New Guy Here With A Question About Suspension

[UKTJ]

@Skees A welcome to the forum from the UK too!

Contrary to some other views here I run the BlackMax shocks and I am very happy with them. I have a 2.5" suspension lift and a 1" body lift and have 33" tyres fitted. I have not encountered any issues with the shocks, but appreciate the off roading here is going to be somewhat different to what you experience in California. But I have not run Ranchos so can't compare the two. I think @Irun has had both on the same TJ, so he would have a very useful view

I don't think it has been mentioned here yet, but if you have not already found it there is a great resource here on springs and shocks https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/tj-shock-spring-specification-resource-thread.47846/. Sounds like you kjow your way around cars so at the risk of teacing you to suck eggs, that spreadsheet is good for picking a shock that helps you get a good balance between up and down travel.

Keep spending time with your father, at some point in the future (hopefully a very long time from now) you will not be able to. I would trade pretty much anything for another day with my dad now it isn't possible. I wish you both the very best.

 

[AndyG]

I'm very excited about it all, I just wish the circumstances were different. However, this is how it goes sometimes and I can be happy that my Dad is doing better and he will find a ton of joy in the Jeep getting some use and with his grandkids.

Thank you for the kind words, I greatly appreciate it.

Lost my dad last year- He just went downhill really quick-

Just being there like you are will mean a lot....to both of you.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Well I'm glad they're both there and installed lol that's good news. I know for a fact that those rear shocks are old (from 2004-2006) so I'm really hoping that the new shocks will help out a lot. When I looked at all the mount points before, everything seemed very clean. The truck has been in SoCal since 2003 and my Dad bought it from a guy in Arizona so no salt and it has been garage parked it's entire life. Also very low mileage still (~44k). I'm pretty sure the alignment is off, so that's something I'll want to get addressed. The tire wear looks to be sloping so I'm going to assume the alignment needs to be done. Once I get all 4 corners replaced I'll go ahead and take it in and have it squared up. Before I took it home, I climbed underneath and gave everything a very hard pull to check for deflection and there wasn't any movement on any of the suspension parts. I'll get back underneath it and give it a more thorough inspection. I'm also going to check tire pressure tomorrow because I wouldn't be surprised if the pressure was high. What would you recommend for PSI on these tires? Thank you so much again for your help, I really appreciate it!

I'm very excited about it all, I just wish the circumstances were different. However, this is how it goes sometimes and I can be happy that my Dad is doing better and he will find a ton of joy in the Jeep getting some use and with his grandkids.
Thank you for the kind words, I greatly appreciate it.

First, that your dad is in hospice care is outstanding. I worked for a charitable hospice for several years raising funds for it from donors and learned that the hospice staff people are just wonderful caring people. They'll take great care of your dad. I was always impressed with the nurses who choose to provide hospice care, they're a special type of person. Really.

For your 35" tires, 24 psi is great when your TJ is lightly loaded with just one or two people. 26 psi is good for when it's fully loaded.

It's hard to tell what your axle gearing is since it might have been regeared to run the 35's. But if you can give your RPMs on your tach at, say, 70 mph on your GPS I or many on here can calculate your axle ratio. I say GPS speed since it's unlikely your speedometer is all that accurate with the 35's and who knows if it was recalibrated for the larger 35's.

 

[AndyG]

First, that your dad is in hospice care is outstanding. I worked for a charitable hospice for several years raising funds for it from donors and learned that the hospice staff people are just wonderful caring people. They'll take great care of your dad. I was always impressed with the nurses who choose to provide hospice care, they're a special type of person. Really.

For your 35" tires, 24 psi is great when your TJ is lightly loaded with just one or two people. 26 psi is good for when it's fully loaded.

It's hard to tell what your axle gearing is since it might have been regeared to run the 35's. But if you can give your RPMs on your tach at, say, 70 mph on your GPS I or many on here can calculate your axle ratio. I say GPS speed since it's unlikely your speedometer is all that accurate with the 35's and who knows if it was recalibrated for the larger 35's.

This is right on the money- People just flip out sometimes about the low pressure we run but remember we have a tire made for an 8000 pound truck on a 3800 pound vehicle.

 

[RHanna]

Sorry to hear about your dad.

You've got several members already responding that give great advice. If you have the time you could take a ton of pictures all over the jeep, under the jeep, under the hood and you'd be surprised at how much some members could tell you about it. I've had mine since 2019 and I've already learned a ton from this forum. It looks like you have a custom roll cage and I can't tell for sure but it looks like the door surrounds are not on the jeep.

The Jeep looks awesome with the white and tan top and it looks to be in mint condition from the pictures you've taken so far.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Lost my dad last year- He just went downhill really quick-

Just being there like you are will mean a lot....to both of you.

