EVO Stage 4 2.5" HC rough ride

[JL_John]

I think the coilovers that most Offroad shops put out are more off the shelf vs custom tuned for their kits. They are more focused w/ bracketry designs. To get the most out of coil-overs in my opinion, you’ll have to get em re-valved.

This. No matter how it’s valved people won’t be happy. To soft for desert running or to stiff for daily driving. No win situation for the company so they focus on spring rates and run standard valving. Spend the extra couple bucks and get them revalved for your application.

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[scrape]

I have the EVO Stage 3 kit. The kings that EVO sent were nowhere close to giving a decent ride. They were harsh I cannot believe they were tuned other than the spring rate. EVO was of zero help. I took them to a local tuner here in San Diego - Down South Motor Sports and they were able to soften the ride up a ton by revalving the shocks. They said the valving was not even close and set super stiff. If I remember correctly the comp and rebound were both set at 20, plus the bleeds were closed( I was told this should only be done if no sway bars are used). They went ahead and softened up a bunch. I may have them soften it up a bit more next time I have to take them off. If you are interested in the settings they used for me send me a PM.

That’s funny. If it was the #20 stack with all .020 shims then that is literally the stiffest valving king will offer off-the-shelf without requesting custom valving.

The EVO coilovers are likely tuned for fast running in the desert with the intention of it being able to handle lots of hard, high-speed hits. For this, the valving needs to be set up on the stiffer side. I doubt they designed it soft for cruising freeways.

So by softening up the valving, you compromised it's offroad performance, unless you're just going slow, where performance valving doesn't matter as much.

And if you got the adjustable knobs, it's stiffer than it should be (according to Mel) due to the inherent nature of how the adjusters operate. The valving is the same for with and without adjusters.

Then that’s the wrong tool for the wrong job. The way this kit is marketed makes it seem like it’s for trail duty and flex. With a bit of bump control from the higher bottom rate rate and air bumps. If they intended these for high speed stuff then they should be using IBP coil carriers. But that would sacrifice flex and wheel travel which would be harder to market.

And there is nothing preventing them from running a softer main stack in their clickers. But given what Mike said I would assume they are running #20 stacks in their clickers shocks as well in which case yes, the clicker will do nothing but make the shock even firmer.

I think the coilovers that most Offroad shops put out are more off the shelf vs custom tuned for their kits. They are more focused w/ bracketry designs. To get the most out of coil-overs in my opinion, you’ll have to get em re-valved.

And that would be true even if Evo did take the time to tune their shocks. Every Jeep is different and every use case is different. A Jeep with one tons and 40s has no business running the same valving as a Jeep with stock axles and 37s. What Evo could have done is do a better job communicating the main benefit of a system like this, the ability to fine tune it. And managing expectations for out of the box performance. Part of what you’re paying for is the potential for customization. So spending the time (or paying someone) to get it perfect should be seen as a benefit and not a flaw. You’d be doing a disservice running parts like this how they come out of the box.

Yea they could take more of a Filthy Motorsports approach and take all of your weights and measurements before sending you a shock. But frankly I don’t think that sort of customer is Evo’s bread and butter.

 

[Jeremy 2020 EVO JLU]

Nitrogen pressure will make the least amount of difference in your setup. Assuming your stop nuts are set right and you’re not getting into the lower rate over every little bump, your ride quality is all in the shock valving. I have no idea what kind of options you have in Washington, but I would reach out to a race team based out of there and get their recommendation. You could try to hit up @BosRacing here or Facebook.

Stop nuts look right I'm riding on the uppers with about 2-3 inches until secondary . Looks like re-valving is the answer. I did try taking a rough road and with bumps as hard as I could and my truck rides better. What does playing around with the nitrogen psi achieve if your valving is right?

 

[Jeremy 2020 EVO JLU]

What tires and tire pressures are you running? Also tire load range rating.

Did you get the shocks with adjusters or not adjusters? (with adjusters will inherently run stiffer, even at the softest setting)

What engine do you have? The 2.0 is lighter than the 3.6, so it may ride stiffer with a 2.0 (assuming bumper/winch weight being the same).

Load range D about 28-30 psi
They only had the adjustable ones at the time.
3.6

 

[scrape]

Stop nuts look right I'm riding on the uppers with about 2-3 inches until secondary . Looks like re-valving is the answer. I did try taking a rough road and with bumps as hard as I could and my truck rides better. What does playing around with the nitrogen psi achieve if your valving is right?

Dropping pressure could take some edge off the initial movement of the shock but it is mainly there to prevent cavitation/boiling of the shock oil. There is a minimum pressure you need and that will depend on valving, ride height, and piston/body diameter. If you go too low, the shock will just compress the gas pocket instead of forcing oil through the valving. For this reason, softer valving will allow you to run lower pressures as well since the oil will flow more easily through the shims. The whole thing works as an interdependent system.

 

[JL_John]

That’s funny. If it was the #20 stack with all .020 shims then that is literally the stiffest valving king will offer off-the-shelf without requesting custom valving.



Then that’s the wrong tool for the wrong job. The way this kit is marketed makes it seem like it’s for trail duty and flex. With a bit of bump control from the higher bottom rate rate and air bumps. If they intended these for high speed stuff then they should be using IBP coil carriers. But that would sacrifice flex and wheel travel which would be harder to market.

And there is nothing preventing them from running a softer main stack in their clickers. But given what Mike said I would assume they are running #20 stacks in their clickers shocks as well in which case yes, the clicker will do nothing but make the shock even firmer.



And that would be true even if Evo did take the time to tune their shocks. Every Jeep is different and every use case is different. A Jeep with one tons and 40s has no business running the same valving as a Jeep with stock axles and 37s. What Evo could have done is do a better job communicating the main benefit of a system like this, the ability to fine tune it. And managing expectations for out of the box performance. Part of what you’re paying for is the potential for customization. So spending the time (or paying someone) to get it perfect should be seen as a benefit and not a flaw. You’d be doing a disservice running parts like this how they come out of the box.

Yea they could take more of a Filthy Motorsports approach and take all of your weights and measurements before sending you a shock. But frankly I don’t think that sort of customer is Evo’s bread and butter.

I've never run IBP shocks, but why would the IBP coil carrier limit flex and wheel travel if you run the same length shock?

 

[scrape]

I've never run IBP shocks, but why would the IBP coil carrier limit flex and wheel travel if you run the same length shock?

It wont, if you run the same length of travel. But if you run the same overall length, you will lose some travel because ibp shocks have 2 pistons each with their own shim stacks. It takes up more space inside the body. So generally if you can fit a 12” standard coil carrier, you would have to step down to a 10” ibp coil carrier to have it bumped and strapped the same as it was before.

 

[word302]

I've never been a fan of coilovers in the rear unless you're loading your Jeep exactly the same every time.

 

[JL_John]

It wont, if you run the same length of travel. But if you run the same overall length, you will lose some travel because ibp shocks have 2 pistons each with their own shim stacks. It takes up more space inside the body. So generally if you can fit a 12” standard coil carrier, you would have to step down to a 10” ibp coil carrier to have it bumped and strapped the same as it was before.

Good point. Never thought about the additional piston for the IBP.

 

[Jeremy 2020 EVO JLU]

I'm going to do a little more research and then the plan is to send them out for revalve. Thank you all for the help. I'll give an update on this when I get it done.

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