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Shock question for the jeepspeed guys...

Ba-Riedo

Ba-Riedo

has frame envy
Location
redmond/bellingham, wa
I hope you guys can help me out, this is sorta relating to the go fast stuff, but also the crawling. I DD and wheel my XJ, I like to go fast on the logging road that are between the trails up here, and faster on some of the trails but my suspension is really not up to par. It flexes pretty good but just doesn't feel smooth or good while I am going faster.

Up front I have:
-T&T customs Y-link, with JJ's on the front lower to replace the rubber bushings, JJ's going to go in the uppers at some point.
-Rusty's 4.5 inch coils and a 2 inch spacer.
-Skyjacker 12 inch travel nitro shocks.
-ACRO 1 ton steering
-RE heavy duty trac bar brack, brace and bar.
-Replacement upper bumpstops (poly) and some pucks for the lower stops.
-Currie Anti-Rock.

Rear:
-Rustys 4.5 inch leafs, rebuilt multiple times w/ more leaves.
-RE monotubes.
-8.8 swapped w/ DPG bumpstop extensions and upper bumpstops extended
-1.75 inch lift shackles (greasable).
-HD engineering shackle drop brackets.

Basically I want a smoother ride when I go fast, is this unreasonable? Should I just get used to being thrown around, I have WRX buckets and 4 pt harnesses installed. I know I should upgrade my shocks so do you guys think some 7100 bilsteins or what would work well for a crawler/DD/ guy who likes the skinny pedal?

BTW this is my jeep for those who haven't seen it, it weighs in at nearly 5000lbs with me, a passenger and gear for wheeling:

IMG_3241-1.jpg


DSCN0467.jpg


-Alex
 
You're not going to want johnny joints all around on your radius arms, especially for wheeling. As your front axle articulates, it also wants (needs) to twist, and needs the bushings for that deflection. Mounting them solid with the JJ's will limit your articulation and will be really hard on the upper mounts, and could break them off with enough force (going fast.)

Better shocks is always good, and the 7100's work very well.

If you don't have a cage, it is generally not recommended to use seat belt harnesses. If you land on your roof, and it caves in, there is no way for you get out of the way of the roof crashing down on you. If you have a cage, that shouldn't happen and the harnesses are good.

-Dan
 
Loose_Nuts_Enterprises said:
You're not going to want johnny joints all around on your radius arms, especially for wheeling. As your front axle articulates, it also wants (needs) to twist, and needs the bushings for that deflection. Mounting them solid with the JJ's will limit your articulation and will be really hard on the upper mounts, and could break them off with enough force (going fast.)

Better shocks is always good, and the 7100's work very well.

If you don't have a cage, it is generally not recommended to use seat belt harnesses. If you land on your roof, and it caves in, there is no way for you get out of the way of the roof crashing down on you. If you have a cage, that shouldn't happen and the harnesses are good.

-Dan
Click to expand...

Thanks, so are 2 JJ's ok? I mean the frame end and the lower ends? Also my halo roof rack is part of my full roll cage w/ a harness bar so I am ok there.

-Alex
 
Ba-Riedo said:
Thanks, so are 2 JJ's ok? I mean the frame end and the lower ends? Also my halo roof rack is part of my full roll cage w/ a harness bar so I am ok there.

-Alex
Click to expand...

The way mine are is Superflex (Johnny Joint) on the frame side of the lower,
Rubber bushing on the axle side of the lower.
Superflex joint on lower control arm side of the upper
and rubber bushing at axle end of the upper.

This combo has served me well with lots of prerunning/go-fast miles, as well as lots of wheeling.

-Dan
 
Alex - I've told you a bunch of times to get rid of one upper when you put hard joints in...

just fawking do it already... get rid of the passenger side upper - the drivers side cast axle mount is much stronger. Get the currie joint that fits in that mount, put a GOOD Quality 10mm bolt in there, and run it.




