Wheeler Offroad "Superbumps" installed. (1 Viewer)

[JayM]

I received my order from Wheeler's and pictures really don't do these things justice. Great mounting hardware along with a nice allen wrench to install, plus a small bag of mixed candy with a sticker.

These are big!

I plan on hopefully installing this weekend. I was surprised how big these are and should be a good improvement. Keep you all posted.

 

[04gto]

About that allen wrench.....I had to cut about 1.5 inches off of it to clear the suspension.

 

[JayM]

About that allen wrench.....I had to cut about 1.5 inches off of it to clear the suspension.

Thanks for the heads up! I bet it works fine on the FJ's and Tundra. Good Idea to cut it down and keep it in the truck in the event of field service.

 

[re_guderian]

About that allen wrench.....I had to cut about 1.5 inches off of it to clear the suspension.

Uh, yeah. I ended up using about a 2"+ long straight section of the wrench (cut off with a hacksaw), along with an 8mm gear wrench, and when that wouldn't fit, a 1/4" drive 5/16" socket (I didn't have a 1/4" 8mm, and there's no room for a 3/8" socket assembly between the bump stop and lower arm). It's an 8mm allen head bolt, and the 5/16" fits fine.

I just chocked the back wheels, jacked up the front until the front tires were off the ground, and turned the fronts all the way to one side for working space.

I used an 18" pipe wrench to start removing the old bump stops. After 17 years, channel locks weren't cutting it. They're 2 1/4". I guess you could get a hammer and a chisel and knock them around to break them loose, too. Hub socket too small, and not enough room to get it under unless you remove wheel and shock. Once broken loose, mine could be removed by hand. I could see rust making this a pain, though.

I was worried about the clearance against the Foam Cell Pros under compression, but it looks like when they squish out, the fat part of the shock bottom will be above it. I could only find a ramp tonight that would just barely start contact. Curbs are fun, though!

Here's a few pics.

Installing:

Clearance at full droop (wheel off ground). It is NOT touching the shock, it's just the angle of the photo...

At ride height.

At half compression, with picture of wheel for reference. These are 295/75/16's. I'll find a place during lunch tomorrow to really cross them up. I was at the loading ramp behind the local grocery store...

You can see there's a few more inches to stuff still.

 

[re_guderian]

Wheeler bump stops v OEM:

 

[re_guderian]

And no, those are NOT gold hub caps, it must be your monitor. Or the flash. Or your old-man eyes. I would never accidentally get those fugly things off eBay. And not notice for several weeks. No way. Not me...

 

[04gto]

And no, those are NOT gold hub caps, it must be your monitor. Or the flash. Or your old-man eyes. I would never accidentally get those fugly things off eBay. And not notice for several weeks. No way. Not me...

LMAO!

 

[JayM]

I installed mine tonight. Not sure what to think as I have not driven it much. For reference 2006 lx470 AHC. With the superbumps installed they just contact the lower control arms. When I lower the suspension the stops let the front drop about a quarter inch. Obviously with the stock bump stops it would drop at least an inch. My thoughts are that these will limit articulation on a stock height rig. I'm going to put some miles on it and see how it goes. I really don't ever lower it that much so the pros will have to outweigh this issue. Keep you posted.

My install was the same with the suspension at full droop. I cut about an 1 1/2 inch section of the 5/16 allen wrench and put it in a quarter inch drive 5/16 socket and used a 1/4 drive ratchet to crank them down. Kinda a PIA on the first one second was better.

 

[JayM]

Got a chance to check compression today.

front wheelers bump stop

Rear factory stop

Probably not the best test of the travel limitation but as you can see the factory bump is about an inch from contact. It seems that superbump does limit travel. My ride quality is stiffer with less body roll . There are things I like about having them on but, I will likely pull them off. I don't think they are a good fit with a sock AHC .

 

[abuck99]

Might be safer to just place a floor jack under the control arm and jack that side of the vehicle to compress the shock & LCA.

Do these limit travel at all or just dampen compression of the LCA? Trying to determine why we need it?

 

[re_guderian]

...Do these limit travel at all or just dampen compression of the LCA? Trying to determine why we need it?

