Im getting ready to relocate the rear lower shock mounts and need to know the minimum recommended up travel on the rear shocks. I do not want to buy new shocks. I will bump stop later.

 

The only way to know is to remove all four shock and flex the suspension fully. Measure between the mounts for both extended and collapsed lengths.

It's a good time to measure for proper front and rear bumpstops as well.

 

I just need to know the minimum amount of shock uptravel that is recommended to keep the shock from bottoming out during normal driving conditions on the road.I will bumpstop accordingly to prevent bottoming out and rubbing when flexing offroad.

I have read that 4 to 6 inches of up travel should be sufficient.

 

As long as they dont bottom out, it shouldn't matter how much uptravel they have. You just dont want them to bottom out or overextend.

 

Maximum available up travel, Shock length/mounts, and bumpstops are all 1 in the same. They all must be thought out together. I would measure how much uptravel I have available, mount my shocks so amount of exposed shaft = amount of available uptravel (assuming your shocks are almost vertical), then set up your bumpstops from there. This all needs to be done at the same time.

Uptravel is personal preference. Lots of things are considered. Are you a building a low COG rig? Are you going 50+ through whoop sections in the desert (more uptravel preffered, at least 5"), or are you crawling around the rocks(less up travel needed, about 3")? YOU and only YOU dictate how much uptravel you are running by lift height, tire size, how much you are willing to cut.

 

Ok thanks for the info.

Right now I have about 5 inches of shaft showing on the rear shocks. i have 10" travel bilsteins. I need to relocate the lower shock mounts after shiming the rear axle for the SYE. Bushings are wearing out and binding due to the angles. Im sitting at about 7" of lift (measured from top of axle up) with 33x12.5x15 tires.

I guess I was trying to figure out how high i can raise the shock mounts with out bottoming out the shocks or hitting the bumpstops on every bump. This would be daily driving on the road.

Is it common to hit the bumpstops during normal on the road driving?

 

No. You should only be needing them to prevent stuffing the suspension when going over tougher terrain, whether that be on the trail or on a curb you didn't see, you don't normally hit the stops on bumps.. Unless at improper length or suspension is sagging that is..

 

If you are hauling something or pulling a trailer, yes you will hit the bumps often on the freeway. Otherwise not usually.

I like to keep a quarter inch free on up travel and down travel. So with my 10in shock I am only using 9.5in of travel

The previous post was right. Every truck is different. You need to fully extend and fully compress to find out your exact travel. Then bump your stuff to make certain there are no un needed loads on the shock from over extension or compression. In other words your shocks should not be limiting your travel at all.

What I did is shorten the lower shock mounts by 2inches. Then I made certain that I bumped enough to keep from bottoming the shock.

 

There was a time I ran about an inch of uptravel before the progressive bumpstops came into play.

Was fine on the street and worked well in the rocks.

 

Thanks this is more what im looking for.

 

if you run soft springs and it probably wont feel so good, but my suspension was setup fairly stiff. The progressive bumpstops are key. Having what little travel you have come to an abrupt stop is no bueno.

 

yea im running RE HD Leafs and coils. Thy are on the stiffer side. I was looking at a friends stock xj and jacked yj. looks like 3-4 inches is sufficient for normal driving.

im gonna throw some zip ties on the shafts and see where they end up after a few days of driving.