What is the correct Shocks length ?

Hi guys,

Last October I bought a Rugged Ridge 4-5in lift kit for my 2 Door JK Rubicon 2008 from Morris 4x4.

I spare you the details but that's the worse thing I've ever done because all the brackets are designed for LHD and mine is a RHD as I live in UK. I know you're going to say that's my fault but I did tell the sales person via the Live online Chat that I live in England and my jeep is RHD before ordering it.
Anyway to cut a long story short I bought everything that was required for RHD lift kit from Northridge and I am very happy with them.
The only thing that I kept from the RR kit are the Lower Arms, the springs and the shocks. I couldn't use my Jeep for few months for different reasons so it's only about 6 weeks ago that I could at last drive it with the lift kit and the re-gearing done for the new 37" tyres.
I was amazed to find out how bad the ride is. I'm not talking about Off roading here just driving along in town on the awful tarmac of the English roads. The Jeep bounce and I can barely go more than 25/30mph otherwise it's almost un-drivable. I lowered the tyres pressure to 25psi but no changes.
I spoke to a guy who used to be a pilot in the early days of the Paris-Dakar (for people who've heard of it) when I went to the Chambon sur Jeep in France a couple of weeks ago. He told me to measure my shocks as it was in his opinion very likely that they are not long enough.

So with the Jeep parked on a flat surface I removed the bolt at the bottom of the rear shock and measure only 3in of travel down. My Rear springs measure 14.5" in length with the Jeep on its wheels on flat surface and these shocks are sold with the following measures: 15.69" compressed and 26.57 extended.

Then I measured the front shock with the bottom bolt removed and got 5in of travel down. The front springs measure 14in with the Jeep on it's wheels and with a Steel Bumper and a winch fitted. The front shocks are sold as 14.56 compressed and 24.79 extended.

Could someone in the know advise me please of what length my shocks should be for this lift so I can plan to buy decent ones.

Many thanks,

Chris

Well I'm going to be going with the 4" EVO Double D Long arm kit and changing my shocks to accommodate for it.

Front: Extended Length - 28.250" Collapsed Length - 17.150" Travel length - 11.100

Rear: Extended Length - 27.950" Collapsed Length - 17.350" Travel length - 10.600

Sounds to me that your shocks are more in the 1.5" - 3.5" lift kit range.

Toxic said:

Well I'm going to be going with the 4" EVO Double D Long arm kit and changing my shocks to accommodate for it.

Front: Extended Length - 28.250" Collapsed Length - 17.150" Travel length - 11.100

Rear: Extended Length - 27.950" Collapsed Length - 17.350" Travel length - 10.600

Sounds to me that your shocks are more in the 1.5" - 3.5" lift kit range.

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Thanks for your reply,

I would be curious to know if anyone else has bought that Rugged Ridge lift kit and faced the same issue.

I am going to look for shocks for a 5"-6" lift kit. That should cure the problem.

You can take out your springs, put your wheels back on and lower it. Measure eye to eye on the shock mounting holes. This is your collapsed length. While your at it it lets you check for other clearance issues you might have. Then order shocks with or close to that length.

Use this to determine your actual lift then call David at Northridge, he will tell you what you need. You don't want them too long or you can stretch your brake lines and anti lock wires or unseat a coil or ruin a driveshaft. Also do you have bump stops so you don't compress a coil?

Forget the shocks, why can't you drove over 20 mph? That would have nothing to do with shocks.

OverlanderJK said:

Forget the shocks, why can't you drove over 20 mph? That would have nothing to do with shocks.

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It was just a way of explaining how bad the ride is on badly surfaced roads.
Otherwise no there is nothing else wrong with it. I drove it a couple of times at 80mph on smooth surface on motorway and it was a very pleasant ride.

JKbrick said:

Use this to determine your actual lift then call David at Northridge, he will tell you what you need. You don't want them too long or you can stretch your brake lines and anti lock wires or unseat a coil or ruin a driveshaft. Also do you have bump stops so you don't compress a coil?
View attachment 83704

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Thanks for the diagram.

That picture shows the front suspension so I measured the front shock from top just were the bushing touched the chassis to the middle of the bolt at the bottom and I found 23in. So my lift is 4.5in in the front with a steel bumper and a winch.

I measured the rear shocks and I found 25in but I don't know what was the stock measure for the rear. I've got the feeling my lift is about 5in in the rear because the front of the Jeep is slightly lower than the rear due to the weight of the winch and bumper.

Otherwise I replaced the rear driveshaft by a Rugged ridge with double cardan joint Drive shaft for lifted JK.

I've also already fitted extended brake lines for a 4in lift, 4in steel bumpstops on the rear arms and my rear springs sit on Synergy rear coil wedges with an angle so no worries about that.

I thought I was well prepared but that lift kit betrayed me.

French-Chris said:

I would be curious to know if anyone else has bought that Rugged Ridge lift kit and faced the same issue.

Click to expand...

I had no clue rugged ridge made lifts...I thought they were just a Chinese made accessory company :idontknow: I've also never heard of anyone on here running that kit/lift

French-Chris said:

Thanks for the diagram.

That picture shows the front suspension so I measured the front shock from top just were the bushing touched the chassis to the middle of the bolt at the bottom and I found 23in. So my lift is 4.5in in the front with a steel bumper and a winch.

I measured the rear shocks and I found 25in but I don't know what was the stock measure for the rear. I've got the feeling my lift is about 5in in the rear because the front of the Jeep is slightly lower than the rear due to the weight of the winch and bumper.

Otherwise I replaced the rear driveshaft by a Rugged ridge with double cardan joint Drive shaft for lifted JK.

I've also already fitted extended brake lines for a 4in lift, 4in steel bumpstops on the rear arms and my rear springs sit on Synergy rear coil wedges with an angle so no worries about that.

I thought I was well prepared but that lift kit betrayed me.

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Sounds like you thought of everything, I have heard people say their jeeps drive bad if the camber is off after that much lift, maybe you need adjustable control arms? Are your shocks hydro or gas?

StrizzyChris said:

I had no clue rugged ridge made lifts...I thought they were just a Chinese made accessory company :idontknow: I've also never heard of anyone on here running that kit/lift

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Now that I know the "quality" of their gear I am not surprised that nobody buys this........ apart from me !! :furious3:

JKbrick said:

Sounds like you thought of everything, I have heard people say their jeeps drive bad if the camber is off after that much lift, maybe you need adjustable control arms? Are your shocks hydro or gas?

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Forgot to mention that this kit comes with Front and Rear Lower Arms. They are not adjustable unfortunately but they are designed for 4-5in lift so the Front ones are a bit longer than stock. I also fitted the AEV Geometry Correction brackets for Front Control Arms. These eliminate the need for adjustable control arms or cam bolts for caster correction.
And yes the shocks are Nitrogen Gas, but this afternoon (5pm in UK that is) I have ordered from Sean at Northridge (9am at Northridge) a set of Front and Rear Fox shocks with separate reservoirs for a 4 to 6in lift. That should cure the problem.

I can't wait to receive them !!