SumoSprings vs. DuroSpring

[ChadH]

Curious if anyone has had experience with either or both products and what the performances differences experienced were.

SumoSprings are marketed as increasing load capacity - not my particular intent

DuroSprings are marketed as decreasing jarring impacts of bump stops - more in line with my intent

 

[Mudflat]

Curious if anyone has had experience with either or both products and what the performances differences experienced were.

SumoSprings are marketed as increasing load capacity - not my particular intent

DuroSprings are marketed as decreasing jarring impacts of bump stops - more in line with my intent

I bought Sumo Springs for my Fleetwood Bounder motorhome to reduce body roll. They did great on the motorhome, but I’m not sure what they would do for a Jeep.

 

[jjvw]

Gimmicks. Both are effectively the same product claiming to solve two different issues. One is a spring rate issue best addressed with load support air bags; and the other is a shock problem of either poor sizing or poor valving.

 

[ChadH]

I had progressive bump stops on my Gladiator and it was perfect for my use case. They were a poor mans version of something like this - https://www.quadratec.com/p/fox-racing-shox/front-2.0-ifp-bump-stops-wrangler-jl-883-02-167

I'm interested in softening up an unintended hard hit. Multiple threads here discuss how the OEM bump stop fully collapses into the cup making for a harsh hit if bottoming out by mistake. I've not necessarily experienced that myself personally yet but I'm looking to see which of the two options above will come closest to the teraflex progressive bump stops - https://www.quadratec.com/p/teraflex/falcon-performance-bump-stop-kit-gladiator-jt- 1969200

 

[jjvw]

I had progressive bump stops on my Gladiator and it was perfect for my use case. They were a poor mans version of something like this - https://www.quadratec.com/p/fox-racing-shox/front-2.0-ifp-bump-stops-wrangler-jl-883-02-167

I'm interested in softening up an unintended hard hit. Multiple threads here discuss how the OEM bump stop fully collapses into the cup making for a harsh hit if bottoming out by mistake. I've not necessarily experienced that myself personally yet but I'm looking to see which of the two options above will come closest to the teraflex progressive bump stops - https://www.quadratec.com/p/teraflex/falcon-performance-bump-stop-kit-gladiator-jt- 1969200

When the factory bumps are extended for longer shocks, the collapsed shock matches the point where the steel cup touches the axle pad. The hard impact from reaching full shock compression points right back at a shock issue. Either the shock up travel is too little, not giving the valving time/distance to slow the piston speed or the shock valving is insufficient to slow the piston speed. The jounces exist to help slow the final remaining distance of piston travel speed. Address the shocks first before getting too exotic with jounces.

 

[JMT]

Curious if anyone has had experience with either or both products and what the performances differences experienced were.

SumoSprings are marketed as increasing load capacity - not my particular intent

DuroSprings are marketed as decreasing jarring impacts of bump stops - more in line with my intent

They’re just springs, so they’re not going to do anything listed. They’re just going to hold the Jeep up at a certain ride height based on how heavy your Jeep is.

 

[srimes]

I had progressive bump stops on my Gladiator and it was perfect for my use case. They were a poor mans version of something like this - https://www.quadratec.com/p/fox-racing-shox/front-2.0-ifp-bump-stops-wrangler-jl-883-02-167

I'm interested in softening up an unintended hard hit. Multiple threads here discuss how the OEM bump stop fully collapses into the cup making for a harsh hit if bottoming out by mistake. I've not necessarily experienced that myself personally yet but I'm looking to see which of the two options above will come closest to the teraflex progressive bump stops - https://www.quadratec.com/p/teraflex/falcon-performance-bump-stop-kit-gladiator-jt- 1969200

Air bumps are the best for sure, if they're in the budget. There's a lot of poly bump stop options. I like these https://www.prothanesuspensionparts.com/universal-coil-spring-inserts.asp as a poor man's air bump. Had them in my XJ and now TJ. https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/considering-going-smaller-7-35s-to-5-33s.77680/#post-1570393

Need's a pad in the front to keep from spearing the factor bump tower, and something to locate them in the back with the larger spring diameter.

 

[L J]

They’re just ...

fancy aftermarket jounce bumpers.

