Wheel hop issues

[Sasquash]

I have a 2020 2 door soft top 3.6 and 6 speed that I get to take out into sand dunes pretty much on the regular.​

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I'm currently running Mickey Thompson Deegan 38 AT, but I have tried other tires, and a 4 door hard top Rubi take off suspension.​

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As long as I stay in the flats or on the not so steep stuff the Jeep does fine. The whoops are brutal even creeping along at 25mph but I think as soon as I get some hydraulic bump stops it can smooth those out.​

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Problem is as soon as I try the steeper stuff there is a lot of wheel hop. I've tried taking the tires down to 8 PSI (that's where I popped the bead off). Anybody know how to fix the wheel hop? I'd hate to drop 5 to 6k on something like coilovers and long arms and still have the same problem.​

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[5280Sapper]

there is a lot of factors.. tire construction: load range and pressure. shocks and springs.. all these things combined make a suspension work. how the control arms sit... biggest down fall on my current suspension is the control arms length and position. the lower brackets will perform better if they are on the axle center line. and obviously more parallel the the jeep and ground.

 

[Nick p]

I think with that much lift on a 2 dr that your running out of down travel particularly on the front. I put front 4 dr rubicon springs on my 2 dr Rubicon and had that issue. Put some longer Fox shocks on it and it transformed the off road ride and hill climbing ability.

 

[AccuTunedJL]

You are running stock shocks right? A set of tuned shocks will help out a lot. Adding air bumps will not solve your problem.

 

[JimLee]

Jeep stock suspension/steering and shocks suck in the desert, whether it's off a Rubicon or not. Good shocks would definitely help, a proper lift kit probably would also. I personally wouldn't go long arms for what you are doing, I don't think it is necessary (my opinion). Also if you are getting a lot of wheel spin on the steeper stuff traction control and BLD may be working against you, 4-Lo disables some of the traction control nannies. I've read that you can hold the button longer and disable most of the traction control stuff, but I haven't tried it myself.

 

[LKG]

Hoping to revive this! After a totaled Jeep and changes in plans, I finally got my Wrangler out to the Oregon coast and got to drive on he beach. The $25 flag and $10 permit were the best $35 I've spent in a long time.

First off I have a stock 23 manual JLUR with the original BFG's. I did forget to press and hold the traction control button, and I only aired down to about 20 PSI. Oh, and I did not disconnect the sway bar.

My issue was of course wheel hop getting back up over the dunes. It took me 3 shots to blast back up and over, 4 high, second gear and a lot of RPM's and of course lots of wheel hop. I've also gotten a fair amount of hop on steep muddy junk too back home.

My question, should I be looking at different front shocks and if so what would you all recommend?

 

[Old Jeeper]

I have a 2020 2 door soft top 3.6 and 6 speed that I get to take out into sand dunes pretty much on the regular.​

​

I'm currently running Mickey Thompson Deegan 38 AT, but I have tried other tires, and a 4 door hard top Rubi take off suspension.​

​

As long as I stay in the flats or on the not so steep stuff the Jeep does fine. The whoops are brutal even creeping along at 25mph but I think as soon as I get some hydraulic bump stops it can smooth those out.​

​

Problem is as soon as I try the steeper stuff there is a lot of wheel hop. I've tried taking the tires down to 8 PSI (that's where I popped the bead off). Anybody know how to fix the wheel hop? I'd hate to drop 5 to 6k on something like coilovers and long arms and still have the same problem.​

Wheel hop: Your first line of defense is SHOCKS! You need a good heavy duty shock.

That said wheel hop is not common in Coil spring like it is in leaf spring. You may well have unbalanced shocks, check to see if you have any leaking from either of your shocks.

Also inspect the bushings on your rear upper/lower control arms, you may have a wobble out bushing which will give play in the control arms.

Are you running an open axle or a limited slip?

