Mystery Bounce

Ok so there is a new bounce in my front suspension and I can't seem to figure out what is going on.

I installed my lift and shocks on 5/17/13, it's the 4" Enforcer with Adjustable 2.5" King shocks. I spent a weekend at Hidden Falls OHV park putting the lift to the test and make sure everything functioned. Everything worked great. I drove roughly 500 miles round trip not including the driving at the park and had no issues after. I had the shocks set to about 5 clicks from full soft and the tire psi was 30ish. Great ride no problems

I also drove roughly 2700 miles to Colorado for a family trip. Again great ride shocks were set to about 5 clicks and the tire pressure on the 37s was about 30psi.

After the CO trip I went to Barnwell ORV park for a Saturday adventure. I had the tires rotated and the oil changed. It was a great bounce free ride up to Barnwell. The shocks were still set the same but the psi was back at 37 after the tire rotation. I didn't drop pressure until at the park. The trails were great at the park and the Jeep performed flawlessly.

I aired back up at the park to 30 psi and hit the road. I immediately noticed the bounce on the front end. It was one of those belly fat jigglig bounces. I thought I had possibly not aired the tires properly and was getting some bounce out of the 37s. Unfortunately that wasn't the case....:thinking:

I have tested the sway bar disconnect, aired the tires to different psi, adjusted the shocks stiffer etc. The only thing that actually worked was stiffening both front and rear shocks to about 9-10 clicks and I can still feel the bounce but it is much much less. It's great that I can stiffen the shocks to get rid of the bounce but before Barnwell I could run the shocks on any stiffness and there was NEVER this kind of bounce. I am completely stumped!

I can't think of anything along the suspension that could be causing the issue. It doesn't seem to be only one side but both, and seems only to be the front.

If any of you guys have any ideas please let me know. I have a hard time believing that KING shocks might have an issue but I realize nothing is perfect. Is it possible something happened to the shocks to change their function?

The only issue I currently am aware of with the Jeep is some movement in the ball joints which I plan to replace but I can't imagine they could cause this springy bounce that I have. I really like running the shocks soft on some roads (before the bounce) but I can't now because of this irritating issue.

Didn't mean to write a book but it's a strange issue. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

-John

Dok one this I can think of is maybe one of the shock mount nuts might have backed off. Did you try torque checking. Did check to see if one of your tires has any sidewall damage interior or exterior. Other than that I am at a loss.

Does it very with speed? does it get progressively worse with speed?

cpowill said:

Dok one this I can think of is maybe one of the shock mount nuts might have backed off. Did you try torque checking. Did check to see if one of your tires has any sidewall damage interior or exterior. Other than that I am at a loss.

Does it very with speed? does it get progressively worse with speed?

Click to expand...

Well I have looked at all the nuts and bolts to make sure they hadn't come off but I haven't re-torqued them yet. I don't hear any creaking or groaning of any components. I know the exterior of the tires don't have any side wall damage but I didn't check the inner sidewall.

It is almost like the shocks are just kind of working but not like before. Maybe I should call King and see what they say.

It seems very constant and only really varys with the type of road. If the road is really smooth road the bounce is much better. Speed doesn't seem like an issue.

I am honestly wondering if something has changed inside the shock valving to cause this issue. No idea how to test that though.

If I stand on the front bumper all 156 lbs and jump on it the front end will bounce a little. I guess I should soften them all the way up and try that again. I'll try to get some video because it's very obvious that the front end is bobbing up and down.

Bump for the morning crew.

First things I would check would b the tires. Maybe there is mud or something stuck to the wheel, throwing out of balance or maybe a tie has separated a belt or got out of round from running lower pressure.

Id give the wheels a good cleaning and rotate the tires and c if that changes n e thing, for better or worse, and go from there

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

Rollincoal420 said:

First things I would check would b the tires. Maybe there is mud or something stuck to the wheel, throwing out of balance or maybe a tie has separated a belt or got out of round from running lower pressure.

Click to expand...

x2 I would really inspect the tires and wheels as it sounds very suspect of coming from one of them. Check to see if the tape balance or balance tabs have came off, or there's mud caked to the inside of the wheel causing it to be out of balance. Based on the "belly fat jiggling bouce description" :cheesy: I would say its not the shocks, and that the firmness setting at 9 of the shock is just hiding to problem. Kind of like when people use dual steering stabilizers to mask and death wobble or steering issues. Usually if a shock is bad you will only get a lot of bounce after hitting a groove or bump or change in the smooth road surface....and even then its usually more of a bouncing/rocking boat feeling due to lack of compression and rebound causing the coil to do all the work by itself.

Rollincoal420 said:

and c if that changes n e thing

Click to expand...

ok I cant x2 this portion...cuz dat aint engrish :crazyeyes:

StrizzyChris said:

x2 I would really inspect the tires and wheels as it sounds very suspect of coming from one of them. Check to see if the tape balance or balance tabs have came off, or there's mud caked to the inside of the wheel causing it to be out of balance. Based on the "belly fat jiggling bouce description" :cheesy: I would say its not the shocks, and that the firmness setting at 9 of the shock is just hiding to problem. Kind of like when people use dual steering stabilizers to mask and death wobble or steering issues. Usually if a shock is bad you will only get a lot of bounce after hitting a groove or bump or change in the smooth road surface....and even then its usually more of a bouncing/rocking boat feeling due to lack of compression and rebound causing the coil to do all the work by itself.



ok I cant x2 this portion...cuz dat aint engrish :crazyeyes:

Click to expand...

I know there is no mud in the wheels for sure. I have been trying to avoid mud so I don't have to clean.