The intent of the "need" was to avoid the harsh jarring of bottoming out the front suspension when you hit an unexpected obstacle going faster than you should have been. In "theory" these shouldn't limit travel. In "practice" it seems that it takes a LOT of force to compress them even to the same height as OEM. And retaining one OEM bumpstop means you shouldn't ever be able to overcompress the front suspension. These compensate for high-speed, high-force impacts, and avoid bottoming out in those situations, seemingly at the expense of slow speed wheel travel. You give up a few inches of "stuffability" while crawling for the benefit of not getting pounded doing 35 MPH down fire roads.

I'm going to play around a little more, going to get it good and crossed up to see if it will eventually stuff. Will also try without sway bar to see what can be gained back. Will also try without ASB on road to assess the need for disconnects if that helps. I'm also not sure what the compressed length of my new Foam Cell Pros are, to be honest.

I also have another set of the Wheeler's superbumps on the work bench, waiting to go on the other cruiser. I might play around on the vise and see how much they compress. Also might consider cutting them down. Will first flog the installed ones on some crappy road at high speed though, to see if the benefit outweighs the penalty. I bottom out more often in typical use than I rock-crawl, so that drove the "need". Plus they were way cheaper than the Timbrens. Now I wonder if the Timbrens have the same stuffability issue. I would think so, unless they have a density gradient in them.

 

[JayM]

I was also thinking of a trim down to dial these in for my application. They do handle high speed heavy compression well. I have a section of road I drive every day with a 60mph left sweeping turn with a huge dip that would put me at factory bump level on the left front. The superbumps are night and day difference without harshness.

 

[04gto]

The intent of the "need" was to avoid the harsh jarring of bottoming out the front suspension when you hit an unexpected obstacle going faster than you should have been. In "theory" these shouldn't limit travel. In "practice" it seems that it takes a LOT of force to compress them even to the same height as OEM. And retaining one OEM bumpstop means you shouldn't ever be able to overcompress the front suspension. These compensate for high-speed, high-force impacts, and avoid bottoming out in those situations, seemingly at the expense of slow speed wheel travel. You give up a few inches of "stuffability" while crawling for the benefit of not getting pounded doing 35 MPH down fire roads.

I'm going to play around a little more, going to get it good and crossed up to see if it will eventually stuff. Will also try without sway bar to see what can be gained back. Will also try without ASB on road to assess the need for disconnects if that helps. I'm also not sure what the compressed length of my new Foam Cell Pros are, to be honest.

I also have another set of the Wheeler's superbumps on the work bench, waiting to go on the other cruiser. I might play around on the vise and see how much they compress. Also might consider cutting them down. Will first flog the installed ones on some crappy road at high speed though, to see if the benefit outweighs the penalty. I bottom out more often in typical use than I rock-crawl, so that drove the "need". Plus they were way cheaper than the Timbrens. Now I wonder if the Timbrens have the same stuffability issue. I would think so, unless they have a density gradient in them.

Our thinking on these is in lock step. I was trying to decide today about setting myself up with a FSB quick disconnect so that I could test that angle. With or with out the new bump stops, I wanted to test the side-to-side articulation with the FSB disconnected. I am sure there is at least a little to be gained there. My findings so far is that while the 'superbumps' may very well limit very low speed articulation or "stuffability", around town on LA's s*** roads they are AMAZING when you catch a surprise pot hole or bump. Having said that, if I do find that they limit "stuffability" too much, I may also look into trimming them a tad. I do not currently have a decent action camera, otherwise I would mount it on the undercarriage and go do some testing at various speeds to get some definitive evidence of compression of these units in action.

 

[re_guderian]

Got a chance to check compression today.

front wheelers bump stop

Rear factory stop

Probably not the best test of the travel limitation but as you can see the factory bump is about an inch from contact. It seems that superbump does limit travel. My ride quality is stiffer with less body roll . There are things I like about having them on but, I will likely pull them off. I don't think they are a good fit with a sock AHC .

I took my wife's '04 this morning to the same spot I took my '00 with the superbumps to take the pictures. It was a ramp behind a grocery store just like yours. My phone battery died, but on hers that is set up identical on the front end except for OEM shocks and bumpstops, at the same place on the ramp there was about 1 1/4" gap to the OEM bumpstops . So I'm not ready to say there is limited travel just yet. I'll post a pic tonight when she's back with the rig and I have a phone without a dead battery...

