MPOW33R

If you're gonna get upset, please do not read on =)

Look i have spent a lot of time doing the research, Im asking one more time
so that I can help myself AND others who do this search. Some things just are
not clear on which is better, so here it goes.

I have an 03 G55, notoriously known to keep dentists in business for
owners losing fillings due to such stiff suspension. MB switched it up a
bit and in 05 went with softer shocks but stiffer springs (per my readings)

Now a lot of people do the G500 or G550 or KONI shock swap,
but none really report on the difference other than WOW.

I want to know this :

Who has had the G00 / G550 or Koni shocks and can say
what gave the best overall COMFORT and performance .
Many complimented the G500 shocks were amazing and a
"must do" for city driving and amazing comfort but never
gave insight on increase on handling or loss.
Same goes for KONI and or G550 swap.

So can anyone chime in with which shock they swapped to and
what they gained and what the lost and if they could do it again
what would they choose. I myself use this as a weekend'r. No off rode 4x4 climbing no tracks or slalom events , just a cruiser inner city and highway with some long distance travel here and there -

My shocks are on the way out, I've lost fillings and my rear passengers
have headbutt competitions from bouncing around the streets of San Francisco from pot holes and whatever.

So before i make this change I would prefer to beat a dead horse and revive
it to give us a little more info. Ive personally loved every set of KONI
i have ever owned. I use them 100% of the time in every single car I have
ever owned since 97 and needed to replace shocks. My w211s had bags my c43
has Konis, My Audis have Konis My BMWs Koni's - My G55 .. well ill update after
this threads gets some traction. Somewhere down the line, someone will thank me,
for now please keep bashing to a minimum.

Jmoney87

Finally achieved the goal. Refined elegance, Nitto ridge grapplers 285/60/20

VaderOne

Jmoney87 - nice setup, looks right! Can you tell me what shock setting are you running on front/rear with your Nitto? I have been playing with shock settings but have not nailed the setting for daily driving in town. Thanks in advance.

Jmoney87

Running Fox 2.0 and I powder coated black the wheels

Mogster

Please delete this post, accidentally put it wrong thread.

Mogster

I just ran into this thread, and I'm suprised to hear such glowing reviews of the Viking suspension system. So, I have a question: how did you get the front Fox shocks to fit? did you cut out some of the inner fenders or modify the steering?

Reason I ask, I purchased the Thor Springs and Fox Shocks set from Viking about 3 years ago, and (so far) it has been a rather unfulfilling experience. The result was that only the rear Fox Shocks were installable without modifications. There seems to be no way to fit the front shocks without cutting out the inner fender walls, and on the drivers side, even then, I don't think it will clear the steering linkages safely, as there is no room for the remote reservoir, on either side of the truck. Without fitting the new shocks, I can't fit the new springs, due to the lift.

It seems like the shocks are made wrong, that the hoses to the remote reservoirs are just too short. But when I called Fox, they looked up the drawings and we measured the shocks, and Fox says they are correct, at about 5 inches long.

Alvin at Viking told me Fox should fix the shocks so they would fit, that they were made wrong, but Fox says they are correct already. I told Fox I'd pay whatever it cost to make the Fox shocks fit a G500. They said I would need to send measurements and photos and work with them to redesign the shock.

I'm baffled, and honestly I've been pretty discouraged that I spent $3K on this suspension which won't fit the G500, and so far has just sat in a box for 3 years.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Garret

The Butcher

I looked back at all my G wagon pics and this is the best one I could come up with for the orientation of the front shocks. You do have to cut the fender liner a touch, but it's just a fender liner. Not a big deal at all. I don't know if your G500 inner fender liner is any different than the G63, but that pic is from a G63.

shiann

Yes, you do have to cut to nicely fit the reservoirs in the front. If they supplied the front shocks with much longer hoses, then it would not be an issue to tuck the reservoirs in the engine bay or something like that. There is a user on here who cut a hole in the metal fender liner and fed the shock reservoir through and mounted it horizontally behind the wheel. I'll be attempting this modification and welding the fender liner back together in the spring.

They do not interfere with the steering linkage at all.

So Fox currently has been out of stock/production of their W463 kits for about a year, apparently to make changes to the design, but being the W463 kits sell very slowly vs their other applications, there really was no hurry. Double that the state of the world for all of 2020, they weren't available. I purchased the kit through Eurowise which had all the same issues. Had to do a lot of fender liner trimming to get the shocks to fit, and am still not happy with them, so will go back and redo it in the spring. Not sure when Fox will release their 'new design' for production or if it will actually solve any of the issues with the older kit.

The front suspension does make the largest difference overall for ride comfort. I found it night and day difference when compared to my G55k suspension. But of course you will sacrifice a little in terms of stability at higher speeds/corners, but I think the tradeoff is well worth it. I feel the Fox 2.0's adjusted to 6 clicks off soft in the front and rear are about as stiff/jarring as the G55k suspension, but turned all the way soft is a floaty ride. Somewhere in the middle like 2 or 3 clicks from soft I feel is the best compromise. I also have G63 springs and feel they are a little too stiff unless you run the Fox's at a minimum of 4 clicks off soft.