H&R 1” lift

SSTJ said:
So I guess now my question is this: if I put Rancho RS5000Xs on my all-stock 97 SE, which springs will put my Jeep at a height that will use the right range/portion of the Rancho shocks? I gather that Moog springs are supposed to give me about 0" of lift, whereas the H&R sport springs would give me 1"–1.5" of lift.
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RS5000X off the shelf TJ applications come in 3 different lengths that they label by "recommended lift height". Don't go by the lift height, because if looked at that way, they "run long", which is a vague way of saying the actual lengths aren't called for by the amount of lift they're advertised for.

Compared to a basic $30 "stock" equivalent Monroe you could get at O'reilly's, even the 0" lift Rancho is about a half inch longer at compression and over an inch longer fully extended, so it's likely that it would be perfect for a 1" lift H&R spring. If you end up with a full 1.5" you'll still end up with 58% uptravel which isn't a bad thing.

This table should not be construed as a widely applicable application table. It just shows directionally correct hypotheticals based on some big assumptions (like that the Monroe runs out of uptravel exactly at the limit of. Nevertheless, you can see why buying the 3.5" lift shock would be tremendously dumb on a 2" lift, because you'd need so much bump stop that you'd be giving away uptravel. But you can see that the Rancho 0" shock is probably going to be just fine with H&R springs.

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Irun said:
Don't worry about the spring rates. If you pair the H&R springs with a set of stiff shocks, you'll get a very different ride than you would if you paired them with a set of soft shocks. In this example the springs don't change, but the ride will. H&R makes quality springs that will work well in your case. Just use a decent shock.

Here's an old Jeep on H&R springs and OME shocks. The ride was the best of any jeep I've owned. I can't say the same thing when I ran the same spring setup on Bilsteins. The rebound was way to harsh for my liking.

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Off topic, but those rocker bases look great unpainted with that color combo. I still haven't decided whether to leave it bare or go body matched.
 
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freedom_in_4low said:
Off topic, but those rocker bases look great unpainted with that color combo. I still haven't decided whether to leave it bare or go body matched.
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I experimented with some different colors for the slider, but wanted the aluminum to stay natural. I blasted the aluminum with walnut shells, because it doesn't create a brushed finish, then sprayed 3 - 4 coats of clear. This is another color, which I thought I would like, but abandoned for black. Hard to go wrong there and easy to touch up.

hU1Plqx.jpg
 
Irun said:
I experimented with some different colors for the slider, but wanted the aluminum to stay natural. I blasted the aluminum with walnut shells, because it doesn't create a brushed finish, then sprayed 3 - 4 coats of clear. This is another color, which I thought I would like, but abandoned for black. Hard to go wrong there and easy to touch up.

View attachment 208983
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Nice. I'm gonna do powdercoat so I'd either get them powdered clear or primered so I can body match with paint. I actually like the brushed finish though, which I'll lose with the pre-coating sand blast. I think it looks better with your darker red and tan interior than it would on my flame red/black though.
 
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freedom_in_4low said:
This table should not be construed as a widely applicable application table. It just shows directionally correct hypotheticals based on some big assumptions (like that the Monroe runs out of uptravel exactly at the limit of. Nevertheless, you can see why buying the 3.5" lift shock would be tremendously dumb on a 2" lift, because you'd need so much bump stop that you'd be giving away uptravel. But you can see that the Rancho 0" shock is probably going to be just fine with H&R springs.

View attachment 208943
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@freedom_in_4low , that's a killer table, thank you. I think I understand all the columns except for "Bump Stop". Are the numbers in that column supposed to represent an amount of adjustment needed to the bump stops, or do they represent how much length of the shock is left 'unused' when the coils hit the bump stops?
 
RFC said:
I'd be very curious to see how yours responds to 200-250 lbs. Mine seemed fine with ~150 lbs (Gobi rack, hitch, some tools) but as soon as I threw on the bike carrier/bikes or hooked up the small utility trailer I had squatted about 2" (only gained 0.75 with the H&R springs + 0.4 with rear OME spacer).
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I'm sure there is a point at which it will begin to sag. I normally reserve the heavy loads to the Grand Cherokee - benefits of self-leveling air ride.