 

[Gilaguy23]

I added Sumo's on my silverado for when we haul hay. Rode as stock when off the sumos but when you hit a bump it was like having struts. I cant see them as a good option on a jeep unless your strictly towing heavy,never offroad or like bouncing around like a lowrider on hydros.

 

[JMT]

fancy aftermarket jounce bumpers.

View attachment 555082

Oops, I guess I should look up the product before assuming duro- and sumo-springs are springs! What he said^^^just fancy bumpstops.

If you just cycle your suspension and set the bumpstops correctly to stop the first thing from colliding with something else and you’ve got a proper length shock in the space provided by the spring then you’ve done what you’re supposed to do.

 

[jjvw]

I added Sumo's on my silverado for when we haul hay. Rode as stock when off the sumos but when you hit a bump it was like having struts.
...

Like having a spring wrapped around the shock?

 

[ChadH]

When the factory bumps are extended for longer shocks, the collapsed shock matches the point where the steel cup touches the axle pad.

This is part of my reasoning. I dont really want the steel cup touching the the axle pad. That makes for a jarring harsh hit no matter the situation. If you expect the shocks to prevent this from happening entirely then the shocks are going to be super stiff.

I added Sumo's on my silverado for when we haul hay. Rode as stock when off the sumos but when you hit a bump it was like having struts. I cant see them as a good option on a jeep unless your strictly towing heavy,never offroad or like bouncing around like a lowrider on hydros.

This is helpful thank you.

If you just cycle your suspension and set the bumpstops correctly to stop the first thing from colliding with something else and you’ve got a proper length shock in the space provided by the spring then you’ve done what you’re supposed to do.

I would like to modify the system like I did on the JT, which worked amazingly well, to reduce that harsh final hit. Not that it is an expectation - thats indication of the wrong setup of course. But inevitably theres always a bump or dip you hit too hard which ends up being really jarring. If either of these options acts as a final cushion instead of metal on metal, that would be great, I think anyway based on how the JT was.

 

[Gilaguy23]

Like having a spring wrapped around the shock?

Not in my case. More like a super stiff bump stop. Sitting empty the sumos were 1.5" from contacting. Hit a bump and wham, you sure felt the it. Loaded with 1500 lbs of hay was nice and firm, but in a jeep... I dont know. IIRC there are different levels of firmness on them and Id guess I bought the softer ones as the truck was only a 1/2 ton and didnt wanna go dump truck ride. In my case with trucks Ive used air bags and considered Timbrens as well. IIRC the Sumo's were cheaper so well you know

 

[jjvw]

This is part of my reasoning. I dont really want the steel cup touching the the axle pad. That makes for a jarring harsh hit no matter the situation. If you expect the shocks to prevent this from happening entirely then the shocks are going to be super stiff.



...

My entire point is that when setup properly, there is no difference between the shock reaching full compression and the cup and pad touching. Both are occurring at the same time, or within a tiny fraction of an inch of each other. If that impact is frequent and annoying, you have a shock issue to resolve before you get fancy with exotic jounces.

So... Is this a problem you are actually experiencing and wish to address?

 

[JMT]

This is part of my reasoning. I dont really want the steel cup touching the the axle pad. That makes for a jarring harsh hit no matter the situation. If you expect the shocks to prevent this from happening entirely then the shocks are going to be super stiff.

Assuming you have the proper shocks for your lift with adequate uptravel, in what onroad situation are you going to use all it and crush the OEM style bumpstop so the cup hits the perch? How fast are you going and what are you doing? Off-road sure, but it takes a lot of articulation to use all the uptravel.

 

[Gilaguy23]

To JJVW's point. After way to many trucks and jeeps over the years Ive looked up shock lengths from different vendors for the same vehicle. I was surprised to find so are over a inch in compressed or extended or body length given the same application. It would seem bottoming out s to long shock would be likely if they are one of the "longer ones" from brand X

 

[jjvw]

Assuming you have the proper shocks for your lift with adequate uptravel, in what onroad situation are you going to use all it and crush the OEM style bumpstop so the cup hits the perch? How fast are you going and what are you doing? Off-road sure, but it takes a lot of articulation to use all the uptravel.

