Suspension and lift kits are a major modification enthusiasts add and upgrade to maximize performance and capabilities on and off-road.
About a year ago, Dirt King (DK) decided to expand their already comprehensive lineup to include shocks. From everything we’ve seen, these guys strive to be the very best and we expect nothing less. With years of experience with just about every company, they have a great knowledge base to support their efforts.
If you spend time researching your options, you’ll run into several brands. The primary ones were chosen for testing and comparison. King, Fox, and Bilstein. These tests were focused to 2.5 varieties with reservoirs. Testing was done on a 3rd Gen Tacoma, with all the shocks being tested exactly as they are delivered out of box. In part one (linked above), we see the initial results.
Utilizing a standardized objective approach to testing and environments, non biased results were recorded and analyzed.
Bilstein came in first, followed by Dirt King, then King, and finally Fox. It was somewhat expected that they would fall high on the list. In the 50s, Bilstein pioneered modern shock technology. So it makes sense that they stand to continue to be at the top. At the end of the day, this testing gave DK the opportunity to continue to refine their tuning to try and land in the #1 position.
In part two (linked below), we see the updated blind testing to see if that was possible.
Part 2: Dirt King Vs. Bilstein
Equipped with everything learned in part one, their shocks were taken apart and a new tune was applied. The same series of tests were performed again.
In the second part, we see another round of testing and the results. Even with the impressive build of the Bilstein’s, Dirt King was able to come out on top.
There are few brands that go to this extent. In fact, many major companies, I would imagine to save costs, reuse existing tunes without enough customization to account for vehicle variability. With a vehicle specific approach, which takes considerably more time, they’ve come up with something truly special.
Final Thoughts
Our team has had the opportunity to test these shocks ourselves for over a year. I am running their 2.5 series on my personal truck. I’ve ran several major companies myself, and while they all performed as expected, the DK shocks have been amazing and really good out of the box.
With the latest updates, and new research and development always ongoing, I’m confident leaving a positive review. I’m looking forward to seeing where things go from here, but I have the utmost confidence in these products. Dirt King has a great reputation to begin with, and testing like this helps to reinforce that you’re making the best decisions with your hard earned cash.