Below is with the back packed (no back seat) and with two bikes on a rather heavy rack. Plus oversized spare and a full tank of fuel. Lacking the hard top though. Terrible angle but you get the idea.

wlgOAEDl.jpg
 
SSTJ said:
@freedom_in_4low , that's a killer table, thank you. I think I understand all the columns except for "Bump Stop". Are the numbers in that column supposed to represent an amount of adjustment needed to the bump stops, or do they represent how much length of the shock is left 'unused' when the coils hit the bump stops?
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You want the bump stops (the metal cup, not the rubber bumper which might as well be a marshmallow) to hit before the shocks so you don't ruin your shocks or rip off a shock mount. What I listed is the amount of bump stop extension you'd need to add for each shock to make sure that doesn't happen. Those are based on my own personal experience, which includes all of 2 Jeeps...and can be subject to manufacturing tolerances from one Jeep to the next, so it'll generally give you an idea of where you'll end up based on a specific shock selection, but if going with something longer for a larger lift it's definitely necessary to actually cycle the axle with the springs out to verify final bump stop extension length. I'm currently on the shocks for the 3.5" lift, and with 4" of lift I'd say I have the absolute minimum lift for those shocks to be useful. I have about 4.9" uptravel, or 45% in the front, and though I can't say I've noticed anything to tell me I need more, I'd love to have the extra inch that I'm leaving on the table. I'm at 5.1"/56% uptravel in the rear, or at least I was on the TJ. I'm in the middle of moving all my suspension over to my LJ and didn't take a ride height measurement when I had it on the springs last night so I'm not sure.
 
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freedom_in_4low said:
You want the bump stops (the metal cup, not the rubber bumper which might as well be a marshmallow) to hit before the shocks so you don't ruin your shocks or rip off a shock mount. What I listed is the amount of bump stop extension you'd need to add for each shock to make sure that doesn't happen. Those are based on my own personal experience, which includes all of 2 Jeeps...and can be subject to manufacturing tolerances from one Jeep to the next, so it'll generally give you an idea of where you'll end up based on a specific shock selection, but if going with something longer for a larger lift it's definitely necessary to actually cycle the axle with the springs out to verify final bump stop extension length. I'm currently on the shocks for the 3.5" lift, and with 4" of lift I'd say I have the absolute minimum lift for those shocks to be useful. I have about 4.9" uptravel, or 45% in the front, and though I can't say I've noticed anything to tell me I need more, I'd love to have the extra inch that I'm leaving on the table. I'm at 5.1"/56% uptravel in the rear, or at least I was on the TJ. I'm in the middle of moving all my suspension over to my LJ and didn't take a ride height measurement when I had it on the springs last night so I'm not sure.
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Nice, thanks.

So if I understand correctly, the risk of having to little length/lift in your springs (for whatever shock you have) is that the shock will sit/ride too compressed, and as a result you won't have enough 'up travel' available. This means that when you hit a bump, you will hit bump stops (or if those aren't set right, you'll fully compress the shock) very quickly. So you'll get quite a stiff a 'bump' instead. Yea?

And, if I understand correctly, the risk of having to much length/lift in your springs (for whatever shock you have) is that the shock will sit/ride too extended, and as a result you won't have enough 'down travel' available. This means that when you hit a bump, the shock will have plenty of length to compress, but when the spring reacts (and it will, because it's too stiff a spring for that Jeep) the axle gets pushed back down, and the shock will be fully extended very soon. The fully extended shock will then stop the downward motion of the axle, (like lifting if of the ground), which also gives a very stiff, bumpy feel. Yea?

Sounds like having too little up-travel is worse than having too little down-travel, but that neither is desirable. Am I getting this right?
 
SSTJ said:
Nice, thanks.

So if I understand correctly, the risk of having to little length/lift in your springs (for whatever shock you have) is that the shock will sit/ride too compressed, and as a result you won't have enough 'up travel' available. This means that when you hit a bump, you will hit bump stops (or if those aren't set right, you'll fully compress the shock) very quickly. So you'll get quite a stiff a 'bump' instead. Yea?

And, if I understand correctly, the risk of having to much length/lift in your springs (for whatever shock you have) is that the shock will sit/ride too extended, and as a result you won't have enough 'down travel' available. This means that when you hit a bump, the shock will have plenty of length to compress, but when the spring reacts (and it will, because it's too stiff a spring for that Jeep) the axle gets pushed back down, and the shock will be fully extended very soon. The fully extended shock will then stop the downward motion of the axle, (like lifting if of the ground), which also gives a very stiff, bumpy feel. Yea?

