Limit Straps and rock star skids for JKU?

Cadima

New member
Hi guys,
Somewhat of a noob, as I will demonstrate with these questions. I have an 2013 JKU Rubi with a Metalcloak 3" lift. I noticed the front driveshaft contacts the cross brace and exhaust at full droop so I've ordered a new driveshaft. I hope this fixes that. Now for the rear I planned on installing some EVO rock star skids that relocate the lower rear shocks up a few inches and let you cut off some of the rear shock mounts. Yet, I've been informed doing this with the OME shocks will allow the rear to drop too far and allow things to tangle up. So, not to be swayed from gaining ground clearance, I am considering do this yet adding some limit straps to keep it in check.

My questions are:
1) anyone else come across this issue with the rock star skids? I see nothing out there as far as write ups go on limit straps for JK's.
2) Is it not a good idea to have them on the front also just to keep the load of the front shocks at full extension also?

Any insight is appreciated!
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
There is no need for limiting straps. Your new front drive shaft will clear your exhaust. In the rear, your shocks will be your limiting straps. If anything, you may find that your shocks are too long and will bottom out.
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Hi guys,
Somewhat of a noob, as I will demonstrate with these questions. I have an 2013 JKU Rubi with a Metalcloak 3" lift. I noticed the front driveshaft contacts the cross brace and exhaust at full droop so I've ordered a new driveshaft. I hope this fixes that. Now for the rear I planned on installing some EVO rock star skids that relocate the lower rear shocks up a few inches and let you cut off some of the rear shock mounts. Yet, I've been informed doing this with the OME shocks will allow the rear to drop too far and allow things to tangle up. So, not to be swayed from gaining ground clearance, I am considering do this yet adding some limit straps to keep it in check.

My questions are:
1) anyone else come across this issue with the rock star skids? I see nothing out there as far as write ups go on limit straps for JK's.
2) Is it not a good idea to have them on the front also just to keep the load of the front shocks at full extension also?

Any insight is appreciated!

first off, Welcome to Wayalife! make sure you stop by and give us a wave as well! http://wayalife.com/forumdisplay.php?11-Give-us-a-Wave

1. i have not had any issues with the rock stars. the raise up your rear shocks 1.5" for better clearance and just a hair more droop. what you need to worry about with them is that it doesnt raise your rear shocks out so much that you bottom them out and ruin them. the way to test it is to measure the distance inbetween your bump stops and your axle. if that is shorter than the amount of shaft showing you will be ok.

2. there is no rock stars for the front. they are only for the rear.
 

olram30

Not That Kind of Engineer
Hi guys,
Somewhat of a noob, as I will demonstrate with these questions. I have an 2013 JKU Rubi with a Metalcloak 3" lift. I noticed the front driveshaft contacts the cross brace and exhaust at full droop so I've ordered a new driveshaft. I hope this fixes that. Now for the rear I planned on installing some EVO rock star skids that relocate the lower rear shocks up a few inches and let you cut off some of the rear shock mounts. Yet, I've been informed doing this with the OME shocks will allow the rear to drop too far and allow things to tangle up. So, not to be swayed from gaining ground clearance, I am considering do this yet adding some limit straps to keep it in check.

My questions are:
1) anyone else come across this issue with the rock star skids? I see nothing out there as far as write ups go on limit straps for JK's.
2) Is it not a good idea to have them on the front also just to keep the load of the front shocks at full extension also?

Any insight is appreciated!

welcome to the forum! limit straps are nice to keep your shocks from over extending and damaging them. the problem is you pretty much have to measure them out after you decided on how much droop you have and your extended length of your shocks. pretty much no two set ups are the same. i don't see a problem with running them with rockstar skids either.
 

olram30

Not That Kind of Engineer
i would also agree with eddie that the hard bottoming out would hurt the shock more than a full droop. i don't plan on running straps, too much measuring for me.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Agreed. If you're getting enough droop that your coils are falling out, your shocks are too long.
 

Cadima

New member
Agreed. If you're getting enough droop that your coils are falling out, your shocks are too long.

I guess what Metalcloak is saying is that the shocks arent too long, until you add the rock stars. Then, they will be too long. So what I am gathering is:

1) after the rock stars go in I need to measure to be sure my bump stops are adequate to stop bottoming out and this is done by comparing the exposed shock shaft length to the bump stop length. Sounds simple but the OME shock shafts are covered. Gotta think about that some more.