My dad passed 6 weeks after being told he had lung cancer. Too fast, too sad.

 

[AndyG]

My dad passed 6 weeks after being told he had lung cancer. Too fast, too sad.

Jerry, dad just fell apart-

But it really appeared there was a deeper condition that he never did deal with - cancer likely.

I was looking at a picture of him in 2019 and he was so thin I wondered why we didn’t notice.

No easy out on losing our loved ones.

My assistants mother hung on with cancer for a year and a half or more and was just unbelievably miserable.

All I know to tell people is to be a strong and supportive as you can.

 

[TripMcneely]

Good Looking Jeep!

1st other I've seen with the same rims.

 

[Skees]

24-26 psi for 35s?

Okay awesome, I'll go verify pressures today and see what everything is sitting at. Thanks for your help

 

[Skees]

@Skees A welcome to the forum from the UK too!

Contrary to some other views here I run the BlackMax shocks and I am very happy with them. I have a 2.5" suspension lift and a 1" body lift and have 33" tyres fitted. I have not encountered any issues with the shocks, but appreciate the off roading here is going to be somewhat different to what you experience in California. But I have not run Ranchos so can't compare the two. I think @Irun has had both on the same TJ, so he would have a very useful view

I don't think it has been mentioned here yet, but if you have not already found it there is a great resource here on springs and shocks https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/tj-shock-spring-specification-resource-thread.47846/. Sounds like you kjow your way around cars so at the risk of teacing you to suck eggs, that spreadsheet is good for picking a shock that helps you get a good balance between up and down travel.

Keep spending time with your father, at some point in the future (hopefully a very long time from now) you will not be able to. I would trade pretty much anything for another day with my dad now it isn't possible. I wish you both the very best.

Oh hello there from across the pond! I actually lived in the UK for 3 years back when I was in the Air Force. Stationed at RAF Lakenheath, those were good but very busy times! What a beautiful country you have there. It was amazing getting to drive past buildings that were older than the country I came from on the way to work. I miss it over there, I'd like to vacation back at some point.

I'll definitely weigh everything out when the time comes, and I definitely need to take a look over that information in the link you posted so I can make the best decision for myself. Luckily, I don't need to really concern myself too much with road driving this thing because I have 2 other vehicles to drive (2018 Mustang GT that I've done some work to and a 2019 BMW X7 that I use to haul the family around). Either way, it'll be best for me to make this decision on my own so thank you very much for providing those resources for me to review.

I have been with him just about every day since he's been in/out of the hospital, he's been making some great progress. I've got him almost able to stand on his own then we work through tackling walking again. He's a very determined man, and he wants his shot to recover. So I told him if he wants it, he'll get it. I'm very hopeful for his recovery and he's willing to give it everything he's got, so as long as he's willing to give it everything I will be right alongside him. Thank you so much for your well wishes, it is greatly appreciated!

 

[Skees]

Lost my dad last year- He just went downhill really quick-

Just being there like you are will mean a lot....to both of you.

It is very scary how quickly it can all go downhill, 2-3 months ago he was fully mobile and completely autonomous. Now he's bed ridden and I work with him every day just to get him to stand, and he's still struggling to just stand on his own. He's doing great but there's a long road ahead, but he's very determined to see it through. I'm proud of him for not just giving up and taking the easy road because it would be 10000x easier for him to just give up and wither away. He wants to see his grandkids get older, and I'm thankful for that. I'm sorry for your loss, going through this with my Dad has really opened my eyes.

 

[Skees]

First, that your dad is in hospice care is outstanding. I worked for a charitable hospice for several years raising funds for it from donors and learned that the hospice staff people are just wonderful caring people. They'll take great care of your dad. I was always impressed with the nurses who choose to provide hospice care, they're a special type of person. Really.

For your 35" tires, 24 psi is great when your TJ is lightly loaded with just one or two people. 26 psi is good for when it's fully loaded.

It's hard to tell what your axle gearing is since it might have been regeared to run the 35's. But if you can give your RPMs on your tach at, say, 70 mph on your GPS I or many on here can calculate your axle ratio. I say GPS speed since it's unlikely your speedometer is all that accurate with the 35's and who knows if it was recalibrated for the larger 35's.

Yeah he was sent home as the hospital didn't really have anything left to do for him, they initially wanted to send him to a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) but I refused to allow it because he's been in one before and it was not good for him at all. I knew my wife and I could take better care of him alongside my step-mother. My wife is an ICU nurse so she's incredibly good at knowing what to be looking for and I have a background in fitness so I have essentially quarterbacked his PT. Hospice nursing is definitely a special calling, no doubt about that! Takes a very special person to be able to do that and be good at it.

