ORI strut reviews

Man this is a better thread then I thought when I asked the question. I agree with Chris about wanting to get into other peoples builds as far as there shock mounting? Also what kind of up vs down travel are you guys running.
 
88bronzetrooper said:
Man this is a better thread then I thought when I asked the question. I agree with Chris about wanting to get into other peoples builds as far as there shock mounting? Also what kind of up vs down travel are you guys running.
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If you love reading you can go way down the rabbit hole with billavista’s articles.


BillaVista.com-Coilover Bible Part 1 Tech Article by BillaVista


BillaVista.com-Coilover Bible Part 2 Tech Article by BillaVista

I am aiming for around 6”-7” up, the rest down. I’ll probably be limited by drag link angle maxing out on the front before anything else. 14” coilovers front 16” coilovers rear.


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88bronzetrooper said:
Man this is a better thread then I thought when I asked the question. I agree with Chris about wanting to get into other peoples builds as far as there shock mounting? Also what kind of up vs down travel are you guys running.
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7" up / 7" down in the front
2" bumpstops

12" up / 12" down in the back (trailing arm magic)
Undecided on bumpstops for the back, probably some 4" shortened to whatever half the stroke of the bypass bottom out zone gives me at the wheel.

Mounting angles has been a discussion topic with Tim from BentFab when the chassis was built. We decided to install the coilovers vertical at full droop with the axle crossed up. That way the shocks only work in one direction, which is pushing against the CG. Helps with side to side loading in the fast stuff as well as avoiding weird reactions when crawling.
 
Travel depends on purpose. If you are bombing down whoops you want a lot of up travel 50/50. Dedicated rock crawlers run like 3” up. A trail rig probably somewhere in between.
 
Mac5005 said:
Trail rig, 6-7” uptravel

Pure Cone dodger 3-4”

U4 - as much as possible, split the total travel in half, or even more up travel.

Rock bouncing - more up travel than droop.

Low cog and low uptravel looks cool, works well for low speed crawling but is terrible trail to trail.
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ok so I have been working on a rear 4 li k on my full body 1988 trooper. This Will be an east coast rock crawler type rig. I originally thought I would have 7 up and 9 down. Now with suspension mocked up and tires kind of there. The amount of body I would need to cut I’m leaning more towards 5 up and 11 or 12 down. Curious what issues I might have since this is my first link suspension.
 
88bronzetrooper said:
ok so I have been working on a rear 4 li k on my full body 1988 trooper. This Will be an east coast rock crawler type rig. I originally thought I would have 7 up and 9 down. Now with suspension mocked up and tires kind of there. The amount of body I would need to cut I’m leaning more towards 5 up and 11 or 12 down. Curious what issues I might have since this is my first link suspension.
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Depending on weight it might be hard to find the right springs. The lighter the rig, the harder it is to find springs light enough to combine proper preload (especially in the back) and low uptravel numbers. Having a longer shock than necessary (16" instead of a 12 or 14" unit) amplifies this problem.

Given that you have a bull bodied rig and not a lightweight buggy (I imagined this from the description in your signature) I'd say you should still be fine with your current shocks and up travel numbers. If you can get it to 6" up it'll help.
 
88bronzetrooper said:
ok so I have been working on a rear 4 li k on my full body 1988 trooper. This Will be an east coast rock crawler type rig. I originally thought I would have 7 up and 9 down. Now with suspension mocked up and tires kind of there. The amount of body I would need to cut I’m leaning more towards 5 up and 11 or 12 down. Curious what issues I might have since this is my first link suspension.
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Just decreased ride quality. Tough to get it to ride pretty good with that little uptravel. It’ll fine at speed on the road, and not noticeable at crawl speed in the rocks.

It’ll be noticeable trail to trail, just rougher ride. With little uptravel it can be difficult to get enough compression dampening to keep it off the bumps on big events while soft enough to keep a decent ride on smaller stuff.

More uptravel is always better.

Can also think about alternative ideas to the norm.

Timbren rubber accordion style bumps,

larger diameter 2.5” air bumps with 1.0” - 1.5” travel and some creative valving in the bump, low n2 psi, high oil volume

I’m not saying it can’t be done with that uptravel and get good results, it’s just far easier to achieve with more uptravel.

With more uptravel, You just have more “time” (travel) ( piston and valving working the oil) to absorb the energy before the suspension starts affecting the chassis.

If you have a suspension package that’s adjustable, mount your shocks at full bump with the tire at full stuff, then set your ride height. From there see how it does, and adjust ride height.