2) Rear droop is ok if springs stay put. If not, I need to get shorter shocks?
 

olram30

Not That Kind of Engineer
i'm going to attempt to do a well thought out post on limit straps. wish me luck

in my opinion, limit straps only purpose in life is to protect a shock at full droop on a jeep that already has the proper bumpstops, springs and shocks. i've seen guys recommending them to prevent springs from falling out and another good one i heard was one at the front diff so the drive shaft doesn't make contact with your exhaust. if your are running a shock that is too long that your springs fall out, a strap does just that, takes away your droop. and you should have a larger bumpstop to prevent bottoming out, limits up travel. so you've gained nothing after all that, probably lost shock travel in the end.
if i had some nice ass king shocks, with everything else set up properly, i would consider them as piece of mind. are they needed? probably not. the factory doesn't put them on rubicon model jeeps and the shock is it's own limit strap. but there is alot of measuring, welding on mounting tabs and work involved to get the straps exactly right so i wouldn't limit droop and protect my shock at the same time.
if anybody wants to hear my thoughts on the single strap on the front diff to try to avoid buying a aftermarket front shaft, let me know. (it's a dumb idea)
 
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I guess what Metalcloak is saying is that the shocks arent too long, until you add the rock stars. Then, they will be too long. So what I am gathering is:

1) after the rock stars go in I need to measure to be sure my bump stops are adequate to stop bottoming out and this is done by comparing the exposed shock shaft length to the bump stop length. Sounds simple but the OME shock shafts are covered. Gotta think about that some more.

2) Rear droop is ok if springs stay put. If not, I need to get shorter shocks?

And what they are telling you makes sense in that with the Rock Stars will effectively eliminate 1.5" of up travel. Sounds like their kit is working with tight tolerances and you will bottom out your shocks with the Rock Stars installed. Installing taller bump stops will help but, you will most likely bottom out on them all the time. If it were me, I would just get shorter shocks and sell what you have now.

i'm going to attempt to do a well thought out post on limit straps. wish me luck

in my opinion, limit straps only purpose in life is to protect a shock at full droop on a jeep that already has the proper bumpstops, springs and shocks. i've seen guys recommending them to prevent springs from falling out and another good one i heard was one at the front diff so the drive shaft doesn't make contact with your exhaust. if your are running a shock that is too long that your springs fall out, a strap does just that, takes away your droop. and you should have a larger bumpstop to prevent bottoming out, limits up travel. so you've gained nothing after all that, probably lost shock travel in the end.
if i had some nice ass king shocks, with everything else set up properly, i would consider them as piece of mind. are they needed? probably not. the factory doesn't put them on rubicon model jeeps and the shock is it's own limit strap. but there is alot of measuring, welding on mounting tabs and work involved to get the straps exactly right so i wouldn't limit droop and protect my shock at the same time.
if anybody wants to hear my thoughts on the single strap on the front diff to try to avoid buying a aftermarket front shaft, let me know. (it's a dumb idea)

What you have stated is what a lot of folks think and do but really, if you're running a good shock and have your suspension dialed in, limiting straps simply aren't needed with a standard coil lift. Where limiting straps are needed and for what it's worth, I run them for this reason, is when you have enough droop to cause driveline bind. With the EVO DTD coil overs, I have enough droop in the rear to require limiting straps to address this but of course, there are NO standard coil lifts that will give you the kind of vertical travel that you can ONLY get with a coil over setup like this. :yup:
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
What shocks are you running? You might look at getting shorter length shocks. I am running 4" rancho shocks in the front and 3" in the rear because of the rock stars. Essentially they are the same length since the shock is raised in the rear.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
What shocks are you running? You might look at getting shorter length shocks. I am running 4" rancho shocks in the front and 3" in the rear because of the rock stars. Essentially they are the same length since the shock is raised in the rear.

Yup, back when I was running Rock Stars, that's what I did. Just ran shorter shocks in the rear. :yup:
 

olram30

Not That Kind of Engineer
What you have stated is what a lot of folks think and do but really, if you're running a good shock and have your suspension dialed in, limiting straps simply aren't needed with a standard coil lift. Where limiting straps are needed and for what it's worth, I run them for this reason, is when you have enough droop to cause driveline bind. With the EVO DTD coil overs, I have enough droop in the rear to require limiting straps to address this but of course, there are NO standard coil lifts that will give you the kind of vertical travel that you can ONLY get with a coil over setup like this. :yup:

ahh yes, the dtd does use them:doh: i agree and see people use them for the wrong reasons on regular coil lifts.
 
Is it possible to in any way damage a shock by over extending it suddenly under the weight of heavy ass axles such as mine or possibly Eddie's? An example would be a tire suddenly slipping or dropping off of a large rock into free space. I've often wondered this.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Is it possible to in any way damage a shock by over extending it suddenly under the weight of heavy ass axles such as mine or possibly Eddie's? An example would be a tire suddenly slipping or dropping off of a large rock into free space. I've often wondered this.

Well, I suppose anything is possible but with a good quality shock, it's highly unlikely that a single instance would do any harm. More like continuous and repeated rapid drops but really, you'd only see that kind of action on a trophy truck. You have to remember that your shocks will still dampen as they extend thus, slowing down the fall of your axle. Your shock would have to be pretty hot and oil cavitated to allow for a sudden drop.
 
Well, I suppose anything is possible but with a good quality shock, it's highly unlikely that a single instance would do any harm. More like continuous and repeated rapid drops but really, you'd only see that kind of action on a trophy truck. You have to remember that your shocks will still dampen as they extend thus, slowing down the fall of your axle. Your shock would have to be pretty hot and oil cavitated to allow for a sudden drop.

Ok, that answered my question. Of coarse, my old shocks were so worn out they dropped on their own when I swapped to coilovers, lol.
 
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