One little picture explains quite a bit

jjvw said:
Even in the road racing and track car world? That send like something that would matter during a hard corner at high speed.
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I'm not 100% certain about that as I didn't get into it enough to be into road racing / track racing. If you were doing autocross or something, you'd really, really want some sort of bump stop I would think.
 
I've wondered how many of the shredded oversized low profile tires I see on the stranded cars on the highway are because the larger tires rubbing the insides of the wheel well due to the lack of proper travel limits.
 
I remember when I was much younger (early 20s) the sidewalls of the tires would always get shredded due to the wheels rubbing on the inside of the fender from being so low.

Nothing to limit the up travel. I guess we were all young and dumb once.
 
jjvw said:
An interesting detail here is that these shocks have what appears to be a jounce or cushion to protect it from a hard impact. It's probably better than nothing, but the force of full compression is still being transferred through the compressed shock and into the shock mounts. Why not move that force into the bump stops and let the shocks be shocks?
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Agreed. It just to be clear, the picture below I have circled what you are calling a bumpstop, correct? And I need a longer one for a temp fix.
My other shock broke, so I’m “borrowing” a set from Dave that he took off his rubicon. I have a lot of major decisions to make , shock selection being one of them. All this info is very helpful .
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That's not the bump stop @Kathy, that's the jounce bumper. The metal piece on the bottom (where the spring is sitting around) is the bump stop, which is where the additional extra bump stop would get added. Usually this is done by drilling and tapping a hole in the center of it, and then using hockey pucks or cylindrical pieces of metal to bolt to it, similar to this:

https://www.rokmen.com/jeep/suspens...-stops/variable-height-bump-stop-spacers.html

That jounce bumper shouldn't be counted as part of the measurement for bump stop. When you measure for bump stop, you remove that jounce bumper completely while you're measuring, then add it back in once you're all done.

The jounce bumper only ensures that if you do hit full bump, you aren't going to have full-on metal-on-metal contact.
 
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Kathy said:
Agreed. It just to be clear, the picture below I have circled what you are calling a bumpstop, correct? And I need a longer one for a temp fix.
My other shock broke, so I’m “borrowing” a set from Dave that he took off his rubicon. I have a lot of major decisions to make , shock selection being one of them. All this info is very helpful .
View attachment 64881
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The specific circled part is the soft jounce, its purpose is to slow the impact of hard bump. Think of the jounce as a shock absorber or landing on a mattress rather than the floor. It is part of the bump stop system.

What really matters is the steel cup just above the jounce. If you see my image near the beginning, I added a thick spacer to the axle pad in order to "fill in the space" created by the interference.
 
jjvw said:
The specific circled part is the soft jounce, its purpose is to slow the impact of hard bump. Think of the jounce as a shock absorber. It is part of the bump stop system. What really matters is the steel cup just above the jounce.

If you see my image near the beginning, I added a thick spacer to the axle pad in order to "fill in the space" created by the interference.
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So,this is the extender you used? So bumpstop is not just one thing. Ok, I’m slowly starting to get it. :nut:
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Kathy said:
So,this is the extender you used? So bumpstop is not just one thing. Ok, I’m slowly starting to get it. :nut:
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No. Sorry, that is why I mentioned that my Jeep is no longer a good example to show these things.

That is a spring spacer that is flopping around because I removed the coil spring. Look just below that spacer for the steel cup. Below that cup is a hard plastic puck measuring 1.375 x 3" bolted to the axle pad where the bottom of the spring sits.
 
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I realize this is an old thread but these photos are too good not to share. This is how my LJ was delivered to me by my local shop. They let me drive it home this way! This is a great example of what happens when you get your suspension set up WRONG.

Photos:
1. Front spring and shock
2. Rear spring and shock
3. Rear spring and shock
4. Rear pumpkin to gas tank (are they supposed to be connected??)
5. Ladies and gentleman, the worlds first fully integrated "Gas Tank Axle"

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dlm1450 said:
I realize this is an old thread but these photos are too good not to share. This is how my LJ was delivered to me by my local shop. They let me drive it home this way! This is a great example of what happens when you get your suspension set up WRONG.

Photos:
1. Front spring and shock
2. Rear spring and shock
3. Rear spring and shock
4. Rear pumpkin to gas tank (are they supposed to be connected??)
5. Ladies and gentleman, the worlds first fully integrated "Gas Tank Axle"

View attachment 191619

View attachment 191620

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View attachment 191622

View attachment 191623
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Wow! Time to get a new shop ... and your money back.
 
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Every time i see something like this, is typically a result of a "pain in the ass" customer that brings his own parts and talks more than he listens. So as a result, shop does exactly what the customer requested and paid for.

However, there are stories about shops ran by Dik-twats that will literally do what is asked, with zero regards to what the outcome will be. Why and how those places exist is beyond my grasp.

Which is pertinent to this situation or fact that they let you drive it like this is irrelevant. Fact that you drove it like this and got all the way home, now that is interesting.
 
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eastbloc said:
Every time i see something like this, is typically a result of a "pain in the ass" customer that brings his own parts and talks more than he listens. So as a result, shop does exactly what the customer requested and paid for.

However, there are stories about shops ran by Dik-twats that will literally do what is asked, with zero regards to what the outcome will be. Why and how those places exist is beyond my grasp.

Which is pertinent to this situation or fact that they let you drive it like this is irrelevant. Fact that you drove it like this and got all the way home, now that is interesting.
Click to expand...
In this case, I described what I wanted (37's, big brakes, highlines, new cage, new front axle, "build" the rear axle, Durango alternator). Other than specifying brands (Clayton, JCR, etc), the shop "designed" the suspension and installed everything. Hence, the shop ordered the shocks and springs. On a side note, I actually asked for Rancho's and ended up with Fox 2.0. That is another story.

As far as how I got it home? The shop said the job was going to be completed at the end of March. It took until the END OF JUNE to get it back. Needless to say, on the way home, it rode a little rough but I wasn't going to turn around and give it back. Also, it rode surprisingly well over 10 mph. Hit a bump below 10 mph and it hit pretty hard. I was so frustrated at that point I just took it home.

And did I mention the rear brake line? The one they RAN ACROSS THE EXHAUST. Yeah, it melted and my brake pedal went straight to the floor. But I digress.

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jjvw said:
If the Jeep is stock, then buy stock length shocks.

That being said, I don't know if there is room on a stock TJ with stock bump stops for a longer compressed shock.

Stock shocks are....

Front
13" compressed
7.5" travel
20.5" extended

Rear
12.2" compressed
7" travel
19.2" extended
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Hey @jjvw , I know this is an old thread, but just to confirm: are these the specs for all stock TJs? I have a 97 SE, and am wondering if this is true for mine. I'm not sure how to do the measurements right myself. Thanks!
 
jjvw said:
Someday, I'll get to help setup a relatively stock TJ and take the pictures that are usually missing or less clear.

Mine isn't very familiar looking to a new guy anymore, which can make things more confusing than it needs to be.

I'm hardly an expert, and these things didn't make sense to me until Unlimited04 and Mudb8 (Dave) explained what bump stops do, why they matter so much and what they teach you.
Click to expand...

I wish you were in SC ... you could take all the pics you want of mine. It's pretty much entirely stock right now.
 
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