I really liked my 7100's in the 275/78? valving for the front...

with your rig, and the weight, that might be a good valving for the rear too...

I ran 12" short bodies in the front, and run 11" travel shocks in the rear, and could use all 12" of a 12" shock...
 
XJ_ranger said:
Alex - I've told you a bunch of times to get rid of one upper when you put hard joints in...

just fawking do it already... get rid of the passenger side upper - the drivers side cast axle mount is much stronger. Get the currie joint that fits in that mount, put a GOOD Quality 10mm bolt in there, and run it.



I've done that many times, before I went to the radius arms. While it worked really well, it had weird uneven brake dive. I didn't mention that because I think it would make it a handful doing the go-fast stuff. I haven't tried it with the radius arms though.

Whatcha think??

-Dan
Click to expand...
 
Alex the next time you're down here you should let me know. You can take a look at how I'm set up and we can go take a test run. ;) My rig was built to run rocks as well as fast desert driving (pre-Jeepspeed). Has been run through everything from Baja to Utah without a hiccup. We're running very similar suspensions and I think your setup will work fine by just adding a good shock.
 
ECKSJAY said:
Alex the next time you're down here you should let me know. You can take a look at how I'm set up and we can go take a test run. ;) My rig was built to run rocks as well as fast desert driving (pre-Jeepspeed). Has been run through everything from Baja to Utah without a hiccup. We're running very similar suspensions and I think your setup will work fine by just adding a good shock.
Click to expand...

Good to know, I should be down in your area next week at some point but I will shoot you a PM before hand. What suspension and shocks are you running?

-Alex
 
So I am adding BOR 4 inch flexy leaves to my jeep, I still need to decide on shocks, what do you guys think? Bilstein 7100's all the way around? Oh and can someone educate me on why the shocks in the rear are mounted at angles?

-Alex
 
Ba-Riedo said:
So I am adding BOR 4 inch flexy leaves to my jeep, I still need to decide on shocks, what do you guys think? Bilstein 7100's all the way around? Oh and can someone educate me on why the shocks in the rear are mounted at angles?

-Alex
Click to expand...

I like the 7100s for the price.

The only reason they are leaned in is due to packaging, hard to get a long enough shock in that small space.
 
Ba-Riedo said:
Thanks, so currently my shocks are hitting my DPG plates and bending the body of the shock, I guess I need to move my mounts inward a bit?

-Alex
Click to expand...

yes! if you are reusing the same shocks you can move them down a little also to accommodate the length you eat up by moving them in.
 
ECKSJAY said:
Sorry I didn't reply sooner dude. The suspension I'm running is RE front coils with ACOS and rear is a custom OME pack that was dialed in for trail weight.
Click to expand...


Did you ever figure out what was in that pack?
 
Loose_Nuts_Enterprises said:
I've done that many times, before I went to the radius arms. While it worked really well, it had weird uneven brake dive. I didn't mention that because I think it would make it a handful doing the go-fast stuff. I haven't tried it with the radius arms though.

Whatcha think??

-Dan
Click to expand...


Dan,
I'm not sure what you're talking about -

I was suggesting that Alex pull one 'upper' link off his radius arm style front suspension - leaving one 'radius arm' and one just really long lower.

I have a good friend running this in his rig, and it drives and works just like mine with the 3 link mid arm setup. Works great, no un-even brake dive or things like that - though he has a d30, so not the best brakes in the world anyhow.
He still drives his to the trails, so it sees time at 75mph as well as crawling at 1 mph...



With the OEM mounts on an XJ, I'd not recommend that anyone remove an upper link.


edit:

Alex - make sure that in no way does the 7100 EVER limit your compression travel... I blew the bottom caps off mine from bottoming out once. They never stopped working, but it never looked right. the 7100's dont have the nice bottom pad on them like the Fox's do, so you cant run shaft bump stops either.
Make sure to set your bump stops for both straight compression, AND articulation compression.

HTH
 
Last edited:
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