Need more up travel

[Jordyyywheelz17373]

There is a photo of it flexed out, but the problem I ram into is I’m out of up travel in my shock absorber. I just got high line fenders and really want to use all of it, but idk the best solution for it. I have a set of Absorbers with less travel, but then will I end up not having enough down travel and loosing articulation? Or should I weld new shock mounts higher up so I keep my longer shocks and gain the up travel? What are your thoughts

 

[imahnu]

Well to start with. Do you know how many inches of up travel you have? What shocks do you have with how much lift? What is currently limiting your up travel?

A lot of things can affect your shock travel so we gotta figure those out first. It’s very unlikely you need to rework any kind of shock bracket or mount to get this figured out.

 

[Jordyyywheelz17373]

Well to start with. Do you know how many inches of up travel you have? What shocks do you have with how much lift? What is currently limiting your up travel?

A lot of things can affect your shock travel so we gotta figure those out first. It’s very unlikely you need to rework any kind of shock bracket or mount to get this figured out.

I have rancho 55255 and should be somewhere around 4 up 6 down

 

[imahnu]

That would tell me you have roughly 4-5” of lift.

At full shock compression do you have any impending clearance issues?

Ideally it’d be best to cycle your axles up and down to figure out any issues you may have. Do you have stock bumpstops?

The easiest way without changing ride height would be using Bar Pin Eliminators on the bottom of your shocks. However that wouldn’t change much. Ideally you want to evenly split those 10-11” shocks as much as possible.

 

[Jordyyywheelz17373]

That would tell me you have roughly 4-5” of lift.

At full shock compression do you have any impending clearance issues?

Ideally it’d be best to cycle your axles up and down to figure out any issues you may have. Do you have stock bumpstops?

The easiest way without changing ride height would be using Bar Pin Eliminators on the bottom of your shocks. However that wouldn’t change much. Ideally you want to evenly split those 10-11” shocks as much as possible.

Yeah I have 4.5 inch lift coils on the front. And before I had high lines which was what that photo was I would rub a little, but also was on the bump stop, so now I have less bump stop and don’t rub on full compression. But now the only limiting factor is just up travel on the actual shock itself. Fully flexed it won’t touch bump stop and won’t rub

 

[imahnu]

Well you’ll want to be sure to extend the bumpstop so that stops the shock and it isn’t the shock itself which could damage them.

The only way you could easily increase your up travel numbers would be a smaller spring which I would do before cutting and rewelding the shock mounts. It seems (without knowing the specific numbers) like a 3” spring with a 10mm or .75” spacer on top of the spring would get you right where you want. Close to a 50/50 split.

Do you have the same issue with the rear?

Also, the bar pin eliminators would actually hurt your uptravel and give you more down travel. I confused myself earlier. My apologies.

 

[srimes]

View attachment 301003
There is a photo of it flexed out, but the problem I ram into is I’m out of up travel in my shock absorber. I just got high line fenders and really want to use all of it, but idk the best solution for it. I have a set of Absorbers with less travel, but then will I end up not having enough down travel and loosing articulation? Or should I weld new shock mounts higher up so I keep my longer shocks and gain the up travel? What are your thoughts

If raising shock mounts is an option do that! There's a reason buggies and desert trucks have their shocks sticking through the hood, and it's not simply because it looks bad-ass.

 

[Gollywomper]

You are in the same place as many of us. The best in my opinion is custom upper shock mounts. Then you can set your travel bias exactly where you want them.
In stock mounts and 4-4.5” lifts we are stuck in the 5 up 5 down range give or take an inch either way. Custom mounts can get you to a 6” either way.
None of that matters until you cycle your suspension and make sure you can use the travel without interference.

 

[jjvw]

Raise the upper shock mount about an inch to better split those shocks in half. All you need to do is open up the top of the mount to let the shock to fit though and recreate the smaller hole for the post.

 

[jjvw]

Well you’ll want to be sure to extend the bumpstop so that stops the shock and it isn’t the shock itself which could damage them.

The only way you could easily increase your up travel numbers would be a smaller spring which I would do before cutting and rewelding the shock mounts. It seems (without knowing the specific numbers) like a 3” spring with a 10mm or .75” spacer on top of the spring would get you right where you want. Close to a 50/50 split.

