Shocks...

Ok lets talk shocks. First just in case you don't know. 94 beater, D60's and 42's. Front 7.5" coil lift, rear bastard pack of F150 main leaf and hacked up alcan 6" lift pack and who knows what other leaf springs are in there. Now on to the question. I have run the same shocks on the front sense I put the D60's in a couple years ago. They are Rancho 5012 19" collapsed 32.5" extended. 13.5" travel. Love the travel on these things. However these are finally shot. I need new shocks and cannot use the same bc I need more up travel. At 19" of up travel they bottom out bad on every bump. I was thinking of looking for something that would give me more up travel but how much more? 2" - 4" is what I was thinking. I look at Rancho's shock pdf: http://www.gorancho.com/assets/catalog/Specifications.pdf I cannot seem to find any of these for Bilstein's or Pro Comp. anyone have links for their pdf? Also best I can find shock wise is 16.5 comp 28.5 ext with 12" of travel. Loose 1.5" of travel but that is fine. Monroe has one that is: 18" comp and 31" ext with 13" of travel. More to my liking but not enough up travel imho: There page is here: http://www.monroe.com/assets/downloads/english/08_MountingLengthSheet.pdf

Should I look at fox and king? IDK if I want to put that much money in a shock I know I will tear up though. Hell I get the Rancho 5K's for around $50 each and I like that for a beater. Any thoughts?

I had a few shock length issues with the old rubicon express shocks.

The total travel was ok but my ride height to full compression was only about 4.5".
It helped when I just moved the whole shock up an inch or so, but then my down travel suffered a bit.......Well, more than a bit when at full droop it pulled the stem thru the fender, needed limit straps.

My new shock setup is 14" travel MX-6 ajustables. At ride height I have 6" of up travel and 10 down with some hella strong limit straps.
It goes like hell across the desert with the setting on the stiffest position. Awesome control at low speed in the rocks. Couldn't be happier for the money spent.

The rear is another story, cheap emulsion, mounted with lots of angle to get the travel I need without going thru the floor. Works ok at speed for about 45 seconds, then they get hot, fade and become useless. Ill change it some day but it works fine at low speed in the rocks.

The Hard Struggler said:

I had a few shock length issues with the old rubicon express shocks.

The total travel was ok but my ride height to full compression was only about 4.5".
It helped when I just moved the whole shock up an inch or so, but then my down travel suffered a bit.......Well, more than a bit when at full droop it pulled the stem thru the fender, needed limit straps.

My new shock setup is 14" travel MX-6 ajustables. At ride height I have 6" of up travel and 10 down with some hella strong limit straps.
It goes like hell across the desert with the setting on the stiffest position. Awesome control at low speed in the rocks. Couldn't be happier for the money spent.

The rear is another story, cheap emulsion, mounted with lots of angle to get the travel I need without going thru the floor. Works ok at speed for about 45 seconds, then they get hot, fade and become useless. Ill change it some day but it works fine at low speed in the rocks.

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Tim what model number is that? Do you happen to know the comp and extended lengths? I'd love to have about 6" of up travel but I don't think I have that much. LOL!

No disrespect for your rig, but it's not exactly set up for high speed!

If I were in your shoes , I would run the cheapest 12" plus travel shocks I could find, mount them with enought up travel so that they won't bottom out, and add limit straps to prevent them from being pulled apart.

I'll see if I can find the extended and compressed lengths on my shocks.

The Hard Struggler said:

No disrespect for your rig, but it's not exactly set up for high speed!

If I were in your shoes , I would run the cheapest 12" plus travel shocks I could find, mount them with enought up travel so that they won't bottom out, and add limit straps to prevent them from being pulled apart.

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No disrespect taken... note I said beater. :cheers: Yes you are correct on the not set up for high speed. Yea I want a min of 12" and cheap. I will destroy them in a year or less.

why not redo your shock mounts for more up travel

ROBZ95Xj said:

why not redo your shock mounts for more up travel

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Would require extensive reworking of that area IMHO. I will do that when I go to coil overs in the next year or two. I need to replace these shocks now and need to do it on the cheap till money frees up next year for the coil over conversion. I have not been able to find anything but that one Rancho so far.

If you seriously plan on C/os just buy some cheap monotubes like RE monos or bilstein 5100. Or rework all your junk now and get real shocks that are threaded for spring hardware (almost all of them when you talk king bilstein fox etc) and just valve for springs, then when you make them c/o just revalve

XJLI said:

If you seriously plan on C/os just buy some cheap monotubes like RE monos or bilstein 5100. Or rework all your junk now and get real shocks that are threaded for spring hardware (almost all of them when you talk king bilstein fox etc) and just valve for springs, then when you make them c/o just revalve

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I cannot find a chart or pdf for the Bilstein's. RE? Rubicon Espress? Yes plan is to put on some cheap shocks.

I'd go with this. Should be valved heavy, application is for a f-250-350.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/exp-929508/applications

Under a hundred bucks shipped for two. 12.5 inches travel. No stem, so you'll need to weld an upper mount for the loop mount.

The Hard Struggler said:

I'd go with this. Should be valved heavy, application is for a f-250-350.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/exp-929508/applications

Under a hundred bucks shipped for two. 12.5 inches travel. No stem, so you'll need to weld an upper mount for the loop mount.

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TY sir. I might just do that.

For reference:

Boom.

If that pic is your current 13.5 ranchos, the 12.5 procomps will give you a little more up travel. Be sure to add some limit straps, your axle, tire wheel combo is heavy enough to pull that apart.


Looking forward to the Crawl!

The Hard Struggler said:

Boom.

If that pic is your current 13.5 ranchos, the 12.5 procomps will give you a little more up travel. Be sure to add some limit straps, your axle, tire wheel combo is heavy enough to pull that apart.


Looking forward to the Crawl!

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Yea walked out there and shot that with the phone a few min ago. Just got Andy @ Ironman to order them for me. He is a pro comp dealer. I support him whenever I can. Thanks Tim I was getting frustrated. I have thought about making a "shock tower" out of .25 plate that was basically a box that went into the engine compartment. IDK might still do that in the future. Yes I need to measure for limit straps and put some on. lol!

From that pic it looks like you have 3" of up travel and 10" of down travel with a 32.5" shock with a static ride height for the shock around 22". You want something that is more in the line of 17" collapsed, 30" extended, at a 22" ride height for the shock youll get 5" up travel and roughly 8" of down travel. proper bump stopping and limit straps are key here it would seem.

Awesome! Glad I could help.

I thought of doing the exact same thing. Box welded to the inside of the fender to extend the length. But I really don't need it with my current tire size, it rubs at full stuff now.

blondejoncherokee said:

From that pic it looks like you have 3" of up travel and 10" of down travel with a 32.5" shock with a static ride height for the shock around 22". You want something that is more in the line of 17" collapsed, 30" extended, at a 22" ride height for the shock youll get 5" up travel and roughly 8" of down travel. proper bump stopping and limit straps are key here it would seem.

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Trust me when I say that is only 2" of compression there..... Yes I have a plan for air bumps too much later but right now I just want to ride this thing at Uwharrie and Harlan this summer. I need more up travel and new shocks. So we will try this one. If it does not work I'll start plans on a shock tower.

The Hard Struggler said:

Awesome! Glad I could help.

I thought of doing the exact same thing. Box welded to the inside of the fender to extend the length. But I really don't need it with my current tire size, it rubs at full stuff now.

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Yea I do too... but IDC ATM! LOL! I would love to and plan on going to a 40'' sticky or something along those lines in the future. Probably when I spend the grand on coil overs. LOL!