Measuring down travel?

[Vedder]

Might be a silly question to some but here it is:

Is lifting your jeep off the ground with a garage hoist the best way to measure the suspension’s down travel limits? Also, once up there, would lifting one side of the axle to full bump change anything on the side that is at full droop?

Or is there a better/easier way? Would simply driving up a RTI ramp in reverse until the front tire comes off the ground be just as effective?

thx

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[Remorseless]

Are you just looking to measure how much droop you have? If so, you can do that at ride height with just basic math - manufacturer's listed shock stroke minus the amount of visible shock shaft. Or are you looking to validate that there's no interference between components or something?

 

[Vedder]

Are you just looking to measure how much droop you have? If so, you can do that at ride height with just basic math - manufacturer's listed shock stroke minus the amount of visible shock shaft. Or are you looking to validate that there's no interference between components or something?

I want to confirm it visually. See how things look. Then I want to repeat the process with the shock removed to see how much more droop I can attain while keeping the springs seated. Apparently (from what I’m reading), my particular model has very short shocks and that it can gain 3 inches of down travel by simply swapping out the OEM shocks.

 

[Remorseless]

I want to confirm it visually. See how things look. Then I want to repeat the process with the shock removed to see how much more droop I can attain while keeping the springs seated. Apparently (from what I’m reading), my particular model has very short shocks and that it can gain 3 inches of down travel by simply swapping out the OEM shocks.

In that case, if you have a jack and tall jack stands, that's all I use when working with suspension. Jack the Jeep up to the height of your jack stand, put em behind the front lower control arm mounts on the frame, and let the suspension droop. Can take off the wheels and tires if your jack stands are a little short. Or, if you have access to a 2 post lift, that works too.

 

[jadmt]

just run up a rti no need to reverse.. it is pretty rare both front tires would be fully off the ground at the same time. also if you just want to use jackstands pull your tires off so you your axle can extend all the way down.

 

[Vedder]

In that case, if you have a jack and tall jack stands, that's all I use when working with suspension. Jack the Jeep up to the height of your jack stand, put em behind the front lower control arm mounts on the frame, and let the suspension droop. Can take off the wheels and tires if your jack stands are a little short. Or, if you have access to a 2 post lift, that works too.

I have access to a lift. That’s what I was thinking as well. New to this and wanted to confirm. Thx.

 

[AccuTunedJL]

I have access to a lift. That’s what I was thinking as well. New to this and wanted to confirm. Thx.

We have an article that goes into more detail that may be helpful. It's more for those who are looking to run custom shock mounts/coilovers etc.

https://accutuneoffroad.com/article...hocks-for-your-build-universal-fit-coilovers/

One thing to note. Longer travel shocks will usually have a longer compressed length, so if you don't want to change lift height, you will loose up travel.

 

[Vedder]

We have an article that goes into more detail that may be helpful. It's more for those who are looking to run custom shock mounts/coilovers etc.

https://accutuneoffroad.com/article...hocks-for-your-build-universal-fit-coilovers/

One thing to note. Longer travel shocks will usually have a longer compressed length, so if you don't want to change lift height, you will loose up travel.

Yep. Good point. Which is why I think I’m in the position to increase performance substantially with simply shocks alone. As long as the springs are long enough. In my case, the front shocks are 17.25" compressed and 23.50" extended.
There appears to be several quality shocks that are 17.25 compressed or less, while at the same time being 2-3 inches longer extended.

thx for the article.

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