I think you could easily put 10" on, maybe even 11". Rework the lower mount (no welding or scary cutting) if you want to increase or decrease up/down travel. IMO you could do that with 2" or less bumpstop up front, and maybe 3.5" in the rear.
Up-travel: What's the big deal?
- Thread starter jjvw
- Start date
I think you could easily put 10" on, maybe even 11". Rework the lower mount (no welding or scary cutting) if you want to increase or decrease up/down travel. IMO you could do that with 2" or less bumpstop up front, and maybe 3.5" in the rear.
Speaking of reworking shock mounts, I had a thought about the rear upper mount... Could you cut a slightly larger hole in the cross member, and install a BPE on the top side to get that upper shock bushing an inch further from the axle? I mean, I know anything is possible, but would something like this make sense? The BPE would not be off the shelf, it would require a new design.
OP
Years ago I was able to mount some OME bar pin shocks up on top of the rear upper mount after drilling out the nuts. Could space them up for sure too. Was a bit of a pain working the bar pin in though.
I've been able to follow along with almost everything on this thread except for the shock situation. I'm looking at getting new shocks soon and I am confused on how to know what size of shock to get. And can someone explain what outboarding the shocks mean?
OP
Outboarding is a specific process of moving the shock mounts from their factory positions. If you are buying shocks for your (largely) stock Jeep, then outboarding doesn't apply. It's a pretty invasive modification that most don't do.
OP
I'll add, for those who are keeping the stock shock mounts, your goal in maintaining up travel is to do your best to keep the bump stop extension at an appropriate length. That is a very loaded statement.
I do want to add, if you are using the Ford towers to mount some standard welded eye shocks (Bilstein, Rancho, ect) they will not work with Fox, Radflo, King, ect. I learned this the hard way on my TJ. Start with the coilover specific towers, or fab your own.
Damn good thing I didn't go with the Ford F150 towers, because I almost did when I had the outboard done. They looked like they would work with Fox shocks. What is it about them that makes them not work?
If you look at the bend from vertical to horizontal, they have a gradual slope. The Fox shock eye gets wider real quick and binds.
Also, they are not long enough for the longer travel shocks. I had to extend them with some flat plate that I bent to match, I believe I had to extend the towers about 4 inches maybe to fit 12 inch shocks? They are short from factory. And they don't widen out like aftermarket ones do. You made the right choice.
Glad I didn't go that route. I saw a lot of guys on the other forums saying they used those Ford towers, but I never saw anything about them not working with the Fox shocks. Then again, these guys were all running Rancho and Bilstein shocks, so I guess they wouldn't have known.
So I guess I did indeed make one smart decision. At least the front outboard towers were done right :risas3:
Johnnyverbatim
New Member
Oh man. This many times over. One of the things so few people actually take the time to do when lifting their vehicle is look at the clearances of all the interrelated items that *arent* the axles/fenders/coils (for bind) etc. These track bar brackets are the devil...I know.
The OME kits, for example, don't have enough bumpstop to keep the newly raised trackbar mount from hitting the tub (and the frame cross-support) as sold. I learned this the hard way. Adjustable rear track bar brings it back to where it should be, but the bumpstop is still neccessary to keep the shocks from bottoming.
Uptravel is massively important for comfort. Our primary use for our rigs is overland camping, and while big boulders and slow speeds look great for pictures....moderate to severe washboards on a setup without proper uptravel is horrid. It also breaks REALLY fast. My rig is set at pretty damn close to 50/50 with the OME lift, on 32s, with just under 1" of bumpstop extension on the front. Works great!
It isn't so much the eye as it is how close the eye is to the shock body itself. You can't push the body up high enough into the Ford towers before the body hits the radius portion of the mount that goes up to form the tabs for the bolt holes. You can, with a bit of patience (not that you should) wallow out the bolt holes lower and weld in pieces of tube with 1/2" hole through it to make a new bolt sleeve. I've done it before with a set of shorter Foxes the owner wanted to use so they didn't need to have the lower part extended.
OP
Ideally the bumps will limit the up travel just before the shocks reach full compression.
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Slotting the bolt holes is a good option. I almost took a flap wheel to the eyelet corners.
What I'm calling the eyelet, Fox calls the top cap. If they sold extended eyelets like the lower, it would be a slam dunk for those towers.
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