Shock dilemma

[drew and not u]

A couple of months ago I ordered a set of Doetsch Pre-Runner 8000 series shocks for my XJ. Due to some confusion during ordering I ended up with a pair of shocks with hoops on both ends, instead of a hoop and a stem. They were going to charge me shipping both ways plus a restocking fee to exchange for the correct ones so I said screw it, I'll make it work. I looked into and purchased a pair of JKS shock conversions. What didn't occur to me at the time was the fact that the 1.5" drop these mounts cause would cut out so much of my up-travel. With the new shocks installed with the mounts, I only had about 3-4" of up-travel, excluding the built in bump-stop.

With my current Rustys shocks (crap), I have about 10" of up-travel, but very limited down-travel. I have the T&T Y-link setup, and I can't decide whether to run this setup for now or leave in what I have. Either way when I can afford to I'm going to get new shocks, taking the 1.5" drop into account. I just want opinions on what to do in the meantime. I ran my current setup at UNF a few weeks ago, and it did really well, but there were several times when my limited flex resulted in a tire hanging in the air.

So again, my options are: plenty of up-travel, and almost no down-travel. Or Plenty of down-travel and almost no up-travel.

 

[HANO]

You better hurry up and get this figured out... we leave for Tellico tomm!

 

[HANO]

Drew I probably have 3-4 inches of up travel in my shocks, but I am properly bumpstopped for it. I'll take the droop over the compression, aslong as your set-up correctly for your limited stuff..... I've got close to 5" of bumpstop ( 3" aluminum spacer on the coil pad and then a 2 inch spacer for the rubber stop.)

Your pops said your set-up worked real well during the test run at URE.

Worst case scenario, you can fab up a spacer ( like a bar pin eliminator) to gain another inch or two out of your Crustys.

J.R.

 

[Rich]

With my current Rustys shocks (crap), I have about 10" of up-travel, but very limited down-travel.

If you have 10" of USABLE uptravel (i.e. not jsut on the shock, but tire clearance, etc.), your vehicle is too damn tall.

Those shocks won't like being hit that hard because they're too long, I think your best bet is to try and sell them, and get the right length. Shocks with eyes on both ends are the most popular anyway.

 

[drew and not u]

That's a good point. While the shocks have that much up-travel, my suspension realistically has about ~6" (I only have about 5" of lift - you can see it in my avatar).

I wouldn't have a problem selling the shocks, but they're a custom application, and I don't know if I'd have much luck. Plus they're the correct length for my application if I can just mount them in such a way that they're not hanging down below the stock mount. We thought about it some more tonight and might try making a bar-pin eliminator style upper mount.

Thanks guys, see you tomorrow JR.