Front Architecture Choices
Each suspension manufacturer brand starts from a different assumption about your van, travel, and budget.
The market looks chaotic until you sort products by what job they actually think they're doing.
Strut Approach #1
Full coilover strut replacement
Our most popular request. Pull the OEM strut and replace the whole corner with a purpose-built coilover. Agile and King most commonly use this approach in the RIP kit. Spring and shock are one unit, with more oil and a larger piston.
If you're on a budget with a healthy strut: Put a coilover on top of the OEM strut.
Strut Approach #2
Adjustable conventional struts
This is a full Fox 2.5 coilover strut in the normal layout, with DSC clickers, sitting in Agile’s RIP system next to a ticket-matched leaf pack. Firm for wind and interstate, softer for chatter (Agile Performance Elite & Factory Race).
Pro: set-and-forget Agile leaves and mounts, with a clicker only where you asked for one.
Strut Approach #3
Inverted / rally struts
Owl flips the Falcon shock so the large body sits at the knuckle, more bearing area and more oil where a tall, loaded van puts side load. Three-position Falcon adjusters do the same soft-dirt / firm-highway job as the Fox DSC, in a different package, on Owl’s leaf pack.
Look for: Owl’s tabbed locking washer at the top hat. Washboard will unwind a strut that only relies on clamp load.
Shock Approach #1
Fixed Valving
The shock is tuned once and left alone. Fox 2.0 and 2.5 on the Agile standard RIP, the 2.5 just has a bigger body and more oil so it takes longer to fade.
Pro: no homework. The right default for highway miles.
Look for: 2.5 on a heavy van or washboard. A 2.0 that goes harsh after twenty minutes is out of oil.
Shock Approach #2
Driver-adjustable valving
A clicker lets you firm the front for wind and interstate, then soften it for chatter. The knob moves you inside a range.
Watchout: make sure adjusting your suspension is a job you want to sign up for.
Agile offers adjustable FOX packages. Factory Race uses 2.5-inch hardware with high- and low-speed compression adjusters. The controls change shock response, not spring rate.
Explore Agile for your Sprinter
See our recommended packages, compare what changes on your van, and build a quote for installation.
Fixed or Adjustable?
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Book a ConsultFrequently Asked Questions
Nobody wins. Agile is the set and forget rate matched system. Owl is the adjustable mixed use system. King is rebuildable race hardware that needs a thoughtful leaf pairing. Evictus is large piston capability at a large piston price. Choose the job, then the tool.
Start with the manufacturer's baseline for your exact shocks, then make small changes and test on a familiar route. Firmer isn't always better, and fully soft isn't automatically right for washboard. On FOX DSC systems, high-speed and low-speed refer to suspension movement, not van speed. If you won't use the adjusters, we usually recommend a fixed-tune setup.
Yes. Raising ride height generally raises the van's center of gravity. Correctly matched springs restore support and usable suspension travel, which can improve control, but they don't lower the center of gravity. That's why we match the suspension to the van's loaded weight instead of adding height for its own sake.