I'm curious, what stops our suspension from max "drop" travel. I put a 1.75" lift kit on my Rubicon and was told I didn't have to change the shocks. I know this is limiting my suspension by the lift amount because I tested my shock travel before lifting the Jeep. It seemed to me with the stock setup the shocks were the limiting factor because when I let the differential drop to it's max after removing the tires, then removed the shocks, the differential dropped even further.

I thought suspension was NOT suppose to be designed so that all the stresses of the travel was put into the shock bodies? Is this correct?

If I put longer shocks on the Rubicon, what is going to be the limiting factor that stops the differential from dropping too far?

Please educate me on Jeep suspension 101?? :confused:

Thanks
Husky~

 

Assuming you are disconnected and you have long enough shocks, your suspension components like the track bar, drag link and control arms working together should limit the amount of droop you have. (Have you ever tried removing your coils without compressors and without removing your trackbar?) And, in extreme setups, you could always get a set of limiting straps that attach to your axles

 

But isn't it bad to rely on your shocks to limit your suspension travel?

I did some serious 4-wheelin' last Sunday for the first with the 1.75" lift and now I have a slight clunking noise in my left side front suspension. I'm assuming it's the left front shock that possibly got over extended (damaged).

I do have longer shocks on backorder.

~

 

Yes, you shouldn't rely on your shocks to act as limiting straps as it will wear them out prematurely. As I said, if your shocks are long enough, your other suspension compontents will do the limiting for you.

 

Well, for me, it is the tension on my pucker string that limits me.

 

Well, the next limiting factor I could see after disconneting the shocks was the Sway Bar. After the Sway Bar, it was the Track Bar.

I disconnected one thing at a time just to see what was limiting the travel.

My Daystar Kit came with Sway Bar Lowering Brackets, so I guess my limiting factor with longer shocks and the Sway Bar Lowering Brackets attached will be the Track Bar...?

I was just curious if that is OK or not? It didn't seem correct to be putting all that stress on the shocks, but it seems from the factory it already was...?

~

 

Yeah, the shocks should be able to handle the stress okay but it may cause them to wear out prematurely. But, if you're running the trails with your swaybar links still connected, it alone will keep you from drooping too much.

 

Well I have a clunking noise now, so I think the added lift maybe put too much stress on the shock itself, instead of sharing the load with the sway bar?

My shocks are on backorder, so I'll have to wait on them.

I think I'm going to disconnect the suspected shock this weekend and see if the clunking goes away.....

~

 

don't forget the brake line's . you don't want them to break.

 

While I'm not certain I want to step into this quicksand... I'll add my 2 cents.

On the TJs and on our new Jks the suspension drop is limited by the shock absorbers.

Here is the description of the front shock absorber from the FSM:

The shock absorbers dampen jounce and rebound motion of the vehicle over various road conditions and limit suspension rebound travel.

And to add the definitions to the terms used in the FSM, jounce is the downward movement of the body (i.e. the axle moving upwards, compressing) and rebound is the upward movement of the body (i.e. the axle moving downward, drooping).