What is the maximum amount of up/down travel with 2.5 inches of lift?

DropTopDon

DropTopDon

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I have read that a 50/50 split of up and down travel is ideal, and that folks on here with roughly 4 inches of lift shoot for ~5~ inches of both up travel and down travel which equates to 10 inches total. So if the lift height is 2.5 inches paired with a 1.25 body lift to create more fender room, what would be the travel length for 33 inch tires? Is it now limited by control arms? I am assuming the sway bar is disconnected.
 
What are your shock lengths? What are you limits to full stuff/droop?
 
tworley said:
What are your shock lengths? What are you limits to full stuff/droop?
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I don't know since I haven't ever properly cycled my suspension and measured. I just know they are Old Man Emu's 2.5 inch shocks. Droop is limited by control arms, maybe the driveshaft, shock length, and swaybar? Stuff is limited by again shocks, fender room, bumpstops, and possible limiters? I am pretty clueless on this topic if you can't tell.
 
Your travel will be limited by your shocks or the 1st item of interference. I ran 33's on a 2.5" suspension lift and 1" body lift for several years. The front bump stops were set to keep the shock from bottoming out and the rear was set to keep the track bar relocation bracket from hitting the floor. Axle droop was limited by the shocks both front and rear. Unless your doing some fabrication your will only have a few choices in off the shelf shocks. Cycle your suspension and choose the desired shock that gets you closest to a 50/50 bias without sacrificing any travel.
 
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DropTopDon said:
I don't know since I haven't ever properly cycled my suspension and measured. I just know they are Old Man Emu's 2.5 inch shocks. Droop is limited by control arms, maybe the driveshaft, shock length, and swaybar? Stuff is limited by again shocks, fender room, bumpstops, and possible limiters? I am pretty clueless on this topic if you can't tell.
Click to expand...

Your droop is likely limited by the shocks themselves depending on their length. You could pull a front and rear shock to measure them.

Full compression on the front will likely be limited by the shocks as well. If you pull your springs out and cycle the axle, you'll find out if there is anything making contact before the shocks reach their compressed length. Full compression in the rear, as stated, could be a track bar mount into the floor, the diff hitting the gas tank, or the shocks reaching their compressed measurement. Every jeep is going to be different and you can buy shocks based on your measurements and what will work.

 
tworley said:
Your droop is likely limited by the shocks themselves depending on their length. You could pull a front and rear shock to measure them.

Full compression on the front will likely be limited by the shocks as well. If you pull your springs out and cycle the axle, you'll find out if there is anything making contact before the shocks reach their compressed length. Full compression in the rear, as stated, could be a track bar mount into the floor, the diff hitting the gas tank, or the shocks reaching their compressed measurement. Every jeep is going to be different and you can buy shocks based on your measurements and what will work.

Click to expand...

That is a great video and explanation. Thanks.
 
Cycling your suspension is easier than I thought it would be and didn't require any special tools. I followed this guide written by @fuse and came away with a much greater understanding and confidence that things weren't going to get damaged.

However, I forgot to measure anything, so I can't really answer your actual question. 😉
 
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With that lift split, the most travel you'd likely see would be 8.5" to 9". The trick is going to be doing the suspension cycling, then scouring shock specifications for the best travel match. That's a challenge when you run smaller spring lifts.
 
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