measureing for bumps and straps

[boostedpgt]

alright guys i am in the process of putting on some decent shocks on the truck and i want to do i right so i don't have to do it again.

here is my set-up

front:
rancho ttb drop brackets and extended radius arms
progressive rate 4" coils, i have no idea the brand, but i can post a pic if you guys want.
bilstein 5100s for 4" lift. (coming in tomorrow)
stock bumps in stock location

rear:
stock leafs
add-a-leaf
2" blocks
bilstein 5150s 10" travel in stock location
stock bumps in stock location

the limit straps seem pretty simple. just jack it up to full droop and measure. strap should probably be about an inch or two shorter than full droop, right? now on to bumps, the front you just pull the spring and jack up the axle until it bottoms the shock and measure the bump where it hits an inch or two before the shock bottoms? i assume i will need to make an extension for the bump in the front. now on the rear do you just unbolt the shackle and lower the truck until the shock bottoms? it looks like its a toss up whether or not the rear bump needs lowered or not. in florida i don't need anything too fancy on the bumps, that's why i was just planning on lowering the stock bumps as needed. i have never actually hit the bumps yet, but i haven't really thrashed it yet either. i might put some deavers on the rear later on, but i am going to leave the rear as is for now.

does all of this look okay? i just don't want to ruin my new $400 shocks, haha.

[ChaseTruck754]

you've pretty much got it. There actually is sort of a "rule" on the limit straps lengths and how much they stretch. I think it's that they stretch about 1/2" for every 12" of strap. Been so long since I've looked at it that I could be wrong though. Also, this is for a standard strap - not a tripple or quad. Those will stretch less of course.

That being said I would think strapping it at 1" before your shock bottoms would be fine as my guess is you'll be using straps that are give or take 10-16" - depending on where you put them.

As for the bumps - for this you'd just cycle up til you have about 1/2" of shock shaft showing. That is full bump & where your bumpstop needs to be. What you use for bumpstops determines the placement. Stock bumps work fine & you already have um - so just run them. I typically will calculate them as compressing down to 1/2" thick overall. They probably won't go quite that thin, but it's good insurance.
So take spot where you measured your beam or axle stopping with the 1/2" of shock shaft showing, move it up towards the frame 1/2" and that's where the base of your bump stop should mount.

Here's a couple pics of the bumpstop drops I built for my crew. I have NO clue how these things would ever be contacted by my axle as the springs I have on the truck are stock and are already in negative arc before getting even close to the stock bump location. They'd have to go WAY negative to just barely touch the bumpstop. I dropped the bump mounts about 2" I think and the spring still goes into a slight negative arch when hitting them.

[boostedpgt]

cool, i am glad i am on the right track. the straps i was planning on getting was the quads from ruffstuff. they are $22 each. unless there is a better option?

[Copykat]

Measureing for bump stops isn't that simple. Pulling the spring seems to make sense, but the chance of the shock being short or your spring being too tall. It's a 50/50 chance one or the other is going to bottom first.

Here is where an RTI ramp or forklift will shine. This will let you get enough weight on your spring to determine if the coil will bind before the shock bottoms.

Or you could measure the coil wire and x the number of loops, but this is always a baseline not actuall.

[boostedpgt]

both of my bumps are short. they both need to be 2" or so longer. but i found some 1 bolt extended foam bumps for lifted jeeps for cheap and ordered some. they are 5" long, i might have to trim a tad off the front, but they look like they will work. i got the rear measured for straps and i need to remeasure the front. i want to take it out tomorrow, but i know with the new shocks i am going to want to thrash it, so i should wait until the new bumps come in.

[78Class3]

I like the ruffstuff straps, more than you'll ever need. I've got a new never used pair of 16" (i think) $30 and/or a barely used pair of 14" $25, if your interested.

Side track-I'm down in Tampa...Do you know of any good spots up in Jax area to do some high speed testing, Tampa is kind of bland for that action.

[boostedpgt]

haven't found much yet. just trails that are not super tight and that's about it.

[boostedpgt]

here are some pics of the bumps i got. they are daystar extended bumps for a jeep TJ. the measure 5" long and have a single bolt, so they bolt right in, i just had to make the whole in the front on the frame a tad bigger. but they are cheap, so its worth a try, all 4 were only like $37 shipped. going to try and romp on the truck a little this weekend to see how they hold up.

[kylesgorter]

Tried them yet? The fronts look a bit too long to me and besacuse the axle doesnt hit it straight on with a flat surface I think you might push them sideways. Might be able to use a short piece of tube and weld it to a plate and use that to give the base of the bump ( near frame) some more sideways support. Just an idea

[boostedpgt]

i have wheeled with them a couple of times so far, but haven't hit anything very hard yet. it looks like one of the fronts has just barely touched, but i haven't hit them hard yet. i have mine straps on now, so i might try to find something to jump this weekend.

[boostedpgt]

well it finally stopped raining long enough for me to check out the bump. this was on the pass side though.



that is the truck sitting on the bump with only that spring pulled. i only have 5100s up front in the stock location, so it can only go so far. with the weight of the truck only there is about 1" of shock shaft left. so it has a little bit of safety room left for hard hits.

[boostedpgt]

just an update on these bumps. i did a quick look over after i jumped this weekend and noticed when the front hit hard the bumps shifted forward a tad and slid off the beams. i am going to make a 2" spacer for the front and slap the stock wide ones on. it doesn't look like i hit the rear hard enough to bottom yet.