The Best Shocks for Your F150 2WD Reviewed

It’s time to discuss shock absorbers for your Ford F150 2WD vehicles. Just to give you all a reminder, a shock absorber is not a piece of metal spring attached to your vehicle to stop you bouncing around, that’s the suspension.

The 5 Best Shocks for F150 2wd:

1. Rancho RS999909 Quick Lift Loaded Strut – the best shocks for F150 2wd
2. Bilstein 33-253237 B8 5100 Shock Absorber
3. FOX 983-02-045 Coil-Over Shock
4. Rancho RS5000X Gas Shock Absorber Rear Pair 15-17 Ford F-150 2WD 4WD w/6″ Lift
5. Monroe 171362 Quick-Strut Complete Strut Assembly

Top-Rated Shocks for F150 2wd List:

	Product name	Photo	Feature	Pros	More information
	1. Rancho RS999909		This is the Rancho RS999909 Quick Lift Loaded Strut	•Pre-assembled with coil spring and upper mount •Levels front suspension	More Information
	2. Bilstein 33-253237 B8		This is the Bilstein 33-253237 B8 5100 Shock Absorber	•46mm monotube design •Digressive designed piston	More Information
	3. FOX 983-02-045 Coil-Over Shock		This is the Fox 983-02-045 Coil-Over Shock	•Aluminum body •Teflon lined bearings	More Information
	4. Rancho RS5000X Gas Shock Absorber Rear Pair 15-17 Ford F-150		This is the Rancho RS5000X Gas Shock Absorber Rear Pair	•150PSI Gas Pressurization •Twin Tube design	More Information
	5. Monroe 171362 Quick-Strut		This is the Monroe 171362 Quick-Strut Complete Strut Assembly	•Pre-Assembled Upper Strut Mount •SAE-grade nuts and bolts	More Information

REVIEWS YOU CAN TRUST 

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A shock absorber is put into place to help reduce the transfer of violent impacts from rough road surfaces, reducing the damage to your vehicle’s frame, as well as maintaining your wheels tread surface on the road surface.

Tires are the only parts of the car connecting your vehicle to the ground. That is why the tires are perhaps the most important part of your vehicle, and you need devices to keep those tires on the ground at all times.

Shock absorbers are those devices; they are designed to push the tire back onto the ground as fast as possible after the tire is pushed up be hitting an object or to act as an absorber from the impact of the tire hitting a hole in the ground.

Don’t confuse shock absorbers with suspensions, although there are hybrid shocks that act as suspension providers too, essentially a shock absorber is part of the whole suspension system, and adds to the smoothness of the ride by providing better control and reducing stress and shock impacts.

OK, enough said about the importance of shock absorbers in the intro, this time to dive into the world of the shocks.

Best Shocks for F150 2WD Reviews:

1. Rancho RS999909 Quick Lift Loaded Strut – the best shocks for F150

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This strut shock absorber gives you up to 35” tire clearance and comes with 9-position tuning versatility that provides you with an amazing leveling and 1” to 2.5” lift to your Ford F-150. The liquid metallic finish adds that extra pimped-up look for attracting more attention. This strut comes with a coil spring and upper mounting plate and can be installed in a matter of 20 minutes per strut.

Now get ready for the deal clincher, it comes with SEMA MyRIDE wireless controller compatibility, so you can control these units from the seat of your cab. What an amazing experience, to sit in your cab and play around with your struts from your smartphone. The wonders of IoT are coming to every part of your vehicle.

2. Bilstein 33-253237 B8 5100 Shock Absorber

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What can be added to an already amazing product? The Bilstein B8 5100 shock absorbers provide you with direct fit compatibility so you can install them in mere minutes. These shocks come with a Zinc plated body that gives you extra protection from corrosion. The monotube design provides fade-free consistent performance, and the digressive piston design is a velocity sensitive method that reacts instantaneously to all road conditions, providing you with a smoother and more reactive controlled ride. The Bilstein B8 5100 is a non-nonsense smooth riding shock absorber for the professional working driver.

3. FOX 983-02-045 Coil-Over Shock

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OK, so you want something more impressive than just plain old shocks, if that’s the case, then you need to consider the Fox coil over shocks. The 983-02-45 model comes with an aluminum body that dissipates heat faster than steel and comes with an external reservoir system that adds to this heat dissipation, improving its efficiency even more.

