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Goin without shocks

Jeepguy91

Jeepguy91

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
Warsaw, IN
Now i am just asking around to see if i would do more harm to the xj or if i would be alright. I am putting a 3" rough country on my xj right now but am slowly gathering parts in for when i go up to 4.5". Now my question is, will i be alright to go wheelin without buying 3" shocks. I don't want to by the 3" ones and then turn around and buy the 4.5" ones. This is not my daily driver and this will be the first time i have taken it offroad so am going to go easy on it till i get used to it.

Mainly just wanting to make sure that i won't have any surprises wheelin without new shocks.

Thanks,
Ben
 
I took the shocks off my buddy's Cherokee and he could do wheelies if he mashed the gas on and off...
 
just throw the 4.5 shocks on it, i run 5" lift but run 7" lift shocks, they just limit the up travel a little, but you make up for it with down travel
 
Well i am doin my lift on a budget and just threw the 3" lift on there to get to my wheelin trip. Would it really be that bad if i didn't put shocks back on? Don't want to ruin the jeep on its first outing.
 
your axle may drop too much and ruin your brake lines. Do you have stock brake lines? I personally wouldnt run it with out shocks but thats my personal opinion, its up to you, you may beable to run the stock shock, you wont have very much drop down though
 
If you wheel it without shocks try not to drop off any ledges.
I drove back on road from my old mans without shocks and at speed it wasn't bad, but if I hit a bump at a slower speed it would bottom out and that wasn't nice.
Dropping off a ledge won't be nice at all, if you go without them for a while drive slow or expect a sore back, and some problems
 
Last edited:
Well i am still running stock brake lines and didn't even think about them being stretched out to far. Guess i will just run with the stock shocks for this run that way if i do drop off a ledge i should be alright. Thanks for the quick replys everyone.
 
As a temporary fix, you can go down to the local auto parts store and get a pair of shock extenders. They screw on to the top of your shock and give the shock an additional 1-3" of additional travel. IIRC, they were about 5 bucks.

OR

You can go here and learn how to make your own, thanks to Marcus at Go Jeep
http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoShockSpacers.htm

Hope this helps,

John
 
if you hit any sort of bump in the road, you will get a violent hopping until you come to a near stop.

if shocks would be the limiting factor in your suspension your brake hoses might be the limit now.

your gonna be hitting the cieling offroad constantly

on hillclimbs you will bounce violently and not keep the tires on the ground too effectively.
 
Just so that everyone know, this vehicle will NOT be on the road. Just going to an offroad park. Am going to look into the shock extenders to see if the autoparts stores near me have them.
 
A vehicle without any shocks is nothing but dangerous. You will lose control and ruin far more than a set of shocks. I suggest getting some shock extenders to hold you over until you lift it more and buy better shocks.
 
dont run it lifted with stock length shocks. you will more than likely extend them out hard enough to rip the mounts out, atleast thats what happend to me. the front might be ok, but the back upper mounts are pretty weak. just fork out the money for the right length shocks, it will save money and time in the long run.
 
Take the shocks off and drive it around your neighborhood a few times. I don't know about how "dangerous" it is to wheel without them, but 5 minutes bouncing around without shocks will give you a new perspective on why you need them in the first place.

If you can weld, cut and reweld the shock mounts on the back to gain a few inches. Marcus' Go-Jeep site (see link above) has a great write-up on it. Then you can cut some square tubing, drill holes in it for bolts and mount it on the top of the rear shocks to space them down a little more. You can do the same on the front on the bottom between the shock and the mount.
 
Do i need to weld or anything on the rear to move them? Don't really have access to a welder. And would my parts store have the front extenders?
 
Tommy_Harrell said:
I did that once, it sucked

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVKrzaH9nOk

the tree root would bounce the front, and then everything would go to hell quick. moving the rear shock mounts is quick and easy. up front run stock or with extenders.

HTH

Tommy
Click to expand...

Relocating is a good way to go. I started with a 3" and am now at 6.5" on the same shocks. I just cut off the old mounts, trimmed them down and welded them back on higher. I've also seen bolts used, just welded to the axle tubes.

Not the best pick but you can get the idea
36s021.jpg


don't run with out shocks
 
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