Could my suspension be bound up?

[AVGeek99]

I was installing shocks today and the front passenger shock gave be a lot of troubles. I had the Jeep up on jack stands on the frame. Both tires were off and the suspension was allowed to droop.

On the passenger side, at full droop the lower end of the shock was about 2" lower than the MC outboard shock mount. In order to get it to droop low enough to connect the lower end of the shock I had to disconnect the passenger side sway bar link and then jack up the driver side of the axle. Doing that lowered passenger side just enough to connect the lower end of the shock.

When I moved over to the driver side I was expecting to have to do the same. But I didn't. At full droop with no suspension parts disconnected the shock mount lined up almost perfectly with the lower end of the shock.

Is this normal, to have to take the extra steps to get the passenger side to droop low enough? Or is it an indicator that something is bound up on the passenger side?

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[AnnDee4444]

Your sway bar endlinks might not be long enough.

 

[AVGeek99]

But on the driver side it drooped to within half an inch of the end of the shock, with everything connected. It was only a problem on the passenger side. I am by no means a suspension expert, but I would think both sides should droop the same, as long as there are no problems.

One thing I just thought of though. The old driver side shock was still connected when I was working on the passenger side. The old shocks were a couple inches shorter than the new ones. I wonder if I would have disconnected the driver side if the passenger side would have dropped further?

 

[Roky]

I was installing shocks today and the front passenger shock gave be a lot of troubles. I had the Jeep up on jack stands on the frame. Both tires were off and the suspension was allowed to droop.

On the passenger side, at full droop the lower end of the shock was about 2" lower than the MC outboard shock mount. In order to get it to droop low enough to connect the lower end of the shock I had to disconnect the passenger side sway bar link and then jack up the driver side of the axle. Doing that lowered passenger side just enough to connect the lower end of the shock.

When I moved over to the driver side I was expecting to have to do the same. But I didn't. At full droop with no suspension parts disconnected the shock mount lined up almost perfectly with the lower end of the shock.

Is this normal, to have to take the extra steps to get the passenger side to droop low enough? Or is it an indicator that something is bound up on the passenger side?

But on the driver side it drooped to within half an inch of the end of the shock, with everything connected. It was only a problem on the passenger side. I am by no means a suspension expert, but I would think both sides should droop the same, as long as there are no problems.

One thing I just thought of though. The old driver side shock was still connected when I was working on the passenger side. The old shocks were a couple inches shorter than the new ones. I wonder if I would have disconnected the driver side if the passenger side would have dropped further?

yeah, that’s likely what it was…. The old shock has a shorter collapsed length, letting it stuff better….,

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