This model comes with Teflon lined bearings that have been especially heating treated to add extra longevity and performance bearing properties. When extended these shocks reach 22.06” and collapsed are 16.635” which gives you a 5.425” extension range.

4. Rancho RS5000X Gas Shock Absorber Rear Pair 15-17 Ford F-150 2WD 4WD w/6″ Lift – the best rear shocks for F150

Not only are these twin tubes and filled with nitrogen gas, but they are also pressurized to 150PSI and provide you with an extra 6” of lift. Now, add that to the rear your F-150 2WD in you end up getting a raging bull for all kinds of off-road uses, as well as good for towing and holding heavier loads.

This model comes with a 2 ¼” diameter body which gives you increased fluid capacity and thereby improves the overall cooling properties. The pressurized gas gives you an improved spring rate that compounds any extra rough surfaces, leading to a smoother and more reliable ride. This model will work within an internal temperature range of -40^oF to 248^oF making this the preferred all-weather solution to your seasonal driving conditions.

The Rancho RS5000X series have a patented progressive rebound and compressions disc system that performs extremely well in low speed and early ride stages. This basically means that the system has an eccentric disc in the valve shim stack and allows an early engagement of liquid to flow, leading to immediate reactions to road surfaces. Ultimately you feel fewer shocks when traversing over rough terrain at low speeds, which improves your ride comfort as well as reduces risk to your vehicles overall integrity.

5. Monroe 171362 Quick-Strut Complete Strut Assembly

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Monroe is a company known for its performance-driven products, and the 171362 is no exception to this rule. These struts come with E-style bearings and SAE-grade nuts and bolts. They also integrated an optimized rubber-to-steel bonding surface and provide plated steel for improved durability.

The bearing plate will reduce and even eliminate steering noise in the front assembly, and the upper spring seat is designed to both help in supporting the weight of the vehicle while maintaining a steady and consistent performance level for the strut tower spring.

The coil spring is made of calibrated US Steel and is covered in a powder-coated surface to reduced exposure to corrosion. This kit comes with a boot and younger for each strut; this adds a protective layer to reduce the risk of wear and damage to the bottom of the suspension unit. They also come with spring isolators that eliminate any metal to metal contact, thereby reducing wear and noise.

What are Shock Absorbers?

As we mentioned in the intro, shock absorbers provide control over the wheels by maintaining contact between the tire and the road surface while reducing the shock of impacts from rough surfaces and obstructions.

From an engineering point of view, shock absorbers convert movement from the suspension system (movement = kinetic energy) into heat (heat = thermal energy), this heat is dissipated as fast as possible into the atmosphere. This process is what scientists call heat exchange.

Just imagine all the pressures transferred from your wheelbase to the frame of the vehicle when driving. Most smooth surfaces are easy to traverse, however, as well know, most roads are not smooth surfaces, and off-roads are not smooth at all.

This being a fact, if you let your vehicle ride along with the only suspension, you might enjoy a smooth ride, but your vehicle will take all the impact and slowly shake apart. Shock absorbers absorb these impacts, saving your car from destruction, and enabling you to ride along with full control and for a very long time.

Another aspect is the road holding performance of shock absorbers when your tire leaves the surface of the road you lose control over your vehicle. You cannot direct, brake or accelerate when your wheel is flying in the air. Therefore, you need a device that will keep your tire on the ground as much as possible, and that is the other reason why you need a shock absorber.

To sum up, in one sentence: shock absorbers reduce vehicle damage by absorbing impacts and provide better control by maintaining your tires tread on the surface of the road.

There are three types of shock absorbers, these are:

Conventional telescopic shock absorbers; these are basic pistons that contain either a hydraulic fluid alone or in combination with a gas-filled nitrogen chamber to reduce heat, the impact and improve tire contact with the road’s surface. Different telescopes are used for different purposes, so you need to consider where you are driving the most and for what purpose.

Strut type shock absorbers: these are spring-based shock absorbers with various spring attachments. Basically, they are a hybrid of a shock absorber and a suspension system. They come in a variety of models and designs, using different materials and prices vary. They provide shock absorption with some suspension properties.

Spring seat shocks:  these are the most expensive models, they are a combination of a strut spring type with a hydraulic piston and are meant to be used for heavy load bearing applications. These are full suspension and shock absorber parts.