Is my up-travel being limited by something?

I recently installed some upgrades including: shocks, coils, tie rod, track bar, drag link and steering stabilizer. The suspension feels much better over stock, but it seems harsher than I expected over rougher road - it doesn't seem to soak up the bumps like I hoped it might.

It's a 2013 JKU with Smittybilt XRC steel bumpers, 12000lb winch up front and HD tire carrier on the back. I'm on 33" Duratracs with 17" Worx wheels.

The coils are the ARB OME 2616 and 2617 and the shocks are Fox 2.0 meant for 0-2" lifts. By my measurements I've netted just shy of 2" of lift over stock.

The front shocks are:
Extended: 23.270
Compressed: 14.650
Travel: 8.620

The rear shocks are:
Extended: 23.720
Compressed: 15.100
Travel: 8.620

On level ground, my front measures:
Shock length: 20.125"
Shaft exposed: 4.75"
Free space to start of bump stop: 1.5"
Total compressed bump stop space: 4.25"

On level ground, my rear measures:
Shaft exposed: 6.125"
Free space to start of bump stop: 3.125"
Total compressed bump stop space: 5.875"

I set the bushings on the shock shafts to the top, drove around and noticed that they only seem to compress 2.375" up front and 3.125" in the rear.

Based on the numbers above and the pics below, is there a reason the shocks are only compressing about 50% of the total exposed shaft at rest? They aren't even compressing enough to use the full bump stop; however, with the MetalCloak DuroSpring bump stops, can I assume they compress fully? I only have 1" lower bump pads installed, maybe I should remove them and test with no lower bump stop?









Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Cheers

 

What is your definition of "drove around"?? Does that mean you took it offroad and articulated the axles, or you just drove around on pavement? You're gonna have to disconnect the front axle and really flex that thing out to get a good idea of your travel. Ideally someone would pull those springs and really cycle the suspension while checking for clearances and other things like travel, but nobody gotz time for that effort. Are you thinking that you should be hitting bumpstops with normal driving?

You added a nitrogen-charged shock.....they are going to be much rougher than a factory ride. That is to be expected.

You should think about adding a raised TB bracket on that rear axle given you've lifted it up some.

 

Thanks for the response.

No, I realize for testing full articulation that would be necessary, I just haven’t had a chance to pull the springs back out and flex it. I did the install myself. I’m not new to working on vehicles but am new to Jeeps and wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something obvious.

What you’re saying makes sense and is more or less the response I was expecting. I was just hoping smaller potholes and rougher road would get soaked up by using more of the shock length rather than it feeling like I’m bottoming out.

I knew it would be a stiffer ride, but I guess I wasn’t expecting it to be a harsher ride if that makes sense. I was thinking the shock would compress more before kicking into that slamming feeling going over rougher road, but maybe this isn’t the exact setup for that sort of thing?

Yes, I have the rear TB relocation bracket already on order, thanks for pointing that out

cheers