I'll verify pressures today @ 24PSI and make sure everything is good in that regard, thank you so much for the recommendation. I will also see what I can do about getting the RPM's verified to see what gearing is in there. My Dad has an entire booklet of receipts for this truck, he kept everything when he had it installed. It's just the matter of getting my hands on it so I can verify everything. He should also know the gearing that's in it, I'll be sure to ask him today. He had a very experienced person help him kit everything out so I know there's a reason for every part on the truck.

 

[Skees]

Sorry to hear about your dad.

You've got several members already responding that give great advice. If you have the time you could take a ton of pictures all over the jeep, under the jeep, under the hood and you'd be surprised at how much some members could tell you about it. I've had mine since 2019 and I've already learned a ton from this forum. It looks like you have a custom roll cage and I can't tell for sure but it looks like the door surrounds are not on the jeep.

The Jeep looks awesome with the white and tan top and it looks to be in mint condition from the pictures you've taken so far.

I appreciate your condolences, I actually took your advice and went and took pictures underneath and also of the engine bay so I'm going to post them in this thread once I'm done with all of these replies. It's a very well kept vehicle that's for sure. It has some dings and what not, but it's been through a ton of off-roading in it's time. We've gone all over the place in this thing.

 

[Skees]

Good Looking Jeep!

1st other I've seen with the same rims.

View attachment 440181

Almost twins! I want to get some new flares like you've got on yours, my Dad has had some "bumps" on the current ones and they're kind of an eyesore lol. Yours looks fantastic!

 

[Skees]

Someone had mentioned taking photos of the underside of the Jeep and engine bay area so I went out and snapped some photos. If anyone notices anything and wouldn't mind chiming in I would greatly appreciate it! I'll attach the photos to this post. I also went out and started greasing all of the zerks I could find and actually ran out of grease before I could finish lol. Some of the bushing almost seemed to be completely dry, which could explain the "squeaking" sound when the truck shifts (which I absolutely despise lol). Where the long arms connect to the axle, those bushings had no grease in them whatsoever so I'm hoping this process will help reduce a lot of the squeaking.

Here are the pics:

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Nice pics and you have an OUTSTANDING winch, Warn's HS-9500i was a great winch. One of those was on my previous (stolen) TJ.

I suggest either placing a pre-filter over your cold-air-intake system's air filter asap, or converting it back to the OEM air intake box with a stock paper element air filter. That style air filter, aka K&N, is well known for being terrible at actually filtering dirt and fine dust out of the air in dirty conditions. I had one on my previous TJ and ended up placing two pre-filters over it, one over the other, to get it filtering a little better.

Note the last line of text in the below chart that was written by the ISO 5001 testing lab. I bolded it so it'd stand out. The last two are of my previous TJ's K&N air filter, I will no longer run that style of air filter due to how poorly they filter out the damaging fine dust and silica.

The two prefilters shown here are pulled up from their normal positions so both can be seen.

 

[Rickyd]

I would look into getting roll bar padding on those bars. It doesn't take much of a jostle to send a face into one very hard. A cut or a lost tooth can spoil a nice outing

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

I would look into getting roll bar padding on those bars. It doesn't take much of a jostle to send a face into one very hard. A cut or a lost tooth can spoil a nice outing

Looking at your profile pic, I'd say her teeth look fine. Will you show us yours?

 

[Skees]

Nice pics and you have an OUTSTANDING winch, Warn's HS-9500i was a great winch. One of those was on my previous (stolen) TJ.

I suggest either placing a pre-filter over your cold-air-intake system's air filter asap, or converting it back to the OEM air intake box with a stock paper element air filter. That style air filter, aka K&N, is well known for being terrible at actually filtering dirt and fine dust out of the air in dirty conditions. I had one on my previous TJ and ended up placing two pre-filters over it, one over the other, to get it filtering a little better.

Note the last line of text in the below chart that was written by the ISO 5001 testing lab. I bolded it so it'd stand out. The last two are of my previous TJ's K&N air filter, I will no longer run that style of air filter due to how poorly they filter out the damaging fine dust and silica.

View attachment 440232
The two prefilters shown here are pulled up from their normal positions so both can be seen.

View attachment 440233

View attachment 440234

Well thank you very much for those recommendations, I will be sure to pick them up then and get them installed. Depending on the price I may either get the pre-filters or just buy a new filter element. I have no clue where the stock setup might be so unless I can source an entirely new unit I would imagine I’ll still be staying aftermarket. Thank you so much for the help!

The Warn has gotten me out of trouble as a youngin’ so I’m very thankful to have it . I am considering getting a synthetic rope for it instead of the braided cable. Do you have any recommendations/opinions on that?

 

[Rickyd]

Looking at your profile pic, I'd say her teeth look fine. Will you show us yours?

Lol, i need padding too. But i don't have kiddos so it hasn't been a rush to fix.they aren't always mindful of where their heads shouldn't be