For decades, high-performance off-road shocks have followed the same manufacturing principles.
Machine the components.
Weld the bypass tubes.
Add cooling where possible.
Repeat.
While these methods have produced capable suspension systems, they also impose limits on what engineers can build. Every manufacturing process comes with constraints, and those constraints often dictate the design before performance does.
At Fundamental Motorsports, we asked a different question:
What if the shock could be designed for performance first—and manufactured second?
The idea behind our bypass shock started with one simple observation: traditional manufacturing hasn’t changed much in the automotive industry.
After spending nearly eight years leading metal additive manufacturing at SpaceX, our founder, Mike Torre, saw firsthand how aerospace engineering used 3D printing to create lighter, stronger, and more efficient components.
When he entered off-road racing, he noticed that suspension technology was still relying on conventional machining, castings, and welded assemblies. That presented an opportunity to rethink one of the hardest-working components on the vehicle.
The result was Fundamental Motorsports’ first fully 3D-printed bypass shock.
Every time a vehicle moves across rough terrain, its shocks are constantly converting energy into heat.
The harder the terrain.
The faster the speed.
The more heat builds inside the shock.
Managing that heat is critical because excessive temperatures can reduce suspension consistency during demanding driving conditions.
Traditional solutions typically place cooling fins on external reservoirs or use additional cooling circuits to help remove heat.
Fundamental Motorsports approached the problem differently.
Instead of moving heat away from the shock body, we integrated cooling fins directly into the source of the heat itself.
This design would be extremely difficult using conventional manufacturing.
Metal additive manufacturing allows complex cooling fins, thin-wall geometries, and integrated bypass features to become part of a single optimized component rather than multiple welded pieces.
Rather than removing material through machining, every layer is printed exactly where it’s needed.
That creates several advantages:
Instead of designing around manufacturing limitations, the manufacturing process adapts to the engineering.
One of the most recognizable features of the shock is its cooling fin geometry.
Rather than straight fins or conventional ribbing, the printed design flows around the body in organic patterns that resemble naturally occurring structures, similar to the spirals found in seashells.
The shape isn’t simply aesthetic.
It’s the direct result of designing for maximum thermal performance while minimizing unnecessary material.
Innovation doesn’t stop once a part leaves the printer.
Every design is tested in demanding off-road conditions, where heat, impact, vibration, and continuous loading push components to their limits.
Testing also means understanding where parts fail.
By identifying those limits, each iteration becomes stronger, more reliable, and better prepared for real-world racing conditions before reaching customers.
The bypass shock represents the first step toward a larger goal.
By applying aerospace manufacturing principles to off-road performance, Fundamental Motorsports is exploring how advanced metal 3D printing can improve not only suspension components but the future of automotive engineering as a whole.
Because the next generation of performance parts won’t just be machined differently.
They’ll be designed differently from the very beginning.