Piston speed is fundamental to this being an issue to bother thinking about. Mine can reach full shock compression at full articulation, but if that happens at a piston speed to where it bothers me, i am ignoring the catastrophic crash surrounding it that likely puts me in the hospital or the morgue.

If the issue is high speed travel over rough rutted roads with big woops and dips, this is still a problem to be solved with shocks long before exotic bump stops.

 

[jjvw]

To JJVW's point. After way to many trucks and jeeps over the years Ive looked up shock lengths from different vendors for the same vehicle. I was surprised to find so are over a inch in compressed or extended or body length given the same application. It would seem bottoming out s to long shock would be likely if they are one of the "longer ones" from brand X

All of which points back to the longstanding guidance to select shocks based on actual measurements to achieve ~50/50 from ride height and not lift height.

 

[ChadH]

My entire point is that when setup properly, there is no difference between the shock reaching full compression and the cup and pad touching. Both are occurring at the same time, or within a tiny fraction of an inch of each other. If that impact is frequent and annoying, you have a shock issue to resolve before you get fancy with exotic jounces.

So... Is this a problem you are actually experiencing and wish to address?

Hitting bumps is a situation experience very frequently. In any vehicle really. Taking dad out for a cruise in his truck yesterday we were constantly hitting the bump stops. In the Gladiator when I was running the standard springs (and they were overloaded) I hit the bumps ALL the time. Once I installed the progressive bump stops the harshness was decreased by at least 85%. When I upgraded to the HD springs I did not really hit them but the ride was far too harsh for my body. In the TJ not so much but the shocks are stupid stiff and very uncomfortable, almost downright not drivable until I get the suspension fixed. In the LJ (all stock and rides very well for my broken bones) still frequently hitting the bump stops but not a constant occurrence and not full compressing them - as weight is added for camping adventures, I expect to hit them harder and more frequent. Hopefully within the next 6 months it will be on a 2-2.5" lift.

I want to address the harshness of the bumps fully compressing and allowing metal on metal contact without requiring an overly stiff shock or spring. The Gladiator when on the SD springs, not overweight, and with the progressive bumps, rode absolutely perfect for me and my bodily issues. The only way I can think to do that on the TJ and LJ is utilizing something similar to to the progressive bump stops I had on the Gladiator. You could still feel the hit on the bumps, but it was like a poor mans active hydro-stop and the hit was significantly softer - almost unnoticeable if you didnt experience the impact on the stock bumps.

Assuming you have the proper shocks for your lift with adequate uptravel, in what onroad situation are you going to use all it and crush the OEM style bumpstop so the cup hits the perch? How fast are you going and what are you doing? Off-road sure, but it takes a lot of articulation to use all the uptravel.

Not going very fast. Depending on road conditions anywhere from 40 (basically a standard gravel county road) to 5mph where it's riddled with potholes. A frequent occurrence that everyone can relate to is coming around a corner maybe at 15mph, kinda a standard speed, and suddenly there is a typical wooden bridge where the bridge departure is a bit sudden, maybe the gravel is a few inches below the bridge deck, and maybe it wasn't easy to see until it was too late - everyone has been there.... Usually, this would cause bumps to be hit. I have not yet personally experienced the LJ actually fully compressing the bump stops. But as I add weight for camping, I'm sure it will and I want to avoid that before it happens. I dont like the idea of metal on metal contact being a possibility.

 

[kmas0n]

I use Durosprings on my JL rental fleet, and they work effectively. My jeeps all run Fox 2.0 IFP shocks and the ride is very smooth but its not hard to bottom them out. The Durosprings take out the hard impact that you get with factory jounce bumpers. I can feel when The jeep bottoms out, but its far from harsh. If you don't want to spend the money on custom tuned shocks and air bumps, they are a great alternative. They can only be smashed to about 3/4" to 1" so you can factor that into your bump stop height. After about 10k miles of rental life they split and start falling apart. They are cheap enough I replaced them as needed.

I have had lots of customers approach me after the rental and state they were amazed that my jeeps never bottomed out the entire day of off roading. Of course the jeeps is still bottoming out, they just don't feelit. Their own personal jeeps bottom hard all the time. That's enough of a testimonial for me.