shock manufacturer. I hold a patent for the design of their premium, frequency sensitive products.

 

[I Lean]

I read this earlier on the other site. Nicely written, and good info!

I was wondering though, if these are apples-to-apples comparisons? Price-wise they probably are, but I'm thinking Fox probably has a more budget-oriented line that would be more similar to the components in the Kings?

 

[bobdog]

Is there any reason to buy King shocks over Fox? Why do you sell them? I am in the market for some right now. How much info do you need to pre tune a shock?

 

[I Lean]

One more question: I saw in one of the photos, that King uses a machined aluminum piston while Fox uses a powdered metal piston. Any advantage/disadvantages between those?

 

[TRD]

I read this earlier on the other site. Nicely written, and good info!

I was wondering though, if these are apples-to-apples comparisons? Price-wise they probably are, but I'm thinking Fox probably has a more budget-oriented line that would be more similar to the components in the Kings?

Thank you. Fox has a budget line in their 2.5 series where the price points are very different.

Is there any reason to buy King shocks over Fox? Why do you sell them? I am in the market for some right now. How much info do you need to pre tune a shock?

The story is much different on 2.5" coilovers, I will write that article next. If you're running coilovers and bypasses it is less expensive to run King.

One more question: I saw in one of the photos, that King uses a machined aluminum piston while Fox uses a powdered metal piston. Any advantage/disadvantages between those?

Powder Metal (PM) vs Aluminum can get complicated, but the root of it is that with PM you pay up front for expensive tooling that gets you low piece price for a nice piston. With AL the piece price can be drastically higher, especially as you make complicated 3d machined pistons. The PM vs AL conversation changes though as pistons get larger. Small pistons benefit the most from PM because you can make small holes with square edges to optimize flow area. As pistons get bigger the % of area used by non-flow elements (wear band, tennon, min disk diameter, etc) gets smaller so you don't need to optimize the area as much and it becomes more economical to CNC machine. At the same time, it gets hard to find PM presses with the tonnage to do larger pistons so you end up paying a premium price or can't find a reliable supplier. In this particular case Fox has a price advantage but both deliver good performance.