Newbie Needs Suspension Input

[ruzza1]

Hello:

I just bought a 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport, Automatic and the I6. I need some advice on suspension replacement. I will try to be brief...
The Jeep has after market front and rear bumpers that are heavy, including a winch on the front end. The rear bumper, per a shop tech, weighs about 300lbs and includes racks for two gas cans and an ice chest. Full loaded could easily be 400lbs. The vehicle is sitting on 33's and has a full roll cage inside...yeah...it's heavy. There is no lift on the Jeep beyond some after market springs and shocks that I am told are giving it about 2". It has a slip yoke differential installed. The Jeep sits level but the rear bottoms out easily at the shock, not the bump stop, and there is only about 2.5-3" of shock shaft showing. The shocks and springs could be very old, hard to tell.

The last tech who looked at it said the weight of the Jeep requires different springs and shocks as a starting point. He also said the rear weight is causing the springs to fall out of their normal horizontal motion and need shims to keep them in their ideal line (I am sure I am saying this wrong). This tech was the only one who didn't try and sell me just shocks or try to sell me an expensive 4" lift kit. He recommended springs that would provide a 3" lift and said the other parts on the Jeep would be okay to handle 3"...steep learning curve for me, apologies I cannot be more specific.

Question: Assuming all I need are springs and shocks, anyone have recommendations for both that will accommodate the weight without sending me down the road like I am on a pogo stick?

Thank you,
Joe

 

[suicideking]

If it's already on 33's, then you have some kind of suspension kit already on there. The 'usual' for 33's is around 4" of lift compared to stock. So you would do 3" suspension with 1" body lift. Or could probably do a 4" kit.

The usual for 35's is 4" suspension + 1" body. So probably want to start there.

 

[deadbeat son]

If your shocks bottom out with only 2.5" - 3" of travel, it sounds like they're the wrong shocks for your application (they're too long). If you're not satisfied with the current ride height, new springs will help you get where you want to go. Once you address that part of the equation, it should be pretty straightforward to find the correct shocks (which may be the shocks you have now) and determine the proper bumpstop extensions.

What do you want to accomplish? What are your goals?

 

[ruzza1]

If it's already on 33's, then you have some kind of suspension kit already on there. The 'usual' for 33's is around 4" of lift compared to stock. So you would do 3" suspension with 1" body lift. Or could probably do a 4" kit.

The usual for 35's is 4" suspension + 1" body. So probably want to start there.

Thank you very much

 

[pagrey]

I think the first step is measuring what you have. A stock Jeeps springs are 12" in the front and 8" in the rear perch to perch. Anything above that is the lift. Where does your Jeep sit now? Like @deadbeat son says, the most important thing is what direction you are headed, you build for that.

 

[ruzza1]

If your shocks bottom out with only 2.5" - 3" of travel, it sounds like they're the wrong shocks for your application (they're too long). If you're not satisfied with the current ride height, new springs will help you get where you want to go. Once you address that part of the equation, it should be pretty straightforward to find the correct shocks (which may be the shocks you have now) and determine the proper bumpstop extensions.

What do you want to accomplish? What are your goals?

Hello:

Thank you for your reply, appreciate it. My goal right now is to figure out the right springs and shocks for the weight of the Jeep since I think your are right and the shocks are too long, or the Jeep is so heavy and the shocks and springs so old they are compressed a bit. I guess I could jack up the rear end and see how much more of the shock extends, not sure what that will tell me being a newbie. The long term goal is to create a Jeep capable of moderate to mildly difficult trails, I am not interested in rock crawling but would like the Jeep to be capable of handling itself.

Thanks again,
Joe

 

[ruzza1]

I think the first step is measuring what you have. A stock Jeeps springs are 12" in the front and 8" in the rear perch to perch. Anything above that is the lift. Where does your Jeep sit now? Like @deadbeat son says, the most important thing is what direction you are headed, you build for that.

Thank you very much for the the information on the length of the springs, that will definitely help. Thank you very much I will measure them and get back to you in regard to where the Jeep sits. Thanks again.