fj80 needing some love

[HZJ60 Guy]

Welcome to the site. Good ideas all around. My question would be as to where you were going to get those Volvos to put under your truck? They arent all that easy to find....

 

[frankies off road]

VOLVO portal idea is scraped,,

thanks for the welcome...

 

[sleeoffroad]

I don't think you are comparing apples to apples since you're not letting the other shocks fully extend - that was the real question I was after 1st.

Not sure I am following. I was concered about up travel and compression. Not sure I understand the not letting the other shocks fully extend.

ok. So are the bumpstops added to not over compress the springs or the shocks? Since I don't expect you to know what OME was thinking, how about on your 4 and 6" set-ups? I can think of 3 reasons for lowering bump stops.

As I mentioned we do it to stop the shock from over compressing. As I also mentioned I think there are other ways to custom tune the bumstop size based on tire clearance and shock lengths. However the 2" we supply is a generic one for people that do not take the time to fine tune. That way we know that they will not have issues.

1. Longer springs that would over compress.

Yes, coil bind is a problem. Most people ignore it.

2. Longer shocks that would bottom out.

Yes,

3. Larger tires that you want to keep from rubbing.

and yes again.

Either you ended the post early, or you're indicating a piece of anatomy.

ran to the back to go do some work. Pressed the wrong button.

I'd guess that OME, recomending L's and J's together with said bump stop spacers, is properly accounting for what needs to be accounted for.

OME recommends bump stops for the L shocks. Nothing to do with the J springs.

That's a clumpsy way of saying I tend to believe that OME knows their stuff better than most and would have more faith in what they say than in most mainstream US suspension manufactures in the US. I'd venture to guess they suggest lowering the bumpstops due to a limit in the shocks, not on the springs. But that's only a guess.

Yes, correct assumption.

 

[Land Speeder]

That would be nice , i could use another 80 to wheel and test you mind a few dents will ya

Haha... too late for the dents! My 80 is so pretty... but is a wheeler!

 

[Walking Eagle]

Not sure I am following. I was concered about up travel and compression. Not sure I understand the not letting the other shocks fully extend.

Well, on the 8" travel shocks you use these #'s

Front available = 16.5"
Rear available = 14.75"

8" Travel - 14.21" Compressed
Front - None
Rear - None
Effective Travel
Front - 8"
Rear - 8"

Effective travle of 8" is not up travel and compression, that's all the travel there is in the shock.

Then on the 12" travel shocks you use these #'s

12" Travel - 19.53" Compressed
Front - 3.03" Needed
Rear - 3.78" Needed
Effective Travel
Front - 8.97"
Rear - 8.22"

Which I'm fine, up untill the point that you get to the effective travel. That also certainly isn't up travel and compression. If you've set the bump stops to stop the axle (and I'll agree to ignore the compression of the bumpstop) such that the shock mounts (with adapters) have the 12" travel shocks in the fully compressed state. Which it certainly looks like that's what you've done. Then the shock can extend from that point 12". Unlesss there is something else keeping it from extending - suspension bind (which should effect the articulation more than the absolute travel), brake lines, springs falling off their perches ect....

It looks like you've subtracted the bump stop length from the effective travel. That doesn't really effect the effective travel. It's more like you've traded 3.03" up travel for 12" total travel.

Edit - Personally, I figure if you're going to go through the trouble of adding eyelet shocks, you might as well go for some 14" travel shocks and do custom mounts. It's not like putting shock mounts on is rocket science - if you have a welder, it's probably one of the easier things to do - especially if you pick up a Mini-Truck'n magazine once in a while - there are plenty of places there that have shock mount tabs.

 

[Walking Eagle]

As I mentioned we do it to stop the shock from over compressing. As I also mentioned I think there are other ways to custom tune the bumstop size based on tire clearance and shock lengths. However the 2" we supply is a generic one for people that do not take the time to fine tune. That way we know that they will not have issues.

Ok, I got confused with you mentioning

The assumption is that the OME springs on an 80 are the optimized length and reaches full compression on the truck. So making that longer, we would have to add bump stops to make sure we do not over compress the springs.

So - Slee Kit's set the bumpstop to keep the shock from over compressing, but tire clearance and over compressed springs can also be reasons for extending bump stops.

Not trying to be a pain restating - just want to make sure I'm understanding what you're saying properly.