 

[LKG]

Wheel hop: Your first line of defense is SHOCKS! You need a good heavy duty shock.

That said wheel hop is not common in Coil spring like it is in leaf spring. You may well have unbalanced shocks, check to see if you have any leaking from either of your shocks.

Also inspect the bushings on your rear upper/lower control arms, you may have a wobble out bushing which will give play in the control arms.

Are you running an open axle or a limited slip?

Apologizes I didn't see you'd responded. Everything still feels tight (20K miles) shocks don't appear to be leaking. Stock 23 JLUR climbing up fairly steep soft-ish sand, 2 high diffs not locked, traction control off and skinny pedal to the floor. Front end hoppin all over the place.

Do you have any shock recommendations that aren't horribly expensive?

 

[Old Jeeper]

Apologizes I didn't see you'd responded. Everything still feels tight (20K miles) shocks don't appear to be leaking. Stock 23 JLUR climbing up fairly steep soft-ish sand, 2 high diffs not locked, traction control off and skinny pedal to the floor. Front end hoppin all over the place.

Do you have any shock recommendations that aren't horribly expensive?

As for shocks, I am a RANCHO guy, have had those on the past 6 Jeeps I have owned since 2001 and on all 6 of MY Ford F 350/450 HD trucks.

Not the most flashy or cool and have bragging rights, BUT they work and work well. I run both the 5 series and on my off-road Jeeps, I run the 9000 adjustable.

Have you tried with Traction Control on? The only time I have ever encountered wheel hop was on my Leaf spring Jeeps and that was only on the rear.

 

[LKG]

As for shocks, I am a RANCHO guy, have had those on the past 6 Jeeps I have owned since 2001 and on all 6 of MY Ford F 350/450 HD trucks.

Not the most flashy or cool and have bragging rights, BUT they work and work well. I run both the 5 series and on my off-road Jeeps, I run the 9000 adjustable.

Have you tried with Traction Control on? The only time I have ever encountered wheel hop was on my Leaf spring Jeeps and that was only on the rear.

I'll take a look at the Rancho shocks, I'm not flasy haha. I have some tough decisions to make once the factory warranty is up (22K miles now). I'm kinda want to lift it an inch or two and jump to 35's but the Jeep has become our road trip rig and it drives so well I hate to screw with it.

Any time I've left the T Control on in sticky situations it just seems to kill power and becomes more of a hinderence IMO.

 

[Old Jeeper]

I'll take a look at the Rancho shocks, I'm not flasy haha. I have some tough decisions to make once the factory warranty is up (22K miles now). I'm kinda want to lift it an inch or two and jump to 35's but the Jeep has become our road trip rig and it drives so well I hate to screw with it.

Any time I've left the T Control on in sticky situations it just seems to kill power and becomes more of a hinderence IMO.

I am still rather perplexed on the front axle wheel hop on a modern Jeep. There is another thought and that is the front axle disconnect. Are connected only on one side of the axle...If you send power in 4 wd and one side is locked and the other is not, that would be a 'cause IMO.

 

[LKG]

Everyone else has had the same response, I'm thinking it was just a fluke. Maybe I got myself into old some ruts, it was plenty steep and I couldn't see that well.

I get to go play in the Jeep over the 4th, I'll give it a shakedown, make sure everything is working properly.

I appreciate the thoughts.

 

[AnnDee4444]

I am still rather perplexed on the front axle wheel hop on a modern Jeep. There is another thought and that is the front axle disconnect. Are connected only on one side of the axle...If you send power in 4 wd and one side is locked and the other is not, that would be a 'cause IMO.

The FAD is only on the passenger side, drivers side is always connected to the differential. If the FAD failed to connect in 4WD the inner passenger side shaft would get all the torque, with no torque applied to either front wheel... unless lockers, which OP doesn't have

 

[509]

I have the same problem with my Jeep in the snow. I have a mopar lift with the fox shocks.
It also had wheel hop problem before the lift .

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