I did some more experimentation and measuring, and learned a few things.
First off, dropping the tires to 26psi and increasing the damping on the shocks has improved the ride noticeably. Thanks @bobthetj03 for the tire pressure recommendation! I tried a range of higher and lower pressures, and settled just where you suggested. The damping on the shocks is now at 6 of 9. I figure that's giving the suspension some more support during compression to keep it from hitting the bump stops so hard. Those two changes have also helped dampen some of the smaller high-speed bumps.
I also measured front suspension travel in a variety of driving conditions around town, on the highway, and on reasonably civilized dirt roads. It looks like I'm typically using about 2" of travel.
That's using up about 1/2" of bump stop compression, since there's only about a 1.5" gap between bump stop and axle pad.
The furthest I pushed the suspension, which was probably from body roll when I bounced into a driveway, was just below the top end. I'm not sure I want to hit the front end hard enough to see if it will go further, but it looks like I'm not hitting the end of the shocks during normal driving. (Not wheeling, mind you.)
I also jacked up the frame until the front wheels were off the ground to see where the front suspension was sitting in relation to full extension. Here's the front suspension at rest (ignore the zip tie) ...
... and at full extension, where the zip tie is marking the at-rest position ...
... so that's about 2.5" of stroke left for compression, and about 4" of stroke available for extension.
Along the way I learned that the bottle jack is not really adequate for lifting 31s off the ground when you've got so much extension left in your shocks. I stuck a piece of wood under it to give it a boost, but I figure I'll cut some 6x6x2 wood squares and take them with me if I need to use the bottle jack in the future. That would also help stabilize the jack if I have to use it on soft ground.
While I was at it, I made the same measurements with the rear shocks, at rest ...
... and at full extension, where the zip tie marks where the shock was at rest ...
... so the rear shocks have about 3.5" of stroke left for compression, and about 3" available for extension.
If the shocks are supposed to sit about halfway through their travel, the rear shocks look OK, and the front shocks are sitting a little low.
I don't know if anyone is still following at this point, but my plan is to replace the front springs and see where things end up. If that doesn't do anything, I may add a 10mm spacer to the front to open up the gap between axle pad and bump stop a little.
I have a trivia question, if anyone read this far. I did some searching, and was surprised I couldn't find spring rates for stock or aftermarket springs. Seems like you would want to know your spring rates if you're trying to match springs to a heavier-than-stock rig. I guess the stock springs must be something close to 300lbs/in for both front and rear.
Anyone know what the correct stock spring rates and uncompressed spring lengths are?
First off, dropping the tires to 26psi and increasing the damping on the shocks has improved the ride noticeably. Thanks @bobthetj03 for the tire pressure recommendation! I tried a range of higher and lower pressures, and settled just where you suggested. The damping on the shocks is now at 6 of 9. I figure that's giving the suspension some more support during compression to keep it from hitting the bump stops so hard. Those two changes have also helped dampen some of the smaller high-speed bumps.
I also measured front suspension travel in a variety of driving conditions around town, on the highway, and on reasonably civilized dirt roads. It looks like I'm typically using about 2" of travel.
That's using up about 1/2" of bump stop compression, since there's only about a 1.5" gap between bump stop and axle pad.
The furthest I pushed the suspension, which was probably from body roll when I bounced into a driveway, was just below the top end. I'm not sure I want to hit the front end hard enough to see if it will go further, but it looks like I'm not hitting the end of the shocks during normal driving. (Not wheeling, mind you.)
I also jacked up the frame until the front wheels were off the ground to see where the front suspension was sitting in relation to full extension. Here's the front suspension at rest (ignore the zip tie) ...
... and at full extension, where the zip tie is marking the at-rest position ...
... so that's about 2.5" of stroke left for compression, and about 4" of stroke available for extension.
Along the way I learned that the bottle jack is not really adequate for lifting 31s off the ground when you've got so much extension left in your shocks. I stuck a piece of wood under it to give it a boost, but I figure I'll cut some 6x6x2 wood squares and take them with me if I need to use the bottle jack in the future. That would also help stabilize the jack if I have to use it on soft ground.
While I was at it, I made the same measurements with the rear shocks, at rest ...
... and at full extension, where the zip tie marks where the shock was at rest ...
... so the rear shocks have about 3.5" of stroke left for compression, and about 3" available for extension.
If the shocks are supposed to sit about halfway through their travel, the rear shocks look OK, and the front shocks are sitting a little low.
I don't know if anyone is still following at this point, but my plan is to replace the front springs and see where things end up. If that doesn't do anything, I may add a 10mm spacer to the front to open up the gap between axle pad and bump stop a little.
I have a trivia question, if anyone read this far. I did some searching, and was surprised I couldn't find spring rates for stock or aftermarket springs. Seems like you would want to know your spring rates if you're trying to match springs to a heavier-than-stock rig. I guess the stock springs must be something close to 300lbs/in for both front and rear.
Anyone know what the correct stock spring rates and uncompressed spring lengths are?