Shorten bump stops vs air bumps vs speed bumps

zimm · Mar 15, 2016

My 3" bump stops don't give me much room for up travel. I know I need to pull the springs and cycle the suspension to see how much to cut off. But what about speed bumps or air bumps? I'm not desert running, but hitting speed bumps and pot holes in my suburban commute at speed would be awesome.

Here's a picture of how much up travel I have. Notice how long the shocks were. Northridge sold me the longer Fox shocks. I went and bought the next size shorter and installed them- they look like they'll work much better.

Before:

After:

DGP · Mar 16, 2016

Did you think about running 3/4"-1.5" spacers and your longer shocks? That might keep you from bottoming out so often and you'll be keeping your longer travel.

WJCO · Mar 16, 2016

Are you still bottoming out with the new shocks? Looks to me like that was the problem more than the bump stops. But like you said, you can only gather so much by merely looking at bump stops, that's not the right way to set them.

jeeeep · Mar 16, 2016

you really need to cycle your suspension, if you shorten your bump stops you may ruin more than your shocks. that shock body still look too long :thinking:

Evil · Mar 16, 2016

I would cycle the suspension 1st before you do anything. It looks like a spacer lift with the current shorter shocks would give you more up and down travel right off the bat or a longer coil. I would not waste 500 bucks on king bumps if you are never going to use them however they do kick ass. TF speed bumps suck ass and are no better then the stock ones, just dressed up to look pretty. If your going to go air, go with the kings. If you like the ride height then you will definitely end up having to cut but cycle twice and cut once so you don't end up stopping on your new shocks.

How much lift do you have? Just going off your advatar pic, in the pics you posted it looks stock!
what size shocks did you order?

Journeyman · Mar 16, 2016

What jeeeep said! There's so many other things that factor into your bump stops being the correct height. If you shorten them just because you have more up travel in your shocks you could smash something like your track bar or drag link into your frame.

zimm · Mar 16, 2016

It's a rock Krawler 2.5 lift.

I just put in the fox shocks for 1.5-3.5" lift. The old ones were for 4-6" lift. I complained to north ridge but they said that's the shock that everyone uses. Costs me an extra $240 for that mistake.

I definitely need to cycle suspension when I get time. I'm testing out the shocks today on my commute today.

zimm · Mar 16, 2016

Shock specs:

old ones- 4-6" lift: Extended 28.250 collapsed 17.150 11" travel
New ones- 1.5-3.5" lift: Extended 25.15 collapsed 15.550 9.6" travel

MedixJK · Mar 16, 2016

zimm said:
It's a rock Krawler 2.5 lift.

I just put in the fox shocks for 1.5-3.5" lift. The old ones were for 4-6" lift. I complained to north ridge but they said that's the shock that everyone uses. Costs me an extra $240 for that mistake.

I definitely need to cycle suspension when I get time. I'm testing out the shocks today on my commute today.

Wait, you mean they sold you the wrong shock and wouldnt refund your money?

zimm · Mar 16, 2016

I noticed a better ride today with the shorter shocks. I wonder if the shocks are smoother in the middle of their stroke rather at the limit? I wonder if they're progressive at all.

The shop that noticed the overly long shocks recommended 4" plushride evo coils. At first I said "sure", but after seeing pics on the web, they look they'll be too tall for 34" tires. Even Evo replied that the 3" springs are correct for the 34-35" tires. That's the height I'm at now, so why change it?

zimm · Mar 16, 2016

MedixJK said:
Wait, you mean they sold you the wrong shock and wouldnt refund your money?

Yes. They won't admit its the wrong shock. "We sell those shocks with that kit all the time". Of course it bolts on.... but I had about 1.5" of up travel. I'll keep 'em in case I go longer springs in the future, or maybe a long arm kit.

MedixJK · Mar 16, 2016

zimm said:
Yes. They won't admit its the wrong shock. "We sell those shocks with that kit all the time". Of course it bolts on.... but I had about 1.5" of up travel. I'll keep 'em in case I go longer springs in the future, or maybe a long arm kit.

Thats shitty on their part. Theyre absolutely the wrong shock. 1" of visible shaft is laughable. Sucks they wont own up to it. Id returnthem if at all possible. Theyd be borderline too long even w 4" plushrides.

CJW · Mar 16, 2016

From the pics it looks like your pretty close to using most/all of your shock travel right now. To ball park where you're at measure how much shock shaft you have and also the distance between the bump stop extension and the metal cup that the yellow bump sits in; all while sitting at ride height. If those are the same or at least very close I wouldn't swap in a shorter bump stop extension than you already have. Of course if you really want to know, you'll need to pull the springs out and cycle the suspension. That's the only real way to get the exact measurements you're after.

Edit: you should also pull the rubber bump stop out of the metal cup when cycling.

PrestonBarringer · Mar 16, 2016

I've got the same problem I've got a 4" lift and the shocks are for 4-6. Sorry about the pic it's the best I have now. I figured I would just lift her up some more.

Shorten bump stops vs air bumps vs speed bumps

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