You may discover that 1” taller ride height and 6” uptravel is X amount better than 5” uptravel.


Also for anyone following along. Make sure you set your spring preload (spring rate) and ride height on coilovers with driver and passenger in vehicle.

I had a terrible time doing my rear by myself, as I was setting for 7/7. But every time I rode around to tune, it felt harsh. So I kept increasing ride height to make sure I had my 2” preload.

When I got the springs close and valving close, as my jeep sit static without driver/pass it sits at 8.5-9” uptravel.

When me (215 lbs) and my wife are in the jeep it drops down to 7” uptravel and the correct ride height.

I know it sounds remedial and easy to avoid, but just another thing to consider when putting a rig together mostly by yourself. Account for driver/pass/fuel/tools/spares etc.

when you are getting springs/preload/valving close to optimal, you will notice changes in weight seem to make bigger changes to suspension position.

Same applies to setting oil volume and n2 psi for setting ride height with air shocks... even if they are the churched up ORI ones. Haha
 
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@Mac5005 if I were to hypothetically 3 link the front of my Jeep this winter and go with some fox 2.0 air shocks, leaving the leaf springs out back, would a sway bar be a must have or would I get by maybe doing that later on?
 
77GreenMachine said:
@Mac5005 if I were to hypothetically 3 link the front of my Jeep this winter and go with some fox 2.0 air shocks, leaving the leaf springs out back, would a sway bar be a must have or would I get by maybe doing that later on?
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I’d run it without a sway bar and see how it behaves.

Honestly I’m still running leafs front with coilovers and links in the rear of my jeep, with no sway bar. There are certain situations I notice it, but hasn’t been enough for me to put a sway bar on it. Think long sweeping turns, like the paved road up/down mtn @ windrock.

I notice the inside shock extending and “lifting” through the turn, despite being on the dual rate stops on the other side. The leafs definitely help fight it, but I didn’t really notice it until I got the valving right.

( given, I have a pile of tubing, heims, coilovers, bypasses, bumps, etc all on the shelf for a rebuild of my jeep. Just need to finish a couple projects before that happens).
 
Mac5005 said:
I’d run it without a sway bar and see how it behaves.

Honestly I’m still running leafs front with coilovers and links in the rear of my jeep, with no sway bar. There are certain situations I notice it, but hasn’t been enough for me to put a sway bar on it. Think long sweeping turns, like the paved road up/down mtn @ windrock.

I notice the inside shock extending and “lifting” through the turn, despite being on the dual rate stops on the other side. The leafs definitely help fight it, but I didn’t really notice it until I got the valving right.

( given, I have a pile of tubing, heims, coilovers, bypasses, bumps, etc all on the shelf for a rebuild of my jeep. Just need to finish a couple projects before that happens).
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I war with myself on leaving the Jeep as is, since I plan to sell it in a year or so. Or 3 link the front, or 4 link the rear. I have some of the stuff. I’d just need to decide on coils/shocks or air shocks.
I feel like either one makes my Jeep worth quite a bit more, and I also gain quite a bit of performance in the mean time.
 
77GreenMachine said:
I war with myself on leaving the Jeep as is, since I plan to sell it in a year or so. Or 3 link the front, or 4 link the rear. I have some of the stuff. I’d just need to decide on coils/shocks or air shocks.
I feel like either one makes my Jeep worth quite a bit more, and I also gain quite a bit of performance in the mean time.
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And collect the parts to ton it later. Can always sell all that stuff.
 
77GreenMachine said:
@Mac5005 if I were to hypothetically 3 link the front of my Jeep this winter and go with some fox 2.0 air shocks, leaving the leaf springs out back, would a sway bar be a must have or would I get by maybe doing that later on?
Click to expand...

Mac5005 said:
I’d run it without a sway bar and see how it behaves.

Honestly I’m still running leafs front with coilovers and links in the rear of my jeep, with no sway bar. There are certain situations I notice it, but hasn’t been enough for me to put a sway bar on it. Think long sweeping turns, like the paved road up/down mtn @ windrock.

I notice the inside shock extending and “lifting” through the turn, despite being on the dual rate stops on the other side. The leafs definitely help fight it, but I didn’t really notice it until I got the valving right.

