JK Shock Length

JeeperJ said:

Hey guys,

I'm looking at ordering a new set of shocks here in the next week or so and i'm wanting some input on shock length you guys are running with a 2.5" lift. I've got the Teraflex 9550 Shocks that came with my lift when I bought it, but I've just realized that this is only a 9.5" travel shock and i've got room for 2.5+ more down travel. I'm also fabricating some brackets for the front to reduce the shock bow and turn the shock eye out. Any insight would be helpful.


Thank you!
Josh

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cozdude said:

Take the shock off and measure from eye to eye the extended length and the compressed length. That will show you what you have. Just be careful with how much longer of a shock you add on tho cause otherwise you will unseat your coils and you don't want to do that

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JeeperJ said:

Hey guys,

I'm looking at ordering a new set of shocks here in the next week or so and i'm wanting some input on shock length you guys are running with a 2.5" lift. I've got the Teraflex 9550 Shocks that came with my lift when I bought it, but I've just realized that this is only a 9.5" travel shock and i've got room for 2.5+ more down travel. I'm also fabricating some brackets for the front to reduce the shock bow and turn the shock eye out. Any insight would be helpful.


Thank you!
Josh

Click to expand...

qwasin said:

You might have room for 2.5" of more down travel, but what about up travel? A longer shock will require additional bump stop. And I wouldn't run more bump stop than necessary just to fit longer shocks, especially with only a 2.5" lift. If you've got chopped fenders, 35s, and a low backspace wheel, then you can get away without any extra bump stop at all. So you're going to want a shock that's on the shorter end to utilize all of your up travel.

Now with that said, a remote res shock solves this dilemma if you're willing to spend money. Take a look at the Fox 985-24-011 and 985-24-012. These have 11.6" of travel and a compressed length of only 16.7" and 16.85" respectively. For comparison, those 12" king coilovers a lot of people run have a compressed length of 19.6". So with the fox shocks you're gaining 3 inches of up travel and only losing 0.4 inches of overall wheel travel. Great for 35s or 37s with some trimming. With 40s you're better off with kings or a similar 12" shock with a longer compressed and extended length since you need to run 3-4" of bumpstop anyway. So it really depends on your setup. Best thing to do would be to pull the coils and cycle the suspension to see where your tires rub. Then measure your shock mounts and see what compressed length you can get away with. Then do some searching and see what shocks have the most overall travel for that given compressed length.

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JeeperJ said:

Thanks for your detailed explanation. I'm running 37's on 2.5" with Ace Fender Delete. I'm currently running 1" bumstops in the front and 2" in the rear. I've been eyeing the Bisteins 5100 series part #24-186995. They are 16.410 collapsed and 27.56 extended and I'm currently running Teraflex 9550 shocks with 15.410 collapsed and 24.880 extended. So I have that 1" of uptravel that I can lose because I'm not using it currently and it's properly bumpstopped. This is what I have found to give me the best suspension travel based off the uptravel needed. Please chime in if this sounds correct to you. Thank you!

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