Pushing Potential Further: Everet Ericksen

Everet Ericksen’s career in suspension technology is a story of continuous innovation and passion for engineering. His commitment to pushing potential further and his forward-looking vision for the future of performance technology have made him a pivotal player in Fox’s product development.

?Everet began his suspension career with a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno, focusing on Magnetorheological Fluid shock absorbers for off-road motorcycles. After college, he embarked on a professional journey that eventually led him to interviewing at Fox in San Jose, California. At the time, the company was in its humble beginnings, so he opted for the larger automotive industry in Detroit, seeking a change of scenery and new experiences.? He landed at Tenneco Automotive (Monroe Shock Absorbers) in the Advanced Suspension Technologies Group.

Though Tenneco brought excellent experiences in shock absorber design and vehicle tuning, the dark winters and lack of mountains wore on Everet’s mind. Just as he was looking for his next adventure, a headhunter offered a return to the West Coast with Fox Factory, where he started as senior design engineer for the power sports team with a focus on new product development.? This was 2002.? The company had just moved to their new headquarters in Watsonville, CA.? ?In his first year with Fox, Everet recalled a huge celebration where the entire company fit into an auditorium, which is unthinkable now.

Everet brought to Fox his extensive experience with shocks and many miles testing at the big three automotive manufacturers’ proving grounds. He worked with industry veterans, which was invaluable in shaping his career and personal development.

His first project at Fox was a collaboration with Bob Fox and Dennis Wooten on the original Specialized inertia valve shock (the BRAIN shock).? At Tenneco, Everet had worked on an inertia valve shock, so leaning on his previous experience, he made substantial contributions in short weeks, giving life to a stalled project and seeing a successful production-ready innovation. This intense work sprint with the team, often stretching into late nights, resolved the project’s issues and gave his career at Fox a kick start.? It was also a cool opportunity to work closely with Bob.

?In the power sports group, Everet designed the first air spring shock for snowmobiles.? Sealing air at 40 below is a unique challenge that paid off with multiple snowcross championships and shook up the industry.? The skeptics said the Japanese OEMs would never adopt such technology.

“We ended up selling our product to Yamaha, which opened up a lot of opportunities for the company,” Everet recounted. “I think we're still selling the foundational design of the same shock that I designed back then. We've been selling updated iterations of that shock for probably 20 years at this point, which is cool to think about.” In 2005, Fox was expanding from snowmobiles to four-wheeler motocross.? “We sponsored John Natalie that year.? In 2004, he won one moto the whole season.? In 2005, with FOX Float EVOL shocks, he won 8 of 12 rounds and captured the AMA National MX championship. That was one of the proudest moments of my career because we introduced new technology with an ‘average’ rider and won a championship.? There was a real buzz about Fox disrupting the scene and creating a winning advantage. I was doing my day job during the week and flying to the Nationals on the weekends for race support.”

From there, Everet was the lead engineer on a Big-Bike motocross effort, returning to the market that Bob Fox pioneered back in 1975 and that seeded the company.? Everet designed the Podium RC3 shock and an innovative fork cartridge and Fox sponsored race teams like Star Yamaha for Supercross and Outdoor motorcross. We got a coveted 5-Star review from Jody Weisel at MotoCross Action on the Podium RC3.?

In 2012, Everet was challenged with starting a Research Engineering Group tasked with working on new technologies with applications to multiple parts of the business.? As a new engineering manager, he hired the first electrical engineers at the company – electronic shock absorbers were the future.

Everet is the inventor of LIVE Valve. ?“Setting up suspension is all about compromise.? Performance vs. comfort, roll control vs. tire grip, etc.? Electronics help break down that compromise.”? The project was initially started as a bicycle application, but Everet drew on his experience in the power sports group and opened up a parallel project to develop LIVE Valve on a SXS.? It was picked up by Polaris on the RZR side-by-side and then Honda with the Talon SXS and then the Ford Raptor.? The bike LIVE Valve was released in 2018.

?Most recently, the Mechatronics Group (renamed) was behind the release of Transfer Neo (wireless seatpost) and LIVE Valve Neo (wireless LIVE Valve) to much fanfare.? LIVE Valve Neo has quietly won the last 3 years of Enduro World Series with Jesse Melamed (2022) and Ritchie Rude (2023 and 2024).

Everet knows it’s difficult to predict the future technology and what product the market will favor. He has touched on incredible developments that pushed the envelope of what is possible. Everet continues to look forward, with many projects on the horizon. Despite the changing market, he knows the long-term formula for success is continuous innovation, which is in our DNA.

Editor's Note: This is the 50th anniversary of our founder, Bob Fox, developing FOX Air Shox. Be on the lookout for more stories highlighting the people behind the products who helped push potential further.