( given, I have a pile of tubing, heims, coilovers, bypasses, bumps, etc all on the shelf for a rebuild of my jeep. Just need to finish a couple projects before that happens).
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I'm in an opposite situation, I want to link my rear and stretch a few inches. My rear leaves just aren't cutting it. So after reading this thread I was being swayed to get ORIs for ease of set up and use to possibly eliminate having to add a sway bar. BUT I can get a deal from a friend on 4 used Fox C/O's and two bumpstops for less than I can get two ORI's. But If I have to add in a sway bar, I'll be about even with buying a sway bar but will still have two C/O's for future use. I have no clue on how to tune the C/O's. Would still like to hit the "easy" button and use ORI's but trying to decide...
 
@R Q my rear works great. I’m also torn between doing the front vs the rear simply because it would be easier to do the rear and I could gain about 3” of wheel base.

My front bottoms out a lot, and not having a reverse shackle setup it’s rough when I hit a ledge, as the axle has to move forward when the suspension compresses. Albeit it still would with links, but not nearly as much.

@Bebop has a theory that doing the front would benefit me more than the back because the back seems to follow what the front does. Since the front does most of the work, if you get your front on or over an obstacle, half the battle is won.

I really don’t know what I’ll do, if I’ll do anything. But given the price of some Fox 2.0s and Scott and Enzos love of air shocks they have shared, I feel a lot more confident in them than I did before this thread.

Honestly by the time I buy or build coil buckets and buy some white body shocks, and limit myself packaging all that, the price of air shocks and simplicity of packaging becomes pretty reasonable.

By all means, anyone point out anything I’m wrong about.
 
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R Q said:
I'm in an opposite situation, I want to link my rear and stretch a few inches. My rear leaves just aren't cutting it. So after reading this thread I was being swayed to get ORIs for ease of set up and use to possibly eliminate having to add a sway bar. BUT I can get a deal from a friend on 4 used Fox C/O's and two bumpstops for less than I can get two ORI's. But If I have to add in a sway bar, I'll be about even with buying a sway bar but will still have two C/O's for future use. I have no clue on how to tune the C/O's. Would still like to hit the "easy" button and use ORI's but trying to decide...
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I’d go with the 4 c/o. No question.

If you are similar spring rates front/rear and spend some time tuning the dual rate stop nuts, you may not need a sway bar. Just make sure you get decent step up rate when it transitions from dual rate to single rate.

A lot of times sway bars are used to balance the front vs rear articulation timing.

The lighter spring force will always articulate first. So to balance front vs rear, install a sway bar on the end of rig with the lighter spring rate, to force the stiffer rates to articulate sooner. This helps balance the timing of articulation.
 
77GreenMachine said:
@R Q my rear works great. I’m also torn between doing the front vs the rear simply because it would be easier to do the rear and I could gain about 3” of wheel base.

My front bottoms out a lot, and not having a reverse shackle setup it’s rough when I hit a ledge, as the axle has to move forward when the suspension compresses. Albeit it still would with links, but not nearly as much.

@Bebop has a theory that doing the front would benefit me more than the back because the back seems to follow what the front does. Since the front does most of the work, if you get your front on or over an obstacle, half the battle is won.

I really don’t know what I’ll do, if I’ll do anything. But given the price of some Fox 2.0s and Scott and Enzos love of air shocks they have shared, I feel a lot more confident in them than I did before this thread.

Honestly by the time I buy or build coil buckets and buy some white body shocks, and limit myself packaging all that, the price of air shocks and simplicity of packaging becomes pretty reasonable.

By all means, anyone point out anything I’m wrong about.
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I did the rear first. Couldn’t stop bending leaves, and even with a traction bar, never really happy with how it performed.

Once you build a nice traction bar setup, you are 3/4 of the way to links.

On my dads old s10 we did the rear on it as well.

Both of us don’t really have issue getting the front up/on/over an obstacle, it was the rear giving us problems.

When you have a nasty ledge you have to bump the rear up, it’s usually easier to get the front up, as you have the rear pushing the rig into it. Once the front is over, rig is pitched upward, the rear is doing most of the work.
 
Mac5005 said:
I’d go with the 4 c/o. No question.

If you are similar spring rates front/rear and spend some time tuning the dual rate stop nuts, you may not need a sway bar. Just make sure you get decent step up rate when it transitions from dual rate to single rate.

A lot of times sway bars are used to balance the front vs rear articulation timing.

The lighter spring force will always articulate first. So to balance front vs rear, install a sway bar on the end of rig with the lighter spring rate, to force the stiffer rates to articulate sooner. This helps balance the timing of articulation.
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Thanks for the reply, I'm going to get the C/O's but per your response, I am not going to link the front just yet so I'll be leaf spring front and link rear. My front works great and although I know it would be best to link both, I am not linking front until I get a 60 and that's not in the budget right now. @uglyjeepoffroad has his rear linked and front leaf and his wheels great.
So do you think setting them up will be a problem with Leaf fronts?
 
