unbearably bouncy ride after IRO 3" lift

[dan1977p]

How much better did the ride get? Even with the new shackle and relocation boxes the ride is still ****ing awful
.

Did you anti-seize the bolts and torque them to specs after lowering your jeep to the ground? I would be half the ride quality improvements come from taking a shackle that has been seized in place and replacing it with one that is now free to move, allowing the leaves to flex. The other half comes from the angle improvement giving it more travel than stock and less resistance to that travel because the shackle resists less upward force when at an angle than when vertical.
Droop improvements are 100% because of the angle adjustment but you don't notice that part driving around the block.

 

[Rushin]

I have the bolts barely tight. Just enough to have free movement in the shackle and no side to side movement. the angle looks to be about 45 degrees.

is there any downside to removing one of the leafs from the pack? Other that loosing a bit of lift which I need to do anyway.

Or should I try giving even more shackle angle first?

 

[Rushin]

Here is what the angle looks like now

 

[dan1977p]

Is it still bouncy? If so, I would think removing a spring would make it worse. Bouncy, I would think, would be solved with shocks but I guess if you remove a leaf, your spring rate will be reduced so the shock won't have to dampen as much rebound. Have you checked to see if your shocks are blown?

 

[Rushin]

Shocks are band new. It's not boucy. It's more like the rebound is too quick. The ride is stiff over smaller bumps. I think the spring is too stiff.

 

[dan1977p]

Give it a shot. Shouldn't take long to remove the bottom leaf and see what it does.

 

[Rushin]

Havent had a chance to pull the leaf out yet but did have a chance to look at a couple other XJs with updated leaf packs. Saw one with about a 4" lift on the street and it for sure had way less leafs in the leaf pack. And it had stock shackles and stock shackle box with shackle angle being at 90 degrees. So I wonder how much better the ride will be with the boxes and one less leaf.

 

[Rushin]

Update: Removed the bottom leaf. The ride height is almost perfect. If I move the shackle up one hole it will be perfect. The ride itself is better but not the best still.

Its nice over big bumps but the rebound over small bumps is still a bit too quick. I bet its more of the shock issue at this point tho.

 

[Rushin]

 

[typerr]

Glad removing a leaf worked out for you. I feel my XJ rides great all things considered so the difference may be my Bilsteins versus your white shocks. I also have some rake but its not enough that I want to pull everything apart to move the shackle.

 

[Rushin]

Glad removing a leaf worked out for you. I feel my XJ rides great all things considered so the difference may be my Bilsteins versus your white shocks. I also have some rake but its not enough that I want to pull everything apart to move the shackle.

That's how I feel too. The ride is tiny bit higher in the back but I really don't feel like taking everything apart for a 5th time to fix that. Do you honestly think I will be happier with Bilsteins? they are about $350.

I feel like the rebound on small bumps is just a bit too quick. Like when I ride over washboard type of road the car bounces up and down. I do think its possibly related to the shocks because I have adjustable coilovers on my Miata and if I stiffen up the rebound I get the same results.

 

[xcm]

Go back and make a list of everyone who gave you the easy answer of shackle angle...

THEN ignore the next easy answer they give you.

 

[Rushin]

So i bit the bullet and got a full set of 31s. BFG AT KO2s.

the ride is much better now. Bigger tires roll over stuff so much better. Small potholes dont event exist anymore. I love it. And they are much quieter. Wife now says she will ride with me in the Jeep so that means mission accomplished. This was for sure not a $600 lift kit. A lot more money work and sweat went into this project. A lot more than i was expecting from a 3" lift.