Sounds like having too little up-travel is worse than having too little down-travel, but that neither is desirable. Am I getting this right?
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yep, you're getting it. The shock needs time to do it's work of controlling the motion of the Jeep before the Jeep hits a hard limit - either a bump stop or a fully extended shock. You give it time by giving it space in the form of up travel and down travel. I shoot for 50/50 if I can get it, but if the shock selections don't work out, I try to get at least 5" in each direction, and definitely won't go under 4", which is about what you get with a stock Jeep.

I've run rear shocks that were too short before - about 2" downtravel - when I noticed it the most was driving over holes or ruts. The front would go right through without noticing it too much. When the rear hit, the axle dropped in the hole and pulled the Jeep down with it hard enough that without doors or seatbelts it could have tossed me right out.
 
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cliffish said:
here is mine 2" H&r with a 2" spacer in front and 1.75 in back (oem spacer removed so deduct 1/2" for that) 31 x 10.5 duratracs on 15" ar23 rims.


View attachment 65053
a stock tj on left mine on right
View attachment 65054
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What are those rims? Beauties!

Also, my Rancho 5000x + H&R set up is about to arrive in the post. The EU spec H&R springs are actually 35mm lift so 1.38inch. Do you guys think I’ll need to change anything else on my Jeep with this set up? Am I right in thinking lifts under 2” don’t need any other modifications to cope with the increased lift height?
 
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JM_TJ said:
What are those rims? Beauties!

Also, my Rancho 5000x + H&R set up is about to arrive in the post. The EU spec H&R springs are actually 35mm lift so 1.38inch. Do you guys think I’ll need to change anything else on my Jeep with this set up? Am I right in thinking lifts under 2” don’t need any other modifications to cope with the increased lift height?
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That is the setup i have, didn`t have to change anything... Rides great!
 
JM_TJ said:
What are those rims? Beauties!

Also, my Rancho 5000x + H&R set up is about to arrive in the post. The EU spec H&R springs are actually 35mm lift so 1.38inch. Do you guys think I’ll need to change anything else on my Jeep with this set up? Am I right in thinking lifts under 2” don’t need any other modifications to cope with the increased lift height?
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Let us know how it goes! I have a stock SE four-banger, so suspect I may get more height out of the H&Rs.
 
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JM_TJ said:
What are those rims? Beauties!

Also, my Rancho 5000x + H&R set up is about to arrive in the post. The EU spec H&R springs are actually 35mm lift so 1.38inch. Do you guys think I’ll need to change anything else on my Jeep with this set up? Am I right in thinking lifts under 2” don’t need any other modifications to cope with the increased lift height?
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Thanks - They are American Racing AR23....I pretty much had the same rims as yours when I got it, but needed new tires (tyres). It was almost the same price to order the rims and tires mounted and balanced and shipped, as it was to just buy new tires locally so it was a no brainer.
 
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IAmTodd said:
I'm sure there is a point at which it will begin to sag. I normally reserve the heavy loads to the Grand Cherokee - benefits of self-leveling air ride.

Below is with the back packed (no back seat) and with two bikes on a rather heavy rack. Plus oversized spare and a full tank of fuel. Lacking the hard top though. Terrible angle but you get the idea.

View attachment 209062
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Hi - is this your LJ with the TJ specific H&R springs (52107)? Having a hard time finding the LJ models in stock anywhere (52109) so thinking they may be discontinued.
 
So I've finally got the H&R + Rancho 5000x in my TJ. At first, it felt miles better than the set up from the previous owner. However, as I've been driving it more this week I'm finding the ride pretty rough. It definitely is a more controlled ride and handles better. But it can feel a little like a skateboard at time. Especially on rougher pavement with cracks and potholes. I'm obviously not expecting it to be like a Cadillac but after reading up on them here I was definitely hoping for something softer. I'm wondering if maybe there is a break in period? Or maybe my tire pressure is off? what would be the ideal PSI for 245/70/R16s as a Daily Driver?
 
JM_TJ said:
So I've finally got the H&R + Rancho 5000x in my TJ. At first, it felt miles better than the set up from the previous owner. However, as I've been driving it more this week I'm finding the ride pretty rough. It definitely is a more controlled ride and handles better. But it can feel a little like a skateboard at time. Especially on rougher pavement with cracks and potholes. I'm obviously not expecting it to be like a Cadillac but after reading up on them here I was definitely hoping for something softer. I'm wondering if maybe there is a break in period? Or maybe my tire pressure is off? what would be the ideal PSI for 245/70/R16s as a Daily Driver?
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29psi
 
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