I've done this. The BPE's that is. With 2" of bump stop to keep my TB from hitting the rear crossmember I do get a better travel bias without bottoming out the 241's. Pressing out the bar pin and in the sleeves is a PITA! With all this shock playing around with, it tasks me!
At one point I got the next size up rancho shock and mounted the par bin on top of the crossmember instead of below. It’s super easy and gains you an additional 1” of uptravel. I’m not sure if that works with shocks other than ranchos though. I looked for you and the next length up rancho is 9.6” travel. If you mounted those on top of the crossmember then you’d be at 4” up and 5.6” down. I like the shorter shock size option you originally mentioned better. Something else you could do is move the lower mounts outward a little bit if you’re not opposed to cutting and welding. Metalcloak makes lower shock mounts that straddle the inner face of the control arm bracket. Moving the mounts outward would allow for a slightly longer shock but not a huge gain. You couldn’t do ranchos with those mounts though because the bodies are too large and hit the frame at articulation. Just some ideas I thought of but like I said I like your original numbers from yesterday.
Based on what I'm seeing I gained about 1.5" of travel out back and 2" up front. I looked at moving the lower bracket, but that won't gain me enough to make it worth it. At some point I'll be doing an outboarded rear shock, so I decided to call it for now. It's certainly not where I want it yet, but at the same time, overall, the Jeep will be a very capable wheeler on 31" tires. Besides, if I really want to get good shock travel I'll drive the LJ!
As difficult as it is, I'm staying true to my intent for this build, i.e. squeeze out the best travel I can get with a 31" tire. I do like the idea of mounting the bar pin up top, but with the current H&R spring setup I really can't use much more up or down travel. By the time I hit 22.5" extended, the rear spring is completely unseated. On the up travel side, I have to run a 2" bump stop which limits me there .I wouldn’t be too disappointed with the rear. I think those numbers look really good. You’re not going to get very long shocks in the rear with stock mounts. Even at 4” spring lift most shock sizes that fit well are around 9-9.5” travel. It just sounds wimpy compared to an outboarded 12
Hey! I am taking a new look at your posts with a new perspective, since I have learned a few more things about suspension the last months.
I ended up not running Rancho shocks. The lengths wouldn't work for me. Instead, I went with Skyjacker Black Max B8518 and B8525. They matched up nicely with my needs. Also, I'd have to go digging, but I'm reasonably sure I factored in the allowance for the springs to unseat about a 1/2" to 1".
Oh right! I didn't realise that was the same build. I know you are running SkyJacker Black Maxes.
Your math is correct. There's more to the story here. I bought two sets of shocks for the front, to experiment with, B8525 and B8516. With the H&R Springs and 1" spacer I'm currently sitting at 4" up travel, on the 8525 shocks. My plan is to move the front end up another 1", to level it out. This will put me at roughly 5" up and 4.78 down. The springs will unseat a little more (2+"), but that doesn't worry me. They're not coming out. If I stay at the current height, the 8516s will need to go in. None of this will happen until I get my HP30 done and installed.
By the time you will end up with B8525 shocks and 5" up travel how much lift you would have on front? 3.5"? 4"?Your math is correct. There's more to the story here. I bought two sets of shocks for the front, to experiment with, B8525 and B8516. With the H&R Springs and 1" spacer I'm currently sitting at 4" up travel, on the 8525 shocks. My plan is to move the front end up another 1", to level it out. This will put me at roughly 5" up and 4.78 down. The springs will unseat a little more (2+"), but that doesn't worry me. They're not coming out. If I stay at the current height, the 8516s will need to go in. None of this will happen until I get my HP30 done and installed.
To make the B8525 work I'm going to need a minimum of a 3" suspension lift. I need some time to get real numbers here though. Currently, I have three sets of springs that can be experimented with, including 1" H&R, 2" BDS, and 3" Nth degree. That said, I know the limits of using the H&R springs. Using those and a 1" spacer up front, the best shock travel I can expect to get is roughly 5 up and 4.21 down, using the B8516.
Which shock has a 10" travel?To make the B8525 work I'm going to need a minimum of a 3" suspension lift. I need some time to get real numbers here though. Currently, I have three sets of springs that can be experimented with, including 1" H&R, 2" BDS, and 3" Nth degree. That said, I know the limits of using the H&R springs. Using those and a 1" spacer up front, the best shock travel I can expect to get is roughly 5 up and 4.21 down, using the B8516.
If I switch to the B8525, and more suspension lift, I'm only gaining, potentially, .57". This is the biggest lesson I've learned so far with sticking to a 31" tire. That is, you really have to be willing to work a lot to squeeze out 9.25" of shock travel without having your Jeep look like it's sitting on stilts. Frankly, I had aspirations of making it to a 10" travel shock. However, this is a case where, as the saying goes, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. All in all, I'm content that I was able to make it close to my goal, while having a Jeep that looks proportional and performs exceptionally well. Lastly, I haven't given up hope yet that my original goal can be obtained!
If I am not mistaken Rancho RS55255 would need more or less 5" lift. How would you make this work? By moving shock mounts?
Now we're getting somewhere. That's the main reason I abandoned Rancho, or other gas shocks. Their compressed lengths we longer and couldn't work with my setup. If they ae going to work, it simply means more lift or modification to the mounts.
For some reason that's not correct for MY rig.
That's why I am looking for SkyJacker shocks as well!
Lots of little differences between parts and setup can add up to things easily working on one rig and not working easily on another.
Is it possible for the distance of my shock mounts to be 1.5" bigger than @freedom_in_4low ?? That's crazy