OK...so I've been digging through threads on coilovers for a couple hours now... I'm trying to figure out what to do for shocks. I've been looking at doing bypass shocks but was concerned with the possibility of damaging them so I'm trying to figure out what a good solution would be. Here's a thread I posted with some of my concerns on that. I felt it was relevant for me to post this new thread geared more towards my questions on coilovers...
FRONT: Ok so on the front I was looking at the Poly Performance front coilover mounts. They're weld on and look pretty stout. I think the front Is going to be easier to set up as there isn't as much to deal with as far as clearance issues. Not really sure what length of coilovers I should be running though to be around a 3-4" overall lift.
REAR: The rear is where I really had a lot of questions... I see many different variations and I've tried to read up a lot on them. Some of the ones that seem easier to do are like the Poly and Rebel ones that weld/bolt in the rear and angle the coilovers backwards, however that doesn't seem like it would give the optimal performance for the coilovers plus it leaves them exposed in the rear. I've had a couple people say this isn't a big issue but I'm still a little concerned about it. This makes me think that an outboard option might be the way to go. I DO currently have a Currie RJ60 in the rear but I believe its pretty close to factory width...and from what I understand it means I will have to notch the frame rail to fit coilovers outboard?? How difficult is it do to this? Is it really worth it? I don't really want to cut holes in the body as I do still haul shit and dont want to lose space in the rear of my 2dr, plus I still use the rear seat on occasion. Also, I occasionally do some water crossings And I really don't water to be pouring into the Jeep lol. I'm also not sure what length of shocks to run in the rear. I'm assuming 14" is probably what I'm going to want to shoot for?? Do I also have to run aftermarket wheels for the backspacing?? I'm just on Rubi wheels right now with wheel spacers so I assume i would need to get different wheels too. Also, is there anyone that makes mounts for the rear to do them outboard??
What else would I need to to to run coilovers? Any recommendations on shock brands? Ive been looking at King bypass shocks to run in the near future, but as I mentioned, I'm concerned with damaging the rear ones and I would hate to ruin a $700 shock. So if I am capable of doing coilovers for close to the same cost and doing it fairly easily I might just wait a little longer go that route instead of doing regular or bypass shocks to get me by until I can do coilovers. At some point I may be looking at doing a comp cut/stretch so it would be nice to do the coilovers in such a way that will allow me to do this a couple years from now. Also, what brand of shocks do you guys recommend? I've been looking at Kings as they should be easily rebuildable and parts are very available, but I've been told that King may not have the greatest customer service if say I damage a shock body? I'm not afraid to spend some money on setting up my suspension, but I need to get an idea of what direction to go that way I can make a plan. If its gonna cost me a boatload to do it I might just go with some remote resi's for now so I can wheel while I save up some money to try to do it the way I want it.
Looks like he's running 3.5" backspacing wheels with wheel spacers to clear the coilovers. It would be better IMO to run a wider rear axle or notch the frame rails. Since I already have a RJ60 in the rear and I don't really want to buy another one thats wider, I think maybe notching the frame rails would be a better way to go?? This is kind of what I'd like to find out. Cause if I have to buy wheels as well to do coilovers too its going to be a while before I have the $$$ to do it.
If you are concerned with damaging the shocks, you could look at EVO's system....Double Throwdown front and back. The rear coilovers are horizontal and the system works on a cantilever system. No part of the shock protrudes below the axle. Here is my setup.
Hey TopGun, meet me at Hangar 24 and I'll tell ya all about cycling suspension to get every quarter inch of travel out of your shocks. I ran kings on my last race truck, and once I dumped the piss out of em that king calls oil, they worked amazingly well. Easy to work on too.
A lot of noise comes from the bypasses. It sounds like I was banging my wedding ring against the cage x 10 the whole time I was driving it. But in all honesty, I liked it.
Canti setups are complicated and sweet looking, and can work well if the shocks are dialed in.
I'd coil over and air bump the front of yer rig till you figure out what you want to do in the back.
So are coilovers the way to go then rather than bypass shocks? I know a lot of race applications run both but that seems like overkill on a Jeep and not to mention pricy. I want my Jeep to perform though both in the rocks and hauling ass off road so whatever I gotta do to get to that. Should I just get some cheaper remote resi's so I can run my lift for now then and do the coilovers all at once?? I already have the coil springs for my Poly lift as i wasn't really planning on coilovers soon, but as I haven't really decided on shocks yet...
Do you have any more pics/info on how you did the rear? Did you build your own mounts? How hard was it to french it in? Looks good from what I can see. Yeah I was looking at the tribe4x4 and Poly front mounts.
If you ever plan on stretching your 2-door in the future, DON'T do coilovers yet!!! You will have to cut everything out, patch it up, and re-do the whole thing. Costing you thousands of $$$ and days of extra work.
