bumpstops after lift

[cerberusaardvark]

had a question about what kind/ height bumpstops to use after a lift.


just looking for a flexible poly bumpstop, nothing fancy, just a screw in replacement

i put a 4 inch lift on my truck using the jd kit- so ill have to drill a new hole in the frame for the front bumpstops.

before i get involved, