Harsh ride! Bilstein 5150s?

[lazyxj]

I ran 255/70 (stuff valve) with re3.5 coils (again, stiff) and it was not harsh at all

I run the 5150s on the front (with a winch bumper) and while I find find the shocks do not have enough damping for driving fast in whoops, they are fine for the street. Looking at some 5160s, with stiffer valving.
Temporarily, the rear has 5100 and I do find them to be harsh but that will change soon.

 

[XJLI]

I run the 5150s on the front (with a winch bumper) and while I find find the shocks do not have enough damping for driving fast in whoops, they are fine for the street. Looking at some 5160s, with stiffer valving.
Temporarily, the rear has 5100 and I do find them to be harsh but that will change soon.

oh ya, theyre no where near stiff enough for fast stuff. i know that now bc my current XJ is WAY stiffer.

 

[mikeswrangler]

Sorry have been busy this weekend. The lower arms do have a rubber bushing at the frame mount end. So they are not all hard joints.

I'll grab pics of the control arm angles but they are perfectly fine. Nowhere near being harsh angles.

The kit was used but barley. The Johnny joints were all tight and fully greased. All bolts I double checked and made sure tight.

Running the teraflex coils w factory isolators.

Small to large potholes all speeds.

I just ordered radius arm brackets to weldonto the lowers and I'm going to be converting it over to a radius arm set up this weekend.

It's most likely not the shocks because I'm running them in the rear also and it rides fine in the rear.

I will get back to you all after I convert over to the radius setup. Maybe the short upper arms don't like the 6" lift. They don't look to be at a horrible angle but who knows.

pics of the setup, front LCA angles, rear shackle angle??

the TF kit is all hard joints so they will make more noise, but what do your LCA angles look like?

perhaps a joint or two was bad out of the box? Slop in a hard joint with bang and clang . if the kit was used I would consider replacing all of the hard joints and then see where its at.

-are you sure the subframe thing wit the TF kit is all torqued down?


are the bushings in the shocks good? upper shock mounts are tight?

are the 5150s brand new or used? are you 100% sure they are not shot?

what coils are you running ?

did you by any chance leave the upper coil isolators out when you installed the coils? that will make a lot of noise on bumps.


what size potholes at what speeds?

 

[rockclimber]

.

It's most likely not the shocks because I'm running them in the rear also and it rides fine in the rear.

That doesn't really mean anything. The weight distribution of the vehicle, the spring rate, and the valving are all different.

See what the change to radius arm gets you, but I would not rule out the coils or shocks at this point

 

[bluejeepkid]

My 5150's and skycrapper springs work great..... I got the stiffer Valving of the two options

 

[SolarBell]

Maybe the short upper arms don't like the 6" lift.

I'm no expert, but from what I know, short arms of any type with a 6" lift will ride like crap. Especially if the uppers and lowers are different lengths.

 

[zachandandy]

Quick way to check if its the shocks, pull them and hit the nearest pothole.

 

[lazyxj]

I will get back to you all after I convert over to the radius setup. Maybe the short upper arms don't like the 6" lift. They don't look to be at a horrible angle

Well, there is the cause of your problem. 6" of lift is a lot with short arms unless dropped brackets are used. At 4" of lift, the difference in ride quality is very noticeable. At 6"' the harshness just gets worse.
Let us know how the radius arms work.

 

[rockclimber]

Quick way to check if its the shocks, pull them and hit the nearest pothole.

really?

 

[zachandandy]

I'm not saying run it up and down the freeway, but if your shocks are suspect, a quick trip around the neighborhood without them will let you no if they are the problem.

 

[rockclimber]

I'm not saying run it up and down the freeway, but if your shocks are suspect, a quick trip around the neighborhood without them will let you no if they are the problem.

maybe, but even if the shocks are too stiff, they are still doing work when hitting that pothole. without the shock I would think the ride would be worse. the rig will be bouncing around and he won't be able to gauge what the difference is.



I'm starting to think the OPs problem is springs anyway.

 

[clean4drxj]

I'm starting to think the OPs problem is springs anyway.

this with a combination of his longarm system working correctly (probabley not the right hardware), with the combination of stock uppers, it's really tough to determine without seeing the setup and knowing if it's Teraflex hardware or hardware store bolts thrown in there..

 

[FG Jeep]

I have 5150's with the 255/70 with a iron rock off road 5 inch. My ride quality has been very good. I also run around 26psi in my tires as well. If I air up into the 30's the ride significantly changes I still wouldn't call it firm but there is a noticeable difference. With my rig my tire wear is the best at 25-26psi.

A few other things to look at are spring rates and shackle angle. Cheap springs can ride real hard. Also if you are running a add-a-leaf in the back that tends to really effect ride quality due to the aal forcing the stock springs to arch differently. Are you running a stock shackle or a longer aftermarket one? The stock ones love to bind the higher you go. Also the stock ones tend to run some nasty angles with some of the taller lifts.

 

[rockclimber]

this with a combination of his longarm system working correctly (probabley not the right hardware), with the combination of stock uppers, it's really tough to determine without seeing the setup and knowing if it's Teraflex hardware or hardware store bolts thrown in there..

WTF do bolts have to do with ride quality?

 

[clean4drxj]

WTF do bolts have to do with ride quality?

a lot if the sleeve on the bolt isn't long enough and the poly joint is getting smooshed but the mount. why do you have to make me explain everything.. no common sense?

 

[rockclimber]

a lot if the sleeve on the bolt isn't long enough and the poly joint is getting smooshed but the mount. why do you have to make me explain everything.. no common sense?

Once again... wtf do the bolts have to do with the bushing sleeves?

 

[2001XJ]

I run the 5150s on the front (with a winch bumper) and while I find find the shocks do not have enough damping for driving fast in whoops, they are fine for the street. Looking at some 5160s, with stiffer valving.
Temporarily, the rear has 5100 and I do find them to be harsh but that will change soon.

See....this is opposite for me.....I like the 5150s (with 255/70 valving) for whoops but I will admit they "hit" harder than I would prefer when it comes to pavement and potholes or whatever (and yes, I run a Clayton Long Arm kit so its not due to short arms and DBs). I find they respond well to gradual but aggressive type terrain rather than short, harsh rebound type stuff.

I run 5100s (cant remember valving but know its stiffer since I have 200lb+ rigidco bumper with swing out and 35" tire) in the rear and LOVE them but then again I have a 40-45 degree shackle angle which allows for proper suspension travel.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

why do you have to make me explain everything.. no common sense?

because that was barely english? :dunno:

 

[lazyxj]

Recently changed the rear Bilstein 5100s for a set of 5165 shocks (255/70 valving), increasing the travel from 8.2" to 9.8".
Went out to Anza Borrego last weekend and a saw a big improvement in the ride quality, much smoother, without the bottoming out in big dips as the the 5100s did. The extra down travel didn't hurt either.
I would like to put a pair of 5165s on the front but don't know if the 255/70 valving or the 360/80 would be best for the heavy front end (winch and bumper).
90% of the XJ's mileage is on the street and I don't want to be beat to death on the busted up freeways.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

Recently changed the rear Bilstein 5100s for a set of 5165 shocks (255/70 valving), increasing the travel from 8.2" to 9.8".
Went out to Anza Borrego last weekend and a saw a big improvement in the ride quality, much smoother, without the bottoming out in big dips as the the 5100s did. The extra down travel didn't hurt either.
I would like to put a pair of 5165s on the front but don't know if the 255/70 valving or the 360/80 would be best for the heavy front end (winch and bumper).
90% of the XJ's mileage is on the street and I don't want to be beat to death on the busted up freeways.

You will want the heavier valving.