R Q said:
Thanks for the reply, I'm going to get the C/O's but per your response, I am not going to link the front just yet so I'll be leaf spring front and link rear. My front works great and although I know it would be best to link both, I am not linking front until I get a 60 and that's not in the budget right now. @uglyjeepoffroad has his rear linked and front leaf and his wheels great.
So do you think setting them up will be a problem with Leaf fronts?
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Not at all. That’s how my jeep is currently. Been wheeling it that way since 2011ish. Probably won’t need a sway bar with leaf front and coilover rear.

Just try to split the shock travel at your ride height, if you can get that much uptravel. Once you get it together, get 2” preload on your springs at your desired ride height.

Get a decent step up rate, and from there you can easily tune the dual rate stop nuts anywhere from .5” to 2.5” above the slider at ride height.

This will let you set the “feel” you like balancing the softer rate to soak up choppy stuff, without getting too firm to quick, And not too much body roll.

Let me know if you want to, or want me to change the valving in that pair before you install. Depending on what’s in it, can make big improvements before you even bolt them on.

If I had to choose rear vs front first, I’d do rear as typically it makes the ride better to you butt/back in the seat. This is true except when your seating position is far forward (think ext cab pickup, vs jeep style seating)
 
Mac5005 said:
Not at all. That’s how my jeep is currently. Been wheeling it that way since 2011ish. Probably won’t need a sway bar with leaf front and coilover rear.

Just try to split the shock travel at your ride height, if you can get that much uptravel. Once you get it together, get 2” preload on your springs at your desired ride height.

Get a decent step up rate, and from there you can easily tune the dual rate stop nuts anywhere from .5” to 2.5” above the slider at ride height.

This will let you set the “feel” you like balancing the softer rate to soak up choppy stuff, without getting too firm to quick, And not too much body roll.

Let me know if you want to, or want me to change the valving in that pair before you install. Depending on what’s in it, can make big improvements before you even bolt them on.

If I had to choose rear vs front first, I’d do rear as typically it makes the ride better to you butt/back in the seat. This is true except when your seating position is far forward (think ext cab pickup, vs jeep style seating)
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Thanks, I will get you to revalve them.
 
77GreenMachine said:
I war with myself on leaving the Jeep as is, since I plan to sell it in a year or so. Or 3 link the front, or 4 link the rear. I have some of the stuff. I’d just need to decide on coils/shocks or air shocks.
I feel like either one makes my Jeep worth quite a bit more, and I also gain quite a bit of performance in the mean time.
Click to expand...
That pile belongs on leafs!
 
Late to the party but throwing in my two pennies...

Packaging was the main reason why I went with ORIs on the front of mine. The simplistic nature of only needing to carve out room for one thing, not worrying about a sway bar, not worrying about a bump stop, slap it in an go. 5" of portal offset made packaging a main priority.

It is true that only a single 1/2" bolt is at either end and using it as a bump/limit means that your mounts need to be heavy-duty with solid welds. It also means you can pull the suspension apart with two bolts! In double-shear it takes a hell of a lot of force to break a 1/2" grade 8 bolt. I used to test this stuff back in college. The mounts will probably fail first. As a limit strap it will not have that much force on it, a free-hanging axle end/wheel/tire is not much relatively speaking.

Mine are not tuned, like others have said I set my height and preload and am driving them. I bought remote reservoirs and never installed them, even in fast romps through the woods they never fade so I never bothered. Road driving they are a little stiff and I really need to work on them but in the dirt and rocks they are really nice and are never the limiting factor in clambering over obstacles (that is reserved for my nerves and lack of Hp).

There are actually two seals on the piston shaft; both have to fail for the ORI to compress itself. There is a slip-fit under oil on the shaft to the main body, a main seal and a secondary wiper seal at the shaft exit that retain the rebound side of the ORI. As long as the shafts are kept clean and maintenanced the seals should not fail prematurely.

I do see that prices on all this stuff have certainly gone up quite a bit but don't forget to price in your N2 rig for these or any air shock. I carry one on the truck since I use Fox air shocks in the rear as supplemental lift when doing big trips (loads of crap in the bed).

For the OP I am not advocating one way or the other although for intended use the ORI may be more of an "easy button". I know I would not want to iterate over and over with spring weights/lengths/etc and deal with all the time and energy that takes.
 
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