Outboard shock question

[JDS123]

You keep Jeep parts in your house? Wow. Are you married?

I had both sets of doors laid up against my bedroom wall for a few months last summer. My backseat is also in the same closet as my springs and my recovery gear. Having a 1 bedroom apartment in college is nice sometimes...

 

[Wildman]

You keep Jeep parts in your house? Wow. Are you married?

I have a small pile of Jeep parts in my house. And I have a LARGER pile in my garage.


But NO I am not married. Don't know if that was part of the problem.

 

[tworley]

If all else is the same then you have disproportionate travels between the two, this to me is similar to a botched outboard that is not allowing the full 12" of travel to be utilized

 

[mrblaine]

What good is it going to do to outboard if you can't get the track bar out of the way?

I'm sure there is something you're pointing out but not quite sure what you mean. I outboarded lots of shocks before the mid arm came along. Be some more specific please.

 

[mrblaine]

If all else is the same then you have disproportionate travels between the two, this to me is similar to a botched outboard that is not allowing the full 12" of travel to be utilized

Same for you. At least quote someone so the context is there.

 

[tworley]

And you'd be wrong all other things being equal.

If one is outboarded, the other not, everything stays the same, then the one with 12" of shock travel is going to have bumpstops to keep the tires out of the body. The travel would be all downtravel. Consensus believing that uptravel is more favorable

 

[mrblaine]

If one is outboarded, the other not, everything stays the same, then the one with 12" of shock travel is going to have bumpstops to keep the tires out of the body. The travel would be all downtravel. Consensus believing that uptravel is more favorable

So your belief is that there is no additional uptravel to be gained by outboarding shocks correctly at 4" of lift height?

 

[Fughuert]

That’s assuming the tires hit the body and and even still, if you’re now outboarded with the same up travel but more downtravel you’re still better off.

People on here seem for favor an even travel bias for comfort being tjs and not trail buggies, but you’ll see dedicated crawlers run minuscule up with a lot of down more often than 50/50. It’s not like that performance is not being used.

 

[04LJ_TX]

So your belief is that there is no additional uptravel to be gained by outboarding shocks correctly at 4" of lift height?

And this is what I'm really curious about. I mean if the tire is already running into the fender or the track bar into the diff for instance, would gaining anymore up travel in the shocks at 4" of lift even be beneficial? Especially if the bump stops are preventing things from traveling up more.

 

[Fughuert]

And this is what I'm really curious about. I mean if the tire is already running into the fender or the track bar into the diff for instance, would gaining anymore up travel in the shocks at 4" of lift even be beneficial? Especially if the bump stops are preventing things from traveling up more.

No if your limit is not the shock longer shocks will not make interference go away.

You can set it up to potentially have more down if you wanted to go that direction but most people on this forum will probably say don’t bother.

Especially if your springs can’t extend that far.

 

[Steel City 06]

And this is what I'm really curious about. I mean if the tire is already running into the fender or the track bar into the diff for instance, would gaining anymore up travel in the shocks at 4" of lift even be beneficial? Especially if the bump stops are preventing things from traveling up more.

The tire generally only runs into the body/fender on flex, and not flat compression. If you could increase flat compression without increasing flex, you could have more usable suspension travel that would be useful for high speed travel and large bumps.

Having longer shocks located farther apart allows more flat up/down travel without significantly changing flex limits. It may require some careful planning with the external bumpstops and the integral stops on the shock, however.

It won’t change issues like track bar or gas tank skid clearance, but those can typically be worked around.

 

[jjvw]

...

People on here seem for favor an even travel bias for comfort being tjs and not trail buggies, but you’ll see dedicated crawlers run minuscule up with a lot of down more often than 50/50. It’s not like that performance is not being used.

All the criticisms of a LCoG build apply to these monster down travel buggies.

 

[jjvw]

If one is outboarded, the other not, everything stays the same, then the one with 12" of shock travel is going to have bumpstops to keep the tires out of the body. The travel would be all downtravel. Consensus believing that uptravel is more favorable

From what I've seen, compressed shocks become the limit to up long before tires hitting the body do.

 

[mrblaine]

All the criticisms of a LCoG build apply to these monster down travel buggies.

They are being applied to outboarded shock rigs, so why not?

 

[04LJ_TX]

I think I'm confusing myself partially. I say that because when I think of "outboard shocks" I think of doing the front and rear. But it's really only the rear that is being outboarded and the front shocks are just having their mounting points moved up so that a longer travel shock can fit, correct?

The rear shocks though are being placed outside the frame, so I can see how that would make a more dramatic difference than the fronts, which are technically already "outboard", right?

 

[Wildman]

Tex,
Yes from the way I understand things you are following things correctly. You can only package a X length shock under the rig in the stock location. As you said by outboarding it allows a longer shock with more travel.

And yes the fronts are extended to allow a longer travel shock also.

 

[jjvw]

They are being applied to outboarded shock rigs, so why not?

Especially since a build-it-any-way-you-want-to buggy isn't nearly as constrained by a pre-existing platform the way a Jeep is.

 

[hosejockey61]

Especially since a build-it-any-way-you-want-to buggy isn't nearly as constrained by a pre-existing platform the way a Jeep is.

So you're saying we should sell our Jeeps and build a buggy....

 

[jjvw]

So you're saying we should sell our Jeeps and build a buggy....

That's our new winter plan. Monster down travel LCoG buggies!

 

[tworley]

From what I've seen, compressed shocks become the limit to up long before tires hitting the body do.

I thought I recalled my MTRs hitting the body at full stuff. Same with Shawns.