Stock jk ride quality
 

Recently, I purchased a 08 2door jk and noticed the ride quality was horrible. Jeep bounced from side to side going down the road and made people inside look like bobble heads. I replaced the shocks yesterday with some direct replacement Gabriel shocks (they’re actually a bit thicker than factory) but it still seems like it’s bouncing from side to side.

Im curious if this is common or not amongst the 2door JK. I didn’t want to go too crazy on new shocks and buy something like performance quality stock ride height shocks when I’m planning on lifting it and replacing everything in the next year or 2.

You have a short wheelbase, solid-axle vehicle. It's about as far from a luxury ride as you're gonna get. You're not gonna get much cushier than factory or oil filled shocks either. When you lift, many of the options are going to be stiffer gas-charged units. That is something to keep in mind so you can ponder buying a shock that is adjustable.

Was kind of figuring as much. Not hoping for a Lexus quality ride by any chance, but don’t want to feel beaten up after driving around town. Guess it gives me a little more reason to lift it sooner (was wanting to wear the tires down a little more before replacing everything). I guess at least I still have my truck to drive.

Appreciate the reply though.

When you go to add larger tires, pay particular attention to load rating. A lot of people mistakenly buy am "E" rated tire, or even a "D" rated tire and then complain about stiffness. Those sidewalls get stiffer and stiffer as the rating goes up. Depending on usage, you may want that, but a "C" rated tire is going to be a little more forgiving for daily use. Also, focus on a 17" wheel if you change wheels. 18" or larger starts subtracting from the tire sidewall, which is again going to make a little bit of a stiffer ride. Shocks, as mentioned, will be important to pay attention to. When you lift, the #1 thing you need to make sure you address is correcting caster. That is what is going to keep your steering as acceptable as possible. Keep that in mind since many lift kits don't include an appropriate means of correcting caster. It will be something to do a little homework on.

I really think you're just experiencing some adjustment to the jeep. Take the doors and top off on a nice day and you won't care about some of the creature comforts all those other boxes on wheels get to enjoy :wink:

Welcome to the forum btw. I'm up on the west side of Fort Worth myself.

Thanks, I’ll keep all of that in mind. I do plan on taking the hard top off and maybe the doors once the weather forecast doesn’t have rain for a week.

i actually plan on being up in Fort Worth this summer (hopefully). Been wanting to visit a few breweries up there and trying to maybe find some of the places I can remember from when I was a kid. Only lived there for 2 years in the early 90s, so I probably don’t remember much.

The "Magnolia" area just south of downtown has been a hot spot lately. If you can plan around it, check out Heim BBQ. They started out of a trailer next to little Republic Bar....one of those places that would open on sat and sunday morning, sell out and that was that. They now have a brick and mortar on Magnolia. It's some of the best BBQ up here. One of those places expect a little to wait standing in line most likely. They opened a 2nd location in White Settlement (west side of FW), but I have not been there. It's not Franklin, but right up there with Pecan Lodge over in Dallas. Definitely some nice little breweries popping up to. Martin House in FW has some nice beers, but their "tour", so to speak, isn't much of anything. I've always wanted to zip down to Revolver in Granbury but never made it. Some of the novelty wore off for me I think once Miller bought em few years back. They still crank out good beer though.

Lets start with the easy stuff first.... Out of curiosity, what size, type, and load rating of tire do you have on now and what tire pressure are they set at.

C or D rated tires run at 27psi, Adjustable Rancho RS9000XL shocks and triple rate lift springs should solve most of your problem..

Get a 4 door...problems solved. :D

Kidding aside. You have a 2008 JK with original shocks and springs. How many miles? I have a 2009 4dr and once I reached 100K miles, I noticed my ride was more bouncy. I said to myself, now is the time to get a lift which includes replacement shocks and springs. My problems were solved after that. So while you replaced the shocks, the springs could still be part of the problem as well.

The tires are Goodyear wranglers 255 75 17 and standard rating. They still have decent tread, so I’m trying to run them a little more before replacing them.

The shocks are brand new Gabriel’s that I recently put on (less than a week). I was only wanting to get a year or 2 out of the shocks.

The ultimate plan is to lift the Jeep in a year or 2 with new tires and what not. Kind of sucks having a poor ride quality in the meantime. Guess I’ll roll with it for a while.

Have you also checked your tires pressure ( 35psi for the stock goodyears)?

It sucks that you just bought the shocks, but another "cheap" test you can do is try picking up some rubicon (red) shocks or sahara shock take offs and see if that changes anything. I hated the sport shocks. Like you said, it just bounced everywhere.