Hey everyone. Recently I have moved from using my Wrangler as a weekend-warrior to my daily driver. My commute is only 20 miles so the gas mileage isn't much of a concern (previous commute was 45mi). Things that were once charming characteristics are now becoming a nuisance.

The biggest issue is that 15 miles of my commute are on pavement that has somewhat wash-boarded from big rigs running the pavement up and down winding hills. It's noticeable in a car with independent suspension, it's awful in the Jeep.

Current Setup:
2.5 TF coil lift, using 4-door coils
TF 9550 4-door shocks
Front and Read adjustable track bars
Front Lower Control Arms
Everything else suspension related is stock.


I understand that a vehicle with solid axles and a short-wheelbase is always going to suffer from this complaint; but my goal is to make it less prevalent in daily driving. The Jeep fund has about $1000 in it at the moment. My first thought is to go with a shock with a reservoir, but I thought I would ask the question to a more knowledgeable crew.

Thanks!

 

What tires are you running and what load range? What air pressure is in them?

 

315/70/17 Duratracs Load Range D with 33psi. Dropping them to 28 makes a slight improvement, but they seem to wear best at 33.

 

Rancho makes adjustable shocks. You can adjust them for road or trail use. I'd get up with the rancho rep see what he recommends as far as shocks and springs

 

Ditch the TF coils and shocks- ASAP

 

Very likely that different shocks will improve things somewhat. The advantage of reservoir shocks is better cooling, but hot shocks shouldn't be a problem with 20 miles of hwy driving. A set of King adjustables would be killer. Any adjustable shock will offer the ability to tune them to the road.

I've heard TF springs can be rough. Makes sense because they are very durable. You might do better with progressive rate springs, but that's a lot of work and money.

Is there an alternate route to work?

 

My vote would be swap the shocks for bilstein 5100s

I did this on my tj and it made a world if difference. My jk I swapped to bilstein in the first week.

 

Shocks may help, as you noted you can not overcome the short wheelbase which probably has more to do with any ride problems over washboard than your current suspension set up.
Softer shocks if you are running Hd springs may not help as much as you think. Not familiar with the 4dr springs, call TF about the spring rates on the 2 and 4 doors , are they progressive springs? Some decent progressives may be a better swap than the shocks for the first change. Also ask them if there is a difference in shock valving between the 2 and 4dr. The valving may be the same or similar for front, rears may only need to be changed if you are lucky, and go down that road- I dont know, just a guess. Your suspension mfr TF would be the best source to contact...

 

Softer coils can help a bit, but just a bit. The shocks are much more influential. Fixed shocks would be a gamble, as they won't necessarily be an ideal combination with the coils. Tunable - or re-valveable - shocks will allow tweaking to the feel you want. King are the best but expensive. FOX come next. Their quality, too, is such that you won't wear them out.

Reservoirs are for solving heating issues (especially in racing), and won't make the shocks any softer.

If you get fixed-rate shocks that fit the coils, they may not fit if/when you later decide to replace to different coils, and that's another reason for getting tunable or re-valveable shocks.

There's another aspect of the suspension that can make a very noticeable improvement:

The rear axle moves sideways with every up-down movement (because of the rear track bar). This sideways movement makes the Jeep wobble and steer off the driving line, resulting in constant corrections with the steering wheel, which is annoying.
Full Traction offer the CRC, which replaces the rear track bar, and completely eliminates this sideways movement of the rear axle.

Since I installed the CRC on my 4-dr, the directional stability meaningfully improved - no more constant steering corrections at any speed above 30MPH or so, and on trails at lower speeds.
This is the most felt mod I did, as it improved both daily and offroad driving quality.
This is on a 4-dr.
Because of the shorter wheelbase of a 2-dr, the "tail waving" is more pronounced, and it would benefit by this mod even more than a 4-dr does.

Links:

Full-Traction Suspension | Jeep JK CRC-Link Conversion Factory Axle

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modi...c-link-174117/

They say it's for at least 4" lift, but if I remember correctly, it can work with your lift as well.
You may contact 'Full-Traction Suspension' (sponsoring advertiser) with questions.

 

id drop to 26psi in the tires and try that. No matter what you do with 33psi in your tires it is going to feel rough.