For the money spent on the rear Evo cantilever set-up, you could stretch your 2-door and get better trail and street performance. Plus, the EVO system will not work with a stretched 2-door.
Oh shit ok. So there's really no way to run coilovers now and do a stretch later? I was thinking about doing the coilovers outboard but I guess if I move the axle back it will change the angle of the coilovers...where do you have your rear coilovers mounted on your Jeep? Should I just do front coilovers for now and do remote resi's in the stock location then??
My point is; "don't dump money into your rear until you stretch it". I wouldn't even dump a lot of coin into bypass shocks for the rear at this point.
You can run stock axles with a stretch, but probably won't be out-boarding your coilovers without wheel spacers and funky backspacing - which you may end up needing even with a RJ60. If you plan on getting a D60, wait till you do the stretch; that way you can get a "blank" axle with no brackets for cheaper, and can weld the new brackets on with no prep-work involved. In retrospect, I wish I did that.
Yeah I was thinking of just doing some remote res in the rear and 12" coilovers in the front. But I'm told I'll probably have to go to 14" coilovers if I stretch?
Well thats kind of the problem. I already have a RJ60 in the rear. I dont really want to spend the money on another one. At the time I got it I wasn't really even thinking of a stretch and wouldn't really have known I should have gotten a wider one anyways. That's part of what's making me think maybe a stretch isn't the best idea. Id love to do it but I might be a little to far in to make it worth trying to do at this point in time until I'm financially able to re-do some stuff. And then it might just be better to start over with a newer Jeep.
So what do you guys think? Should I just get 12" coilovers for the front with the tribe 4x4 mounts? And then run a remote res shock in the rear for now? It'll probably be a couple years before I even start to think about doing a stretch so I want a good suspension in the mean time.
Alright cool. Thanks guys. I think that's the direction I'll go then. Hopefully I can get the mounts from Tribe 4x4 soon as I can't really do anything without that and that's probably going to be one of the more time consuming parts to install. Should I run limiting straps with the front coilovers? How long should they be or what criteria should I be using to determine the length?
I just run a center mounted limit strap in the front with a quick disconnect. I really only use it in places like Moab to keep my front coilovers from unloading on big ledges. My 12" front coilovers are too small to bind my front driveline. YMMV.
I run limit traditional limit straps in the rear with my 14"s.
To get the length for the front and rear limiting straps I would wait until you get everything done and flex it out. That way you know how far everything can go before it gets in a bind and you'll be able to get the most out of your suspension.
Also, with the coilovers, will i still be able to run the bumpstops I got with the 3" Synergy Lift in the front? Or do I need to do something different there as well?
I am running 12" king co's up front and get about 5" of lift from them. At full droop my driveshaft hits the exhaust cross pipe pretty hard so I really don't see the point of going any longer unless you plan on relocating the exhaust.
Getting the coils rates set up with the valves on the coil over is the most important part to the system and figuring that out is like taking a physics class. I would not try and do it on your own without doing a lot of research.
ORE has already done the research and testing the coil rates along with the valving for the JK so I would recommend them. Their price is good too because just the shock set up if you do it yourself will run you a grand and most of the towers out there run about $500.
Poly has the sway-a-way co's but I do not know of anyone that has a tune for them yet. Rock krawler has a co set up for the JK using their own shocks but I do not know of anyone using them or have I read any reviews.
I thought about the lever system for the rear but I think I really want to do a stretch and the lever won't work on a stretch. I have heard it is noisy as well.
Damn 5" of lift? That's quite a bit more than I was wanting as it is. What upper and lower mounts are you running? Are your lower coilover mounts directly on the back side of the axle?
Yeah I'm really looking at the Kings and I'll probably see if I can have them set up for my Jeep. I'm not afraid to tune them once I know how, but it would be nice to get them set up initially.
I am using the ore tower mount and the lowers mount at the factory location, roughly centered on the axle, with a new heavier bracket. Any taller a mount and you will be relocating things under the hood because it is right up against the plastic trays everything is mounted too. You could always lower the axle mount to loose an inch or two. They are centered on the travel the way they sit now.
Gotcha. You could soften them up a little by adjusting the spring rate and when each spring rate comes in couldn't you?
Thats one of my big reasons for spending so much time trying to figure out which route to go on shocks... My poor Jeep just gets beat to death off road when I go fast...I want to eliminate some of that.
Mine is not a daily driver so the stiff on road performance is fine for me but I would not want to commute with it everyday. The fast off road performance is awesome.
Ohh ok. Yeah stuff like that is good to know. I DD my Jeep. And while I have another car to commute in, if I'm not commuting to school I'd rather drive my Jeep like around town and on weekends so I don't want to make it ride poorly on road lol. I could probably have the coilovers set up a little softer for the street and be good.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
JKOwners Forum
2M posts
62.8K members
Since 2007
A forum community dedicated to Jeep Wrangler JK owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, reviews, engine swaps, troubleshooting, suspension, and more!