Rear shocks role in body lean (onroad) vs sway bar? (1 Viewer)

[lasoundguy]

Almost finalized my suspension lift options (upgrading from OME 850/860 which has too much sag when loaded now that I've built up my rig.)

One of the leading contenders is the 2/2.5" Dobinson's tapered springs which seem to have mostly good reviews.

Over the weekend I ran into someone on the trail (Coyote Flat) who had the 3" tapered springs on their 80 and he said he regretted not upgrading to the MRA shocks as he has a lot of body lean on the road. I don't mind some lean, and understand all the variable rate coils (also eyeing Tour Flex) may have more than my current single rate OMEs, but am wondering how viable it is to control on-road lean with shocks vs upgrading the rear sway bar?

I was planning to just get the regular yellow shocks (4" lift model) but it seems like if I end up wanting to add a stiffer rear swaybar (whiteline or what have you) I'm closing in on the cost of better shocks. Any idea how much roll resistance will I get out of the MRAs? (I can't swing $1000 shocks front and rear at this time though, so focusing on the rear only if I do splash out the cash.)

 

[Box Rocket]

Shocks can definitely help control body roll. A HD swaybar will be a good decision from my personal experience. But going with a higher end shock that has compression adjustment can help dial in the right balance between smooth ride and controlled body roll. The more common adjustable shocks (MRA, Icon, Slinky) will have a pretty wide range of firmness adjustment. The smaller, smooth body shock options from those different companies will have a valving setup that is in the softer 1/3 of the firmness range of the bigger adjustable shocks.

The bodyroll will be more pronounced the heavier the vehicle is. Adjusting to a firmer shock will slow the rate that the body inertia can compress the shock in a corner. So you can solve that with a firmer non-adjustable shock or an adjustable one.

I'm been spoiled now since having adjustable shocks for the past few years. It's so nice to be able to dial in the shock for different conditions and I've been surprised how often I tweak the settings. It would be hard to go back to non-adjustable shocks after having them. If you can afford the upgrade, its definitely worth it to spring for the higher end shock.

 

[coax]

Can't speak to those specific shocks but they do make a difference in body roll. It will depend on the type of shock and the valving setup. Most shocks have a slow speed bleed hole that allows for very slow piston velocity movement without opening the shim stack. ( ~<10"/second). So the speed that you actually take a corner (broad sweeping vs. evasive maneuver) will create different behavior in the shock. A shock tuned with thicker low speed shims will control the sway better.

LIke BoxRocket says above, some shocks have a wide range of settings that can be tweaked. Other offroad non adjustable shocks may have varrying degrees of valving and some may control roll/sway better than others (though I don't have enough experience with various shocks to know which have certain characteristics)

 

[bwakeling]

I have been rocking the Slee/ADS shocks with no sway bars for about 6 years and it feels like less body roll than guys with OME setup.

 

[lumbee1]

Delta Panhard bracket helps with body roll a lot.