 

[JayM]

Our thinking on these is in lock step. I was trying to decide today about setting myself up with a FSB quick disconnect so that I could test that angle. With or with out the new bump stops, I wanted to test the side-to-side articulation with the FSB disconnected. I am sure there is at least a little to be gained there. My findings so far is that while the 'superbumps' may very well limit very low speed articulation or "stuffability", around town on LA's s*** roads they are AMAZING when you catch a surprise pot hole or bump. Having said that, if I do find that they limit "stuffability" too much, I may also look into trimming them a tad. I do not currently have a decent action camera, otherwise I would mount it on the undercarriage and go do some testing at various speeds to get some definitive evidence of compression of these units in action.

Thought never crossed my mind on the action cam. I'll try mine.

 

[bctlex]

I took my wife's '04 this morning to the same spot I took my '00 with the superbumps to take the pictures. It was a ramp behind a grocery store just like yours. My phone battery died, but on hers that is set up identical on the front end except for OEM shocks and bumpstops, at the same place on the ramp there was about 1 1/4" gap to the OEM bumpstops . So I'm not ready to say there is limited travel just yet. I'll post a pic tonight when she's back with the rig and I have a phone without a dead battery...

Thank you @re_guderian and @JayM. Really appreciate the review. I can not imagine the people at the grocery stores looking at you and your rig in action Has anyone approach you and ask what you are doing?

I think I am sold on this. We do not rock crawl our LC, and I am pretty sure the main driver, my wife, do not slows down when hitting potholes (granted we do not have many here in KY). I was really surprised how hard the hits were when we were driving at NYC over Thanksgiving. Sounds like a good inexpensive mod for a stock LC. I will wait until spring though, I am not wrenching in this cold weather!

 

[abuck99]

The intent of the "need" was to avoid the harsh jarring of bottoming out the front suspension when you hit an unexpected obstacle going faster than you should have been. In "theory" these shouldn't limit travel. In "practice" it seems that it takes a LOT of force to compress them even to the same height as OEM. And retaining one OEM bumpstop means you shouldn't ever be able to overcompress the front suspension. These compensate for high-speed, high-force impacts, and avoid bottoming out in those situations, seemingly at the expense of slow speed wheel travel. You give up a few inches of "stuffability" while crawling for the benefit of not getting pounded doing 35 MPH down fire roads.

I'm going to play around a little more, going to get it good and crossed up to see if it will eventually stuff. Will also try without sway bar to see what can be gained back. Will also try without ASB on road to assess the need for disconnects if that helps. I'm also not sure what the compressed length of my new Foam Cell Pros are, to be honest.

I also have another set of the Wheeler's superbumps on the work bench, waiting to go on the other cruiser. I might play around on the vise and see how much they compress. Also might consider cutting them down. Will first flog the installed ones on some crappy road at high speed though, to see if the benefit outweighs the penalty. I bottom out more often in typical use than I rock-crawl, so that drove the "need". Plus they were way cheaper than the Timbrens. Now I wonder if the Timbrens have the same stuffability issue. I would think so, unless they have a density gradient in them.

Appreciate you shedding more light on this. Thanks.

A go-pro mounted underneath filming same road section, same speed, with your before & after install would be interesting to see.

I'm definitely staying tuned to see how this works out for you.

 

[04UZJ100]

I'm curious if these will flatten overtime. My guess is they will and travel will slowly return to normal.

 

[bctlex]

I'm curious if these will flatten overtime. My guess is they will and travel will slowly return to normal.

I think so too. I am looking at this like shocks, brakes, tires, etc. They all will wear out at some point, just a matter of price and how long it last. For the price I am willing to try it out - the alternative, Timbren is way more expensive. The reviews that I can find on other cars sounds like it is pretty decent product.

 

[JayM]

I'm curious if these will flatten overtime. My guess is they will and travel will slowly return to normal.

I would not count on it. My experience with urethane is very little degradation over time. As soon as I get some time mine are coming out and getting trimmed down about 1/2 inch for starters. Keep you all posted.