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OP
Little more progress tonight. Got the body and motor mount lifts installed, and the front axle and steering in.
Mounted up a tire to see stuff/clearance, and am hitting the first little snafu:
With a 35" tire, at mockup, it's looking like I'm going to need something like 7" of bump stop in the rear.
Now, this is without completely cycling suspension, but with the rear tire at full stuff, the one tire we mounted and jacked left us with 7" between the coil seat and the upper cup in the rear. The fronts were more reasonable, yielding a need for something like 3 or 3.5" of bump increase. I know the goal is to wind up with something close to factory; 4" or so of travel....so I'm not expecting to keep "all" of my up travel. But 7" of bump seems unreasonable, and limiting the rig via shock downtravel just seems....sad.
Am I missing something?
I have rancho 5000x shocks on the way, which seems like they'll be very limiting on the up travel just because of length...
Mounted up a tire to see stuff/clearance, and am hitting the first little snafu:
With a 35" tire, at mockup, it's looking like I'm going to need something like 7" of bump stop in the rear.
Now, this is without completely cycling suspension, but with the rear tire at full stuff, the one tire we mounted and jacked left us with 7" between the coil seat and the upper cup in the rear. The fronts were more reasonable, yielding a need for something like 3 or 3.5" of bump increase. I know the goal is to wind up with something close to factory; 4" or so of travel....so I'm not expecting to keep "all" of my up travel. But 7" of bump seems unreasonable, and limiting the rig via shock downtravel just seems....sad.
Am I missing something?
I have rancho 5000x shocks on the way, which seems like they'll be very limiting on the up travel just because of length...
OP
Some more detail on the rear bumps, because I feel like I'm still missing something after thinking about it all night:
I'm missing the jounce cup, but fitted in an extension in it's place, just for demonstration...so ignore the extension mounted to the upper perch.
With the old RE shocks that have a compressed length of 14.8", I'm still struggling with the idea that I'd have to come up with almost 6" of bump below the cup. Pic 2 shows I'm compressed to about 1/4" of shock shaft showing.
I'm still waiting on my Rancho 5000x to come in, but they have a compressed length of 15", so I'm even worse-off there.
I've cruised so many threads on setting bump and cycling suspension, and I'm still at a loss. Any ideas?
I'm missing the jounce cup, but fitted in an extension in it's place, just for demonstration...so ignore the extension mounted to the upper perch.
With the old RE shocks that have a compressed length of 14.8", I'm still struggling with the idea that I'd have to come up with almost 6" of bump below the cup. Pic 2 shows I'm compressed to about 1/4" of shock shaft showing.
I'm still waiting on my Rancho 5000x to come in, but they have a compressed length of 15", so I'm even worse-off there.
I've cruised so many threads on setting bump and cycling suspension, and I'm still at a loss. Any ideas?
OP
OP
You are making the mistake of thinking more than doing. Bumps stops are definitely an "is-what-it-is" kind of thing - but only after everything else is dialed in.
Wait until you receive the shocks you are actually going to use. Get those installed, and then test your clearence by fully cycling the suspension both at full stuff, and also at full articulation. You will find that your tire clearence is different between full stuff and full articulation. You can also better determine if the shocks you selected will work. Once you are comfortable with the clearance - then set your bump stops.
Try not to sweat it too much. It's a pain but definitely a process which you must go through to get things right.
Wait until you receive the shocks you are actually going to use. Get those installed, and then test your clearence by fully cycling the suspension both at full stuff, and also at full articulation. You will find that your tire clearence is different between full stuff and full articulation. You can also better determine if the shocks you selected will work. Once you are comfortable with the clearance - then set your bump stops.
Try not to sweat it too much. It's a pain but definitely a process which you must go through to get things right.
@NashvilleTJ is right of course. I got caught in The Think Loop on my front end.
One more thought though: have you set the pinion angle yet?
One more thought though: have you set the pinion angle yet?
OP
This is helpful...calming, even. I think the thing that's getting to me is that it's not so much a tire clearance issue but a shock issue. These shocks I have now are shorter than what's planned for, and even still it's looking like it's calling for that much bump.
I can understand over thinking, for sure. I'm just blown away when I see guys say they're running like 3" or 4" of bump extension for 35s on a 4" lift, and then I measure and see what I see.
OP
Big "duh" moment. No, I haven't set pinion yet. Loooking at it in the garage just now, that's going to earn me at least a couple inches.
One thing to keep in mind - although it may not be so calming
- if the shocks you chose do not allow the tire to tuck all the way up, your shocks are too long (meaning the compressed length is too long for your setup).And only a few solutios there: 1) New, shorter (meaning properly sized) shocks, 2) rebuild your shock mounts to allow for the longer shock, or 3) Fodeez.
(Three guesses as to which one I would recommend...
)
OP
One thing to keep in mind - although it may not be so calming
And only a few solutios there: 1) New, shorter (meaning properly sized) shocks, 2) rebuild your shock mounts to allow for the longer shock, or 3) Fodeez.
(Three guesses as to which one I would recommend...
Yer a bad dude.
Yeah, I've arrived at that conclusion. I figure I can run the current RE shocks for a bit if I need to. Then outboard down the road, 37s, 40s, etc.
Add a (TM) to the end and that might have to be made into a sticker...
One additional thought on your comment: 4" lift alone is not enought to run 35's properly on a TJ. To do so you also need a 1" or 1.25" body lift, or high-line fenders front and rear. This of course also impacts the necessary bump stops. So don't get hung up too much on what you see guys sayin'...
OP
One other issue that's come up is that one of the holes in the rear caliper bracket is pretty FUBARd. From what I can gather, PO did this disc kit:
www.g2axle.com
This hole is borked:
They don't sell the caliper brackets individually (of course), and I can't ID them by some other means. So I'm left with either:
Edit: Actually, is the Dorman 926-272 a direct swap?
G2 AXLE & GEAR | HOME
www.g2axle.com
This hole is borked:
They don't sell the caliper brackets individually (of course), and I can't ID them by some other means. So I'm left with either:
- Machine out the hole for a bigger bolt (which I have the means & ability to do), but time and potential to fuck up the cast.
- Try harder to find the same replacement bracket (@mrblaine is this the same bracket from your kits?)
- Do one of the weld-on brackets and new calipers from somewhere like ruffstuff.
Edit: Actually, is the Dorman 926-272 a direct swap?
Last edited:
One other issue that's come up is that one of the holes in the rear caliper bracket is pretty FUBARd. From what I can gather, PO did this disc kit:
G2 AXLE & GEAR | HOME
This hole is borked:
View attachment 352128
They don't sell the caliper brackets individually (of course), and I can't ID them by some other means. So I'm left with either:
Anybody got other clever solutions?
- Machine out the hole for a bigger bolt (which I have the means & ability to do), but time and potential to fuck up the cast.
- Try harder to find the same replacement bracket (@mrblaine is this the same bracket from your kits?)
- Do one of the weld-on brackets and new calipers from somewhere like ruffstuff.
Edit: Actually, is the Dorman 926-272 a direct swap?
Fix the hole with an insert.
I can sell you that backing plate. You have to promise not to talk about how less than stellar they are.
Weld on brackets suck, don't do that.
The Dorman part will not fit.
OP
I hate you now. No, the torque spec is not 25 lbs. No we don't use Tee Nuts to repair stripped holes. Use a Timesert. If you wanna snag the heli-coil kit for 8mm x 1.25 which has the correct size tap in it, then I'm glad to send you a couple of Timeserts that work in through holes. Helicoils don't work well in through holes, they are for blind holes.