Tough Dog shocks with 4+ ubolt flip kit - dilemma (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Sep 29, 2004
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Location
Houston, the lower bowel of TX
Been slowly doing a suspension refresh and hit a minor snag on the front end.

Here’s what I got:
- brand new OME CS004F springs (and bushings)
- 4+ U-bolt flip kit
- new Tough Dog shocks (replacing the old Emu Nitrochargers)

The flip kit raises the lower shock mount up about 2 inches out of harms way, which shortens the working space for the shock. Conversely the TD shocks are longer in compression and extension than the Emu’s.
So basically I’m trying to put a longer shock in a shorter space. Don’t think this is gonna work.

Few pics of the shocks together:
Extended:

677480E7-BEAE-463B-B269-6C2A5236F324.jpeg


Compressed: Emu’s compress more

0FFBBE52-E20D-4CBF-BE2B-8B9054981A99.jpeg


Couple more pics:
So with everything mounted up there’s barely 1.5 inches of up travel to bottom out on the TD, marked by black line. The distance to the bump stop off the flip kit plate is about 2 1/2 - 3/4”. I bottomed out the shock with no problem with a jack under the axle before getting close to the bumpstop. No bueno.

9D70E9BE-5A4A-4C0D-95D7-3D6AD9AC9A54.jpeg


Bumpstop:
9F221D71-9472-4835-8A97-664F8B699CFE.jpeg
 
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That last bumpstop pic is at a weird angle, it is 2 1/2-3/4".

So I looked up Bilstein's shock measurement chart for comparison, the Bilsteins and the Tough Dogs have very similar compressed/extended lengths.
Bottom line, looks like I need to choose between the flip kit or the TD shocks...no way these are going work together. Sucks because I love the flip kit but wanted to go with a different shock.

Going back to the stock spring plate will give another 2 inches of shock up travel, but gain another inch in bumpstop distance due to losing the flip kit plate. The net effect will put shock distance and bumpstop distance very close to each other. There won't be much cushion room to play with.

Anybody else dealt with this, or considered this when using the flip kits?
 
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I just took some comparison shots of mine for reference. 1984 FJ60, looks like I have the same springs and OME shocks with the 4Plus flip kit. You didn’t mention what shackles you’ve got but our measurements are pretty close so you must have something similar.

16EBAC4B-239D-4E15-B0FC-E66AA653464E.jpeg


3FAE7464-C214-4C19-84AB-9B7D7EC3182E.jpeg


A10397AF-7422-4F3F-B806-C5CF13C04530.jpeg


7CA4D2FA-B430-4FA0-BEED-F0DA66D23652.jpeg


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You can see I have about 2.5-2.75” clearance for the bump stop. My shackles measure roughly 3.125” eye-to-eye.

The only thing I can think of is that the OME springs were designed to work with their shocks. The 4Plus kit is compatible, maybe even designed to work with it. Seems like there should be a Bilstein that fits if the TD doesn’t work out. I’ve thought about replacing my shocks as preventative maintenance, but I’ve got bigger fish to fry at the moment.

Now I really want to clean and paint this undercarriage too... lots of Texas red dirt and 35 years of road dirt. It looks terrible lol
 
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@klinetime574 thanks for the pics. The shackles are OME's, in fact, I used OME rear shackles on the front because they are .5" or so longer than the fronts...and beefier. Our setups are similar.

I love how clean the 4+ flip kit is, but it clearly requires a shorter compressible shock. The Emu's seem to accommodate this well.
My Emu's are old and I've heard so much about better shocks out there, like the Tough Dogs, which don't seem to have any length options. Maybe there's a Bilstein out there that can work. For now I'll prob swap back to the original spring plates with the TDs.

All I know is if this thing articulated hard as it is, somethings breaking off.

And btw, that ain't red dirt, that's red cancer...aren't you in Chicago now? You need a few oil leaks to coat that stuff. :cool:
 
And btw, that ain't red dirt, that's red cancer...aren't you in Chicago now? You need a few oil leaks to coat that stuff. :cool:

Yeah I’m in the Chicago area now. The Cruiser stays in the garage, no salt for it. My daily takes the hit for that, 2012 Tundra 5.7 4x4

Sounds like you’ll get this shocking situation figured out.
 
Was just thinking, having adjustable upper front shock mounts would be ideal for this situation. A couple inches of variability up or down would solve a lot.
 
Can you return tough dogs and put OME shocks back on? If they're still good shocks that's what I would do.
 
Can you return tough dogs and put OME shocks back on? If they're still good shocks that's what I would do.

Naa, I got those Tough Dogs awhile back, wouldn't expect a vendor to take those back now. I need new shocks, these Emu shocks are probably 12+ years old now.

Anyhoo, just got back in from removing the u-bolt flip kit, I'm passing on the kit for now and save it for a rainy day. Going back to the stock spring plate with the TDs. Currently just waiting on new U bolts to arrive to put this thing together.
 

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