Which components affect ride quality the most and least?

Rosco1216

Rosco1216

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Oklahoma
Since winter I have replaced quite a bit on my Jeep and my ride has seemed to get progressively more firm, a little too firm. Before the changes I had 2” coil spacers on stock sagging springs, worn out bds shocks and 33x12.50 load range C tires. Control arms are still stock but I’ve gone to 2” OME medium/heavy duty springs, freedom off-road shocks, 35x10.50r17 load D tires at 24psi.

I would like to make some changes to make the ride more comfortable for my kids and myself since they like to ride around town quite often.

So from most to least, which components would affect the soft/firm ride quality?
Shocks, springs, tire load range and inflation, body mount material, control arms or other?
 
BrunoPizz97 said:
I would say to switch over to a set of rancho shocks, many people here on the forum run them for their daily. Nothing but positive reviews from the guys who run them.
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Yeah I’ve seen plenty post about the 500x. Had I been active on here before purchasing my current ones, I would have gone that route.
 
Rosco1216 said:
Yeah I’ve seen plenty post about the 500x. Had I been active on here before purchasing my current ones, I would have gone that route.
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I needed some shocks ASAP for my lifted XJ, so I bought some new RC shocks. I sold them on craigslist a month later and bought some Rancho RS5000X. I got $150 for the RC's and paid $187 for the Rancho. Best decision I ever made on that Jeep.
 
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TheBoogieman said:
I needed some shocks ASAP for my lifted XJ, so I bought some new RC shocks. I sold them on craigslist a month later and bought some Rancho RS5000X. I got $150 for the RC's and paid $187 for the Rancho. Best decision I ever made on that Jeep.
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I’m going to order the rancho regardless I think. Now my springs have given me a good 2.5” lift front and rear. Don’t the ranchos run a touch long? Would I go for the 0-2” or 2-3”?
 
Rosco1216 said:
I’m going to order the rancho regardless I think. Now my springs have given me a good 2.5” lift front and rear. Don’t the ranchos run a touch long? Would I go for the 0-2” or 2-3”?
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If I were to guess, I'd say 0-2" (rancho's run long)
Best way to be sure would be to pull the springs and cycle & measure.
 
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The best ride quality you’re ever going to get from a TJ is going to be a combination of outboard shock mounts and a properly tuned, expensive shock like the Fox Factory Series 2.0 smooth body.

I don’t think I can ever recommend an off the shelf shock anymore after experiencing what I now have. It’s one of those things where you don’t know what you don’t know. If you took a ride in my TJ you might quickly forget that it has solid axles under it.
 
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Chris said:
The best ride quality you’re ever going to get from a TJ is going to be a combination of outboard shock mounts and a properly tuned, expensive shock like the Fox Factory Series 2.0 smooth body.

I don’t think I can ever recommend an off the shelf shock anymore after experiencing what I now have. It’s one of those things where you don’t know what you don’t know. If you took a ride in my TJ you might quickly forget that it has solid axles under it.
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Maybe it’s best I don’t ride in your Jeep so I won’t be tempted by being “in the know”!

I just can’t justify that kind of expense for my Jeep and what I use it for. I got it for $7,500 and I’ve put $4000 in parts into it including 5 new wheels/tires.
 
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Rosco1216 said:
Maybe it’s best I don’t ride in your Jeep so I won’t be tempted by being “in the know”!

I just can’t justify that kind of expense for my Jeep and what I use it for. I got it for $7,500 and I’ve put $4000 in parts into it including 5 new wheels/tires.
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pretty much just shocks and maybe springs if you think they're clapped. And yes maybe reducing tire pressure a bit would help as well. Shouldn't hurt the pocket that bad
 
Vasq said:
If I were to guess, I'd say 0-2" (rancho's run long)
Best way to be sure would be to pull the springs and cycle & measure.
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That’s not something I want to do again as Ive pulled the springs 3 times already do measure for bump stops and everything. I can use the measurements for my current shocks to compare tho. I’ll just need to find the extended and compressed length for the ranchos.
 
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Rosco1216 said:
That’s not something I want to do again as Ive pulled the springs 3 times already do measure for bump stops and everything. I can use the measurements for my current shocks to compare tho. I’ll just need to find the extended and compressed length for the ranchos.
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a faster/shorter way would be to just measure the distance for the shock at ride height, then measure how much up travel you have and subtract that for your "collapsed length". Then just pop a tire off and let it droop until it stops and measure there for "expanded length".
 
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After some measurements I ordered the rs5000x last night. Also after doing some research I’ve read that some who have the same rear springs(OME medium-heavy duty 2942) have noticed quite a bit more of a firm ride. I have a swing away carrier with full size spare and a decently sized subwoofer box(maybe 35-40lbs) but I have a soft top, not hard. So maybe my rear weight is still too light for the medium-heavy duty springs. 🤷‍♂️
 
Rosco1216 said:
After some measurements I ordered the rs5000x last night. Also after doing some research I’ve read that some who have the same rear springs(OME medium-heavy duty 2942) have noticed quite a bit more of a firm ride. I have a swing away carrier with full size spare and a decently sized subwoofer box(maybe 35-40lbs) but I have a soft top, not hard. So maybe my rear weight is still too light for the medium-heavy duty springs. 🤷‍♂️
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i think youll be just fine just lower the PSI a bit and you should have a smooth ride
 
Shocks, 100%. No, you don’t have to outboard - that does wonders but isn’t necessary to get a nice ride.

It could also be the bumps you likely had to add to make 35” tires fit on a 2” lift. I bet you’re bottoming out constantly. You really should be closer to 5” total lift for 35s.
 
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