What You Didnt Know About BDS Suspension
December 18, 2020
Today we are talking about BDS Suspension. But who are they, where did they come from, and what does BDS even stand for? We're gonna tell you!
Table of Contents
History
So to get started on the BDS story, we need to travel back in time to a magical place where mullets and square body Chevys were plentiful and reigned supreme, the mid-’80s. So back then in a small town in Michigan called Coldwater, there was a relatively small, prominent in the industry, off-road shop called Sport Truck USA.
Well, they sold all sorts of cool truck accessories like the chrome step bars, the KC lights, Super Swampers, everything that was cool at the time on top of a lift kit.
Being off-road guys themselves, after doing this for a few years, they kinda came to the conclusion that they could build the lift kit themselves, market it, and support it better than the companies that they were offering in-store. So they got together, did a little research and development; and in 1995, BDS Suspensions was born.
Made in America
Now we fast forward a little bit to today, BDS is part of a bigger picture. BDS is now the flagship brand of the Sport Truck USA stable, which includes Zone, which you've heard us talk about, JKS Suspension, RT Pro for the UTV market, and of course 4x4 Posi-Lok. But even being owned by Fox, BDS is still there in Coldwater, Michigan with local employees, local fabrication, everything built right there, made in America as it should be.
Being a part of Fox gives BDS some awesome opportunities for engineering and upgrades with their Fox Racing shock component and their garage that they have to themselves to develop new products, so that's really cool on their end. This allows BDS to upgrade some of their systems from the basic monotube shocks to a Fox shock, to a Fox coil-over and really up the game with their lift kit offerings.
Technical Information
So since the beginning, since they were founded in '95, BDS has always had a focus on having the best-engineered aftermarket products brought to market.
Because of this focus, BDS has some of the best ball joint and CV axle angles in the game in the lift kit market right now, as well as holding accreditations like the FMV Assess 126 Compliance to not adversely affect factory ESC systems. This basically means these kits will lift your truck and still allow the fancy computer Stabilitrak traction control systems to work properly, and the truck won't know that anything has changed.
So it's kind of a big deal when you're talking about going to the mall in the rain.
Warranty
To back up their engineering, even more, BDS offers a no-hassle warranty on all of their kits and components. Now this means that you can go out, jump your truck, do whatever, break some ish, tell them, and they'll replace those parts.
In addition, BDS offers a team of lawyers. So say you take your truck into the dealership, and they're like, "Nope, we won't touch it. This thing has a lift kit on."
BDS is like, "No, dealership, there's nothing wrong with having a lift kit. Our lift kit is properly installed, is properly designed. You're gonna cover this drive train warranty." which is a huge plus on BDS’s side.
No other lift kit company offers something that awesome.
So this just proves that they really stand behind their motto, which is to use it and abuse it.
Off-Road Capability
Now BDS has come on as the leading lift kit brand in the whole mall crawler revolution, but these kits can take a beating if that's what you're looking to do.
They're designed like they say, to abuse it. This is an off-road lift kit. Go and jump this thing. You really could if you really wanted to.
Maybe don't do it if you're running 37s on 14 wides on 1500 is a little bit sketchy, but you know, the Jeep kits, things of that nature, they use these things. They're engineered out in the elements for use on the trail and in off-road parks. They're not to just go to the mall, just to go get groceries, even though they look pretty sweet when you're doing that too.
Issues
Like all the lift kit brands, BDS does have things they can work on as well. Being so popular, they do have issues with kits going on backorder, but they are addressing that.
They are moving to a bigger warehouse to hold more products, and they are in the process of hiring more people.
On occasion you get hardware bags missing, things like that. It's human error. It's gonna happen. At that kind of volume, you gotta expect an error every once in a while.
They only make up to a six-inch lift kit, while their biggest competition in that price point is pumping out seven to nine-inch kits getting you another three inches out of those trucks. If they could just come up with a bigger kit, I think it would help them a lot.
Future of BDS
What does the future hold for BDS? Basically, they're just gonna keep on keepin' on, which makes sense seeing as how what they are doing is working so well. They are the number one lift kit in the game right now. It's at the right price point, the right engineering, the right quality with that awesome warranty.
You really can't go wrong with a BDS lift kit, so why change what's not broken? That is everything that you need to know about BDS and why you should spend the extra money on a BDS kit to make your truck ride like it came that way from the factory while being lifted.
Popular BDS Products
1. 2.5" Leveling Kit Ford F150
2. 4" Suspension System 2014-2018 Chevy/ GMC 1500 4WD
3. 2" Leveling Kit Ram 2500 4WD
Conclusion
Oh, you probably still wanna know what BDS stands for. So according to Fox corporate, it stands for Better Design Suspensions. Now that is everything you need to know about BDS lift kits.
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