Do you have the same issue with the rear?

Also, the bar pin eliminators would actually hurt your uptravel and give you more down travel. I confused myself earlier. My apologies.

Let the shock be the final limit to travel. Extend the bumps to match the compressed shock. The purpose of extending the bumps is to make the jounces work they way the are supposed to and slow down the last bit of travel speed.

And he will be hard pressed to find a front TJ spring that will limit up travel where the shock is the proper size. Metalcloak is the likely problem spring depending on how much shock travel there is.

 

[srimes]

Let the shock be the final limit to travel.

Shocks don't really like that. At least throw on some shaft bumps to give them some help when you take a hit.

 

[jjvw]

Shocks don't really like that. At least throw on some shaft bumps to give them some help when you take a hit.

I cut those out. Explain the difference between a shaft bump and a bump stop jounce that is typically thicker than a shaft bump.

 

[srimes]

I cut those out. Explain the difference between a shaft bump and a bump stop jounce that is typically thicker than a shaft bump.

Shaft bumps go on the shock, so they always engage just before the shock bottoms.

Regular bump stops can do the same but don't automatically after changes are made. The metal cup is what really sets the limit. The stock front bumps are pretty soft and compress completely so cutting them doesn't get you much.

 

[jjvw]

Shaft bumps go on the shock, so they always engage just before the shock bottoms.

Regular bump stops can do the same but don't automatically after changes are made. The metal cup is what really sets the limit. The stock front bumps are pretty soft and compress completely so cutting them doesn't get you much.

I prefer Currie/RockJock bumps when I do an outboard. RJ bumps do not create a hard limit to up travel. The shocks do that.

 

[imahnu]

Let the shock be the final limit to travel. Extend the bumps to match the compressed shock. The purpose of extending the bumps is to make the jounces work they way the are supposed to and slow down the last bit of travel speed.

And he will be hard pressed to find a front TJ spring that will limit up travel where the shock is the proper size. Metalcloak is the likely problem spring depending on how much shock travel there is.

What is the particular reason for letting the shock be the final limit of travel on compression? Is it to gain that last little bit of travel? I was under the impression you would want to stop them like .5” - .25” away from full compression, but you’d know more than me.

I guess my concern would be that at speed it wouldn’t slow them down enough to not cause damage. Moving slowing I can see how that isn’t much of a problem for sure.

 

[jjvw]

What is the particular reason for letting the shock be the final limit of travel on compression? Is it to gain that last little bit of travel? I was under the impression you would want to stop them like .5” - .25” away from full compression, but you’d know more than me.

I guess my concern would be that at speed it wouldn’t slow them down enough to not cause damage. Moving slowing I can see how that isn’t much of a problem for sure.

The goal is get all the travel from the shock. Letting the shock give all of it's travel is not a concern for the shock.

 

[Gollywomper]

A shock can handle the weight during a slow transfer. It just cannot handle it in a fast beating motion. So if the jounces do their job then it is a slow transfer of weight before the shock sees a load. Usually only when flexing off road. Unless you think you drive rally cross or ultra 4.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I'm in the same spot.

I have rancho 55255 and should be somewhere around 4 up 6 down

that shock is 10.73" fully extended so there's 3/4" missing somewhere. I have the same shock with about 4.75 up and 6 down. I've tossed around the idea of the upper shock mount modification but I don't have highlines so I'd have to start fender trimming to get any more than about half an inch.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Raise the upper shock mount about an inch to better split those shocks in half. All you need to do is open up the top of the mount to let the shock to fit though and recreate the smaller hole for the post.

What are your thoughts on pushing the bar pin out of the lower end and running it underneath the mount with spacers as needed? Basically the same idea as the guy running sockets as spacers with the rear upper eye above the frame.

I know it drops the lower shock mount closer to the ground, but it's a fairly well protected area right next to the LCA. I'd only need about half an inch to get me to 5-3/8" each way.

 

[tworley]

Another vote for moving the mount. Get 50/50. It wouldnt take much to find out how much it needs raised and simply do what @jjvw suggested by enlarging the hole and getting a new top mount in place.