which joint to choose

well the Rancho shocks are on, and the test ride went very well. a lot smoother on the washboard gravel and partial chrushed rock. Steering was easier to handle.
The front 2 were not too bad, mainly had to figure out things as we went along but no problems.
The upper rear on the other hand was NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination !!! trying to work with the two bolts of the bar pin, between the springs and gas tank and exhaust and ... was near impossible. so with 2 8" extensions and swivel and ratchet and air ratchet we got er done, and never took the first tire off. .
 
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The rears were easy for me, but I've done this so many times it's like second nature. I'm glad to hear that you like the way they perform!
 
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Chris said:
I could probably replace all 4 shocks on my TJ in about 15 minutes per shock (most of that time being taking off the wheels and jacking up the vehicle).
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You can actually replace all the shocks with the wheels on and the Jeep on the ground. I have replaced a whole bunch of shocks on my TJs over the years and haven't removed a wheel or jacked it up in probably 15 years. :)
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
You can actually replace all the shocks with the wheels on and the Jeep on the ground. I have replaced a whole bunch of shocks on my TJs over the years and haven't removed a wheel or jacked it up in probably 15 years. :)
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I was just thinking about that before you responded, how I could have done it with the wheels on!

Ha! Next time I need to do the shocks, I'll remember to leave the wheels on!

If I can keep the wheels on, I'll probably be able to do them in no time at all.

That's the great thing about the TJ, there's so much stuff you can do to it without even jacking it up off the ground!
 
Yeah shocks on a TJ are very easy to replace. Just turn the tire to get it out of the way and crawl under there to get the bottom bolts.
 
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Those shocks were larger than the RC shocks. The front didn't matter much but the rear , I'm telling ya was not the most fun iv had in a jeep. I think my gas tank is oversize or something.
 
I hate doing any work on the ground, but I'm getting old and am a bit spoiled with access to a lift.
 
ya know, I was looking around at different types of shocks. looked at those Fox with the side reservoirs and coil over and several shocks like the Rancho. I guess the Fox are for special applications like suuped up racers and rock crawlers. not sure what coil overs offer over a coil outside of the shock like my tj , except maybe space. but at some piont you reach a point of diminishing returns i guess/
 
hey another thing, I noticed that the driver side rear shock was closer to the axle than the passenger side just a little. so wonder what the tolerance is supposed to be? There is probably not a solid answer to that, but there may be something like a "no closer than ..." type of answer. I can see where pinion angle and setting the axle at the center of the wheel well ( adjustable control arms ) would play a major role in this application.
 
mrblaine said:
Just some stuff I know that may help with this. Daystar was one of the first to knock off the JJ. Their first marketing language for it included the following (para) phrase- We've made the urethane races smaller so you don't need a press to get the snap rings seated unlike some other brands.

What they overlooked is one of the features of the JJ that has made it so durable and successful is just how tight they are and how much preload is on the races when the snap ring gets seated fully into the groove after using a shop press to mash the crap out of them.

There is far more to joint design that the average user can tell simply by looking at them.

I've got another one for you. I know of a race car that was running the RK joints. After testing, the joints were toast. The owner of the company was present and his comment was, Yeah, we just replace the joints after every race.

To put that in perspective, I know of race cars in KOH that have never changed their JJ's after several races because they don't need to.
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Sorry to bump an old thread, but I am not familiar with RK. Is that a typo for Rough Country or some other brand?
 
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