How far up in inches should the bump stop be from the u bolt plate on sprung over setup, keep in mind this setup will be subject to jumping and harsh race conditions
Man, I was just jumping the heep today to figure out my travel for some rear bumps. Here's what happened to my "shock hoop" after the harlan race using the shocks as bumps...
Broke that fawkin tube in half and ripped it from the unibody. (note; it was always meant to be tied into the cage and floor but laziness took over). Anyway, that setup has lasted over a year but now I have a bent shock and what you see.
In short, John Herr is correct...the shocks work pretty well as bumpstops.
Are you going to go w/ some progressive bumps or some air bumps? As for location well as said you want it before the spring can take any negative arch... -or- if you want to keep the tire out of the fender or something. Whichever is worst case scenario.
I am not an expert on this topic, but here is my 2 cents.
It will depend on the size/design of the bump stop. With a typical OEM small/medium rubber bumpstop that doesn't compress much (1"?), I would think you will want at least 3-4" of 'free travel' for suspension uptravel. Any less, and you will be hitting the bumpstops over every mole hill on the race track. Tony and some of the other guys are running those poly progressive coil insert bump stops on the front of their XJ's with only 1-2" of 'free travel', but the those type of bump stops are capable of compressing a few inches or more, so are completely different.
I personally don't buy into the whole don't go negative arch on the leaf springs jibber jabber. I think that is some crap that has been spewed forth since Al Gore created the internet. Some vehicles from the factory have completely flat leaf springs. How can they provide any uptravel without going negative?
