Longer control arms for more articulation

[starkey480]

What’s the best way to move my front upper shock mount up an inch or two ?

It may take a while but you’ll be pretty equipped to think through this project and many more if you go read @jjvw s build thread. He moved his front upper mount up for the purpose of increasing uptravel at one point. There should be a picture in there

 

[taylormade73]

which axle would be the easier to do First ? I am about to replace my gas tank skid plate. So I’ll have the tank out of the way if that would help ?

No. You'll want your gas tank and skid in there while you're cycling your axles checking for clearances. Your gas tank skid and or gas tank are common areas of interference with a rear track bar and diff.

 

[Eddie Greenlee]

No. You'll want your gas tank and skid in there while you're cycling your axles checking for clearances. Your gas tank skid and or gas tank are common areas of interference with a rear track bar and diff.

 

[Plumber1]

Fronts are 10.73" travel
Rears are 9.66" travel

After relocation, typical shock travels are 11" front and 12" rear, with those travels divided in half up/down.

As far as the fronts go that seams like a lot of work to pick up a 1/4" of travel. Am I missing something ?

 

[starkey480]

As far as the fronts go that seams like a lot of work to pick up a 1/4" of travel. Am I missing something ?

When we talk about the 11” ranchos we are talking about the 10.73. It’s just easier to say 11

 

[jjvw]

As far as the fronts go that seams like a lot of work to pick up a 1/4" of travel. Am I missing something ?

Tuned shocks are the primary reason to go through all that work.

I have rancho 5000x up front and Fox 2.0 with a good general TJ tune in the rear. If the front were as good as the rear, the Jeep's ride and on/off road behavior would be quite wonderful. Getting both ends tuned for something closer to my setup would be even better.

While I did raise the front uppers over an inch for my 5000x's, the way I did it was quick and crude. I would not waste the time and effort to put Poly Performance towers in for those shocks.

 

[Eddie Greenlee]

Tuned shocks are the primary reason to go through all that work.

I have rancho 5000x up front and Fox 2.0 with a good general TJ tune in the rear. If the front were as good as the rear, the Jeep's ride and on/off road behavior would be quite wonderful. Getting both ends tuned for something closer to my setup would be even better.

While I did raise the front uppers over an inch for my 5000x's, the way I did it was quick and crude. I would not waste the time and effort to put Poly Performance towers in for those shocks.

Good food for thought. So what would you do ?

 

[jjvw]

Good food for thought. So what would you do ?

Do you want a Jeep that behaves better? And are you willing to make that happen? It isn't easy and it isn't inexpensive.

 

[Eddie Greenlee]

Picking up some tall 6 ton jack stands today.

Looking on amazon, looks like I’ll need 12 ton because the bottom of my frame is at 21”. So that’s about where the 6 ton limits out. The 12 ton limits out at 28” . So I may have to stack some wood To make it tall enough so the tires will not drag at full droop ???

 

[jjvw]

Looking on amazon, looks like I’ll need 12 ton because the bottom of my frame is at 21”. So that’s about where the 6 ton limits out. The 12 ton limits out at 28” . So I may have to stack some wood To make it tall enough so the tires will not drag at full droop ???

You can do that. Or you can get 6 tons and take the tires off to fully droop the axle. You only need one tire on to stuff it.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

how did you find out the shock mounts were hitting the control arms ?

You've probably figured this out by now, but I'll answer anyway.

Frame on jack stands, tires off and springs out. I had bought the same rs5000x shocks you have. Took the old ones off which were the next shorter size and the axle was bottoming out 2-3" before the new shock. Just looked around until I found what was stopping it.

If anything, these shocks are long for stock mounts as they require about 3" of bump stop. 4" lift would be minimum in my opinion, which is what I have. They'll let the axle droop far enough that most springs will go slack and could unseat if you didn't have bump stop extensions in place. Since that's not really useful travel, mine would be better balanced if I raised the mounts an inch like @jjvw. But I'm not to the point where even that effort is justified.

 

[Eddie Greenlee]

You've probably figured this out by now, but I'll answer anyway.

Frame on jack stands, tires off and springs out. I had bought the same rs5000x shocks you have. Took the old ones off which were the next shorter size and the axle was bottoming out 2-3" before the new shock. Just looked around until I found what was stopping it.

If anything, these shocks are long for stock mounts as they require about 3" of bump stop. 4" lift would be minimum in my opinion, which is what I have. They'll let the axle droop far enough that most springs will go slack and could unseat if you didn't have bump stop extensions in place. Since that's not really useful travel, mine would be better balanced if I raised the mounts an inch like @jjvw. But I'm not to the point where even that effort is justified.

i need to know anything you can pass along. i never turn down information

 

[starkey480]

i need to know anything you can pass along. i never turn down information

In all honesty you’ve got a great setup with a 4 inch lift and those shocks already. They are comfy on road and you’ve got great bang for the buck travel. It will cost a couple grand to outboard your shocks. So unless your goal is nicer riding high performance tuned shocks then chasing an inch or two of articulation seems like a waste of time and money. 12” of travel is the realistic limit you would achieve and you’ve already got 11“ up front and 10” in the rear.

Measure how much shaft is showing on your front shocks and report back. That’s how much shock uptravel you have available. Raising the upper mount is an easy way to increase that shock uptravel if you want to get picky and nail a 50/50 up/down travel bias. Of course you still need to cycle and make sure your bumpstops are set correctly and nothing else is limiting uptravel.

 

[Eddie Greenlee]

5” driver side
4&3/4 passengers side

 

[starkey480]

5” driver side
4&3/4 passengers side

Edit:for some reason I read passenger and driver as front and rear what’s your rear shock shaft length?

Nice if it were my rig I would keep those shocks and just mount your rear shock on top of the rear crossmember on those nuts up there instead of below. That will increase rear uptravel an inch. Then raise the front mount an inch. The front will require welding. You would have some really solid uptravel there which is most important for ride quality and stability on undulating surfaces.

 

[starkey480]

Nice if it were my rig I would keep those shocks and just mount your rear shock on top of the rear crossmember on those nuts up there instead of below. That will increase rear uptravel an inch. Then raise the front mount an inch. The front will require welding. You would have some really solid uptravel there which is most important for ride quality and stability on undulating surfaces.

Here’s what the rear looks like courtesy of @BuildBreakRepeat
You’ll have to cut the little circle guard at the top as shown. Best part is it’s free!

 

[Eddie Greenlee]

5" driver rear
4&1/2" passenger rear

 

[JDS123]

I think it is worth mentioning that outboarding isn’t an easy job. It takes a lot of research and time to get it right, so don’t jump into it too quick. A bad outboard job is worse than no outboard job at all, so just take your time with research and especially when you are doing it. It is one of the best things you can do to your Jeep.

I take my Jeep to one of the best Offroad shops in the Midwest when I don’t feel like doing the job myself. They build everything from tube buggies to SEMA trucks. I wouldn’t trust them with an outboard. Once I get some more time and a place to work on my Jeep that isn’t a parking lot, outboards are on the short list. Not a job you want to give a shop.

 

[Eddie Greenlee]

Here’s what the rear looks like courtesy of @BuildBreakRepeat
You’ll have to cut the little circle guard at the top as shown. Best part is it’s free!
View attachment 171329

5" Driver REAR
4&1/2" passenger REAR

 

[starkey480]

5" Driver REAR
4&1/2" passenger REAR

gotcha. You could argue either way on that. I’d probably just leave it be. You’re already at 50/50 split