shocks

[dalefan88]

so i measured for my shocks. i came up with front compressed 17 3/8" extended 19 5/8" rear compressed 19 5/8" extended 21" does this sound right? only about 2"s of travel.

 

[CJKrawler]

Did you measure at full droop, one axle up, the other down?

 

[dalefan88]

i measured it with one side jacked up. let the tire hang and measured. then jacked up the diff and measured compressed.

 

[CJKrawler]

Well, hopefully someone else chimes in, cause I will need to measure for mine when the time comes as well. I am out of ideas at the moment. If I had axles under mine, I might be more help . So, for now, I'll just watch.

 

[dalefan88]

im wondering since i have new spring that they are still kinda stiff.

 

[Old Dog]

The axle will droop and compress more on a ramp than on a jack. ie.
I can see a dirt line at the top of the shock shaft after wheel'n, I
can't make it compress that far by just jacking it up by the axle.

 

[dalefan88]

The axle will droop and compress more on a ramp than on a jack. ie.
I can see a dirt line at the top of the shock shaft after wheel'n, I
can't make it compress that far by just jacking it up by the axle.

thats what i was thinking. the closest shocks i can find at work are about 4" shorter compressed and 3" longer extended. not sure if the will work for me.

 

[Old Dog]

measure from the bumpstop to the stop and see how much the springs can compress befor the bump stops hit. You don't want your shocks to be your stops.
This will be the compressed lenght, you get what ever is left for your extended lenght.

 

[dalefan88]

measure from the bumpstop to the stop and see how much the springs can compress befor the bump stops hit. You don't want your shocks to be your stops.
This will be the compressed lenght, you get what ever is left for your extended lenght.

i just went out and measured and from the bump stop to the axle is 5 5/8"

 

[Old Dog]

I think your jeep is old enough that it has the short shock towers on it.
You should drop your bumps down some to like 3" and the shocks you have at work should work.

 

[dalefan88]

thanks old dog. the problem i have now is i smack the pistons in the front ones when i offroad hard or hit a big bump.

 

[Old Dog]

Your shocks need at least 1" more travel than your bump stops, that way the bumps can compress some.
If you put a 2 1/2" lift on it you should drop your stops about that much.
Just get some rectangle tube or something like that for a spacer and some longer bolts.

 

[dalefan88]

the shocks i have on it now didnt come with the lift. my brother in law had i think was about 2" lift shackles on it and i reused the shocks he put on from that. the rear seem fine but when i put the lift on i had to jack the diff up on the front to put the shock on.

 

[BusaDave9]

I have measured my shocks and their travel and here is what I found:
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]rear 21” extended - 16” compressed - 5” travel[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]front 22” extended - 14” compressed - 8” travel[/FONT]
None of my springs are stock. My front springs are narrower than stock but they articulate like crazy - 8 inches of travel and they twist much more than the rear.
In back the previous owner installed SkyJacker leaf springs but they don't articulate as much (still not bad at all). As a test I even removed the rear shocks and it's my springs that prevent travel. I did this test static by just driving into a ditch to compress opposite corners of my jeep. Since I made the above measurements a year ago my rear springs are sagging and the shackles are no longer vertical. The front narrow springs are still in the same shape and haven't sagged.
Wider springs are not better. The metal makes the difference as long as the shocks don't limit the travel.

 

[dalefan88]

I have measured my shocks and their travel and here is what I found:
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]rear 21” extended - 16” compressed - 5” travel[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]front 22” extended - 14” compressed - 8” travel[/FONT]
None of my springs are stock. My front springs are narrower than stock but they articulate like crazy - 8 inches of travel and they twist much more than the rear.
In back the previous owner installed SkyJacker leaf springs but they don't articulate as much (still not bad at all). As a test I even removed the rear shocks and it's my springs that prevent travel. I did this test static by just driving into a ditch to compress opposite corners of my jeep. Since I made the above measurements a year ago my rear springs are sagging and the shackles are no longer vertical. The front narrow springs are still in the same shape and haven't sagged.
Wider springs are not better. The metal makes the difference as long as the shocks don't limit the travel.

what size is your lift?

 

[BusaDave9]

what size is your lift?

I wish I knew. I guess about 5 or 6 inches of lift.
The front is lifted mainly because of the way the previous owner set up the shackle reversal.
The rear has about 4 inch springs plus long shackles.