I will definitely look at the weights, although it seems to be a pretty even bounce and I don't get any shimmy in the steering wheel. I would think if the weights were messed up or the tires were out of balance the bounce would be "uneven" so to speak. But at this point I'm looking at anything possible.

I definitely agree that the stiffness setting on the shock is just hiding the problem. :yup:

Doknocker said:

I know there is no mud in the wheels for sure. I have been trying to avoid mud so I don't have to clean.

I will definitely look at the weights, although it seems to be a pretty even bounce and I don't get any shimmy in the steering wheel. I would think if the weights were messed up or the tires were out of balance the bounce would be "uneven" so to speak. But at this point I'm looking at anything possible.

I definitely agree that the stiffness setting on the shock is just hiding the problem. :yup:

Click to expand...

Have you also checked the torque on all of your steering components and such up front? Trackbar, control arms, tie rod, drag link?

Done:

• Visual observation of all nuts and bolts/suspension and alxes to make sure nothing had come loose
• Visual observation of tires inside and out, no bulding or bubbles
• No mud or other buildup in wheels
• Wheel weights seem to still be in place - will have them re-ballanced
• wheel lugs properly torqued
• Front upper and lower control arms re-torqued
• FLCA johnny joints greased (Enforcer LCAs)
• Front and rear shocks re-torqued top and bottom bolts
• Coils are seated properly

I almost wonder if there is some kind of feed back coming from a bushing or if something is binding somewhere causing feed back into the frame/body of the Jeep. I still need to re-torque my track bars front and rear, and the rear upper and lower LCAs. So far there has been no change in ride, its still very bouncy.

Is it possible some bushing has blown somewhere and could cause this problem? Would I see the blown bushing? :gaah::banghead:

Check your upper shock mount bolts.

MTG said:

Check your upper shock mount bolts.

Click to expand...

Saw you did that already. If you are relying on the bolts being marked to determine whether something is loose, you may want to check it anyway with a torque wrench. I had one that was marked but was somehow still loose.

Edit: coils seated properly?

MTG said:

Edit. Saw you did that already. If you are relying on the bolts being marked to determine whether something is loose, you may want to check it anyway with a torque wrench. I had one that was marked but was somehow still loose.

Click to expand...

I am trying to work my way through all the bolts to re-torque. My visual inspection was just to make sure I didn't see anything obvious like a rub marks on one of the lift brackets/axle the would indicate movement, or visually loose bolt etc.

As you know the top bolts on the front shocks are impossible to get a torque wrench on but I do have them nice and tight.

If anyone with and Enforcer lift can take a pic of the torque specs page for the lift bolts on the brackets and U-bolts etc. I would appreciate it. I have misplaced my instructions.

Edit: Coils are seated properly.

sounds like someting is generating the bounce in other words it is not like DW that generates itself and becomes worse. the fact that setting the shocks stiffer kind of masks the bounce tells me the suspension is in great shape and its a tyre or a wheel. could be a tyre that has come apart in the casing, check for blisters or bubbles on the tread. if it was on the sidewall you would get steeringwheel shakes. could be a wheel that is bent or worst case it could be a bent drive shaft.

start by changing the spare with one of the road wheels. if the bounce is still there put the original wheel back and change the spare to the other wheel on that axle. do this for all 4 wheels and i am 99% sure you will find the crulpit

Kavanji said:

start by changing the spare with one of the road wheels. if the3 bounce still there put the original wheel back and change the spare to the other wheel on that axle. do this for all 4 wheels and i am 99% sure you will find the crulpit

Click to expand...

This might be a good way to tell if it's actually a tire problem. Good Idea.

It is really odd because the suspension does seem to work, but as I said I wonder if it's "feedback". It seems to be an even bouncing up and down from my vantage point in the driver seat, and it seems to be equal bounce on both sides. Like a front to rear roll, basically the hood bobs up and down 3-4 times and stops as the shocks work. Road surface is a big factor also. Really nice smooth roads don't create the bounce as much as rougher more uneven roads.

I did hook my Hero cam under the Jeep to watch the front and rear suspension but I can't tell that anything is wrong from the video.

Sorry for digging up this old thread, but my Jeep is currently doing the exact same thing with the same setup....

Did you resolve your issue?... If so, do you remember what it was... I've already checked over everything you listed up here..

Thanks!!

Anyone have any ideas on this? I have some time in the next couple days and would really like to get this sorted out...,

Thanks!

Yeep said:

Anyone have any ideas on this? I have some time in the next couple days and would really like to get this sorted out...,

Thanks!

Click to expand...

It ended up being my frame side upper track-bar end. It must have never been torqued properly from the factory. When it loosened it blew the bushing out on the end. I replaced it with a JKS adjustable front track bar and it hasn't been an issue. The driver side still rides a little bouncier than the passenger side but it's not really too noticeable. Made sure to re-torque the bolt properly. :yup:

Thanks! I'll check it out the bushings tonight....

So everything Seemed to be tight and torqued.. The frame side front trackbar needed just needed to be a hair tighter before the torque wrench clicked..

When I have someone turn the wheels side to side there is a very minor movement of the track bar on both the frame and axle.. The bolts are not moving at all... I'm assuming since they are rubber there will be a slight movement. (When I say slight I mean I really have to look for it to see it)...

Should it be 100% solid with no movement??

Thanks again!

Yeep said:

So everything Seemed to be tight and torqued.. The frame side front trackbar needed just needed to be a hair tighter before the torque wrench clicked..

When I have someone turn the wheels side to side there is a very minor movement of the track bar on both the frame and axle.. The bolts are not moving at all... I'm assuming since they are rubber there will be a slight movement. (When I say slight I mean I really have to look for it to see it)...

Should it be 100% solid with no movement??

Thanks again!

Click to expand...

Rubber bushings flex that's normal