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Choosing a suspension (hard Vs. medium)

I

iwannadie

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Gilbert, Az
Im going to be doing my suspension(most likely OME) at some point lol. Im just wondering should I go with the hard leafs or medium(normal)?

I kind of want to plan for an adventure type rig with front winch bumper, rear tire swing away later down the road. I dont plan on doing hardcore crawling of any kind, just trails nothing on the extreme difficult side. I want to be able to load the back down with gear as needed and pack in 4 adults and not sag(badly). The problem is, I wont also to be able to run with no gear at all also. Im worried heavy duty setup with no gear(driving to work) or just basic recovery gear on easy trails will make it handle sucky.

If Im on the trails will not having enough weight on the springs cause it to not flex out enough? Will on road handling and feel be thrown off, I dont mind a rougher ride really but if its really bouncy that will suck. I want the suspension to be able to work.

I hate to go medium then load the rear up and sag it way down and maybe cause premature wear on the leafs.

So, in basic; will having heavy duty springs suck in an empty jeep on and offroad?

My stock suspension now sucks so bad a few bags of grocery is enough to lower the rear a good inch lol. I can see the rear end get lower as I pump in a full tank also.
 
Go hard. You can always take a leaf out later if you want. I noticed with mine that after a few weekend rides the suspension softened up a little. It seemed to be way to stiff in the beginning, but over time the ride smoothed out. Almost to the point that I wanted to go with an even stiffer ride. A firm suspension feels a bunch better to me than soft and sway prone one.
 
Go heavy and get some good shocks (OME or Bilstein)
 
whompinxj said:
If you're that wooried about it then go with medium in the rear with adjustable air shocks for when you have a load.
Click to expand...
Are you serious? Shocks are not made to be load bearing at all. He could rip his shock mount clean off. Its the dumbest thing ever invented.

EDIT: if you meant adding air bags disregard.
 
lancey3 said:
Are you serious? Shocks are not made to be load bearing at all. He could rip his shock mount clean off. Its the dumbest thing ever invented.

EDIT: if you meant adding air bags disregard.
Click to expand...
My parents have a van with air shocks on it that are load bearing. You must be dumb.




I have the softer packs, with medium valved shocks on my 99, and I think its way to firm. This is on a street queen with no bumpers or the such. Im going to be taking out a leaf this summer I hope. Or switch to a softer shock.
 
Resuscitating a dead thread, rather than start a new one...

lancey3 said:
Are you serious? Shocks are not made to be load bearing at all. He could rip his shock mount clean off. Its the dumbest thing ever invented...
Click to expand...

Is this the general consensus? Has anyone tried it or seen it fail?

I'm finding myself in the same boat as iwannadie -- I daily drive my junk with nothing in it but a spare tire and jack. Then I load it up with everything but the kitchen sink to go wheeling, and the ass sags.

Taller springs would compensate for the sag, but give too much lift (rake) when empty. Heavier springs will support the weight, but will ride like crap when unloaded. And either way, a new spring pack is more coin than I want to throw at the problem...

Load-bearing air shocks would seem to be the perfect solution: air em up for more support when I need it, and let em down for a softer ride day-to-day.

Plus, as I understand the air system, it should still flex well. The only check valve it at the fill plug, so the pressurized air is still free to flow from one shock to the other. So as the axle articulates the air (and force) should equalize.

And I should be able to do it for about $100. I couldn't find much info on the Gabriel HiJackers, but Monroe makes 125 models of their MaxAir, with all the specs online. There's a couple that ought to work with BPE's...

All of which is meaningless, of course, if it's gonna destroy the shock mounts...

Robert
 
WrenchMonkey said:
Resuscitating a dead thread, rather than start a new one...



Is this the general consensus? Has anyone tried it or seen it fail?

I'm finding myself in the same boat as iwannadie -- I daily drive my junk with nothing in it but a spare tire and jack. Then I load it up with everything but the kitchen sink to go wheeling, and the ass sags.

Taller springs would compensate for the sag, but give too much lift (rake) when empty. Heavier springs will support the weight, but will ride like crap when unloaded. And either way, a new spring pack is more coin than I want to throw at the problem...

Load-bearing air shocks would seem to be the perfect solution: air em up for more support when I need it, and let em down for a softer ride day-to-day.

Plus, as I understand the air system, it should still flex well. The only check valve it at the fill plug, so the pressurized air is still free to flow from one shock to the other. So as the axle articulates the air (and force) should equalize.

And I should be able to do it for about $100. I couldn't find much info on the Gabriel HiJackers, but Monroe makes 125 models of their MaxAir, with all the specs online. There's a couple that ought to work with BPE's...

All of which is meaningless, of course, if it's gonna destroy the shock mounts...

Robert
Click to expand...

Carry less crap.
 
^^ Sometimes, that's easier said than done! But yeah, probably the best solution if possible haha
 
If you are gonna carry a lot of crap all the time(like myself) I'd say heavy load springs are what you would want. with good shocks you oughta be alright!
 
Nothing wrong with airshocks if you need them. I'm sure the shock mounts will hold up just fine. I'd be more worried about the barpins snapping.
 
FlexdXJ said:
If you are gonna carry a lot of crap all the time(like myself) I'd say heavy load springs are what you would want. with good shocks you oughta be alright!
Click to expand...

Well sure, but the whole point was that I don't carry it all the time, only once or twice a month when I wheel. And I've tried paring down the list, and that's still an option, but I'd like to try to make this work if I can.

So I'm just gonna go for it. The ShockShop will make me a pair of 26" Gabriel HiJackers, with the XJ ends on 'em (XP12 upper, L1 lower) for $128 shipped.

I'll report back, let everyone know how they hold up...

Robert
 
I run OME.
I run 1.75" soft (930) coils up front with 3/4" spacer.
I run 2" medium springs, with a full add leaf and an over load, as recommended/sourced by OME. Additionally, I have 1" longer shackels (1/2" lift)
Empty the rig sits 1/2" high in the rear.
Loaded (4 average sized adults, and approx. 400lbs of gear in the cargo, with a 33" tsl on a steel wheel on the roof) the rig sits dead flat.
As far as flex goes, it's lifts a rear tire the same time it lifts a front, and, it sits on the bumpstops front and rear.

empty;
http://members.cox.net/huddy31/beepss1rear3quater33.jpg
empty rear stuff;
http://members.cox.net/huddy31/P1011111.jpg
BTW, I learned I need longer shocks :).

get your leafs set up properly and you can forget all about this air helper stuff.
 
airbags are more "proper" than air shocks, but the shocks are cheaper and easier to install. I think air bag setups may limit flex if they don't have enough travel.

Also, for both they can be plumbed seperatly or together, together will flex more and will encourage body roll and act like the oposite of a sway bar.
 
srimes said:
Plumbed together will flex more and will encourage body roll and act like the oposite of a sway bar.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was thinking

Mike H. said:
Empty the rig sits 1/2" high in the rear.
Loaded (4 average sized adults, and approx. 400lbs of gear in the cargo, with a 33" tsl on a steel wheel on the roof) the rig sits dead flat.
get your leafs set up properly and you can forget all about this air helper stuff.
Click to expand...

I don't know you, so I really don't want to call you a liar, but that just seems hard to believe.

Four people would push 700#, 75% of it on the rear axle. The Swamper is probably 100, so you're probably adding real close to 1000# of load. 500 per side, netting just 1/2" compression, requires 1000#/in springs.

I don't know much about springs, but that seems incredibly stiff. My SuperDuty sags more than an inch with 2000# in the bed...

I dunno, I guess if you say so...
:dunno:

Robert
 
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