Flexing to figure shock length.

I'm going to buy some new shocks and did a little flexin in the ditch out front to help figure how long to buy them. My present shocks are 16" compressed and 26" extended on front.
Fully stuffed and on the bumpstops the shocks have 2.75" of shaft exposed. I may add 1 more inch of bumpstop because I really don't want to do much more trimming on the front fenders and it is pretty tight in there.
Stuffed.

On the bumpstops. You can see the upper stop smushing arount the bolt holding the lower pucks in place.

Fully drooped the shock is the limiting factor in the front so I need more extended length. The springs are still seated top and bottom.

Like I said the present shocks are 16'' collapsed & 26'' extended. I intend to put Bilstein 5150s on front and they have a model that is 17.78'' collapsed & 29.70'' extended. http://www.bilstein.com/offroad_5150.php
Am I making any sense at all as far as choosing the right length shock or am I just barking at the moon? I will use the same kind of thinking to choose a length for the rear as well as long as I'm making sense.
Opinions please.
Here's some more ditch shots just for the fun of it. Funny thing, while I was out in the yard doing this a young fella in a 2wd Ranger stopped to ask if I needed a pull. Made me chuckle. :lol:

Thats funny about the ranger stopping. I've had that and funny looks pulling into the ditch on narrow forest rds to let vehicles by

Nice 2dr, I like the color.

no reason to get shocks that let you flex 3 more inches, it would just be unnecessary. you have plenty of travel as is.

Deadman 94 xj said:

Nice 2dr, I like the color.

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Thank You. It's Lapis Blue and is the original color. Kinda unusual.

unbolt the shocks and then flex it. those measurements are the new shock measurements. the shocks will be damaged if they limit the suspension travel.

SkyChi said:

Thank You. It's Lapis Blue and is the original color. Kinda unusual.

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Yeah, it's pretty cool color, never seen that before. I'd have to agree with the post above. It looks like it flexes fine the way it is. With drop brackets I'm not sure what more you'd get out of it. I know drop brackets are great, just doesn't seem like it would be much of an improvement.

That being said, if you need new shocks and have been limited by them, than measure what you have and increase where needed.

93XJLI said:

no reason to get shocks that let you flex 3 more inches, it would just be unnecessary. you have plenty of travel as is.

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I'm upgrading the shocks regardless of the length I end up buying. I'm really more concerned with the shock being the limiting factor in full droop or compression. As they are now I have had the upper rubber grommets pinched in two and lost more than once by the shock fully extending while articulating on the trail. Has anybody else had this happen?

With the drop brackets, Johnny Jointed CAs and Track Bar it does flex very well. Maybe limiting straps are needed.

Nice XJ. Good flex shots. I lived in East Memphis (East Winchester) in the 1990's but drove a Dodge Intrepid then.

I have the Bilstein shocks on my XJ, 10" travle up front and 8" travel out back. With the Bilsteins you will need some sort of adopter/s in the front especially on the top. They do add 1" to 2" of length to the shock that you need to figure in.

It is better to flex with your shocks disconnected to let the axle drop full so you could get a more precise measurement on the shock length.

Your suspension will droop until something stops it. If you use longer shocks, the limit comes somewhere else. Keep an eye on your brake lines and TREs and consider using straps to keep the limit where you know everything is safe.

techno1154 said:

Nice XJ. Good flex shots. I lived in East Memphis (East Winchester) in the 1990's but drove a Dodge Intrepid then.

I have the Bilstein shocks on my XJ, 10" travle up front and 8" travel out back. With the Bilsteins you will need some sort of adopter/s in the front especially on the top. They do add 1" to 2" of length to the shock that you need to figure in.

It is better to flex with your shocks disconnected to let the axle drop full so you could get a more precise measurement on the shock length.

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Thanks. Actually we escaped King Willies rule some time ago and moved to Hickory Withe. The man is insane.

I'm going to fab. a set of these: http://store.jksmfg.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SHOCKCONV&Store_Code=JKS01&Category_Code=Shock to get away from the stem and flat grommets used in the stock configuration.

As soon as the sun comes up I'm going to onbolt the top of the front shocks and drive through the ditch again. We'll see what happens.

Deadman 94 xj said:

Nice 2dr, I like the color.

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x2 lapis blue isa good one

What Rd said:

Your suspension will droop until something stops it. If you use longer shocks, the limit comes somewhere else. Keep an eye on your brake lines and TREs and consider using straps to keep the limit where you know everything is safe.

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I thought that limiting travel in either direction with the shocks was taboo. Apparently I was wrong on the extension side. By adding these: http://store.jksmfg.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SHOCKCONV&Store_Code=JKS01&Category_Code=Shock I will actually gain a little droop with the same length shock and be rid of the stem and grommet configuration that has failed in the past.

With the amount of droop I now have there is no binding anwhere but I doubt the TREs can do much more. I did modify the TR at the pitman arm to center it in it's range of motion while at the static position of my suspension. I took a new MOOG piece and put a 15* bend in the shaft between the head and threads on the press brake at work. I did Mag. Particle and Dye Penetrant test the shaft after bending it to make sure there were no cracks. I'm a little anal like that but I have the facilities so why not. I'd hate to find out I cracked it by it breaking going down the road at 70mph.

I appreciate everyones input. Seems like a set of 16/26" length shocks is about right. One more trip to the flexin ditch and I think I'll be ready to order up the new Bilsteins.

I put it back in the ditch with the front shocks undone on top and got this.

Even more droop but springs are unseated and I'm at the outer limits of about everything. Brakelimes where they are mounted at the top now, CA Johnny Joint rotation and Track Bar JJ are at their limits. The measurement from bottom eye to the bottom of the shock tower is 29''.


You can see a 3'' gap between the shock tower and the shock grommet and about the same amount of spring unseatedness.


I believe I'll stick with a 16/26'' length 5150 on the front with the eye conversion pieces like the JKS parts I mentioned above.. While this extra droop may be ''cool'' it's really streaching the limits of everything involved and reliability has always been important to me.

Here's a pic of the modded TRE at the piman arm and maxxed out TB JJ.

Well I got the 5150s mounted with the fancy homemade shock adapters and BPEs I fabbed. I integrated some limiting strap mounts into them and made a set of straps to match. With the straps and proper bumpstopping the shocks no longer limit extension or compression and use close to all of their travel. The 5150s work great. Very stable but not too stiff. I like um. I like my homemade gizmos too. They save a little cash and I can say "I done dat".

i like that set up! if ya dont mind me asking what did it run ya?

DesertRunner said:

i like that set up! if ya dont mind me asking what did it run ya?

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I machined/fabbed all the pieces while at work and the materials were salvaged from scrap bins. Total cost $0.

nice! love that price!

that is a nice front set up. i have been trying to figure out where to mount straps for the front of mine and that looks like a very good setup.:cheers:

a1racer said:

that is a nice front set up. i have been trying to figure out where to mount straps for the front of mine and that looks like a very good setup.:cheers:

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X2!! Good calculations for a good setup!! :worship: Im MOST impressed and i think im gonna bite off of this threads info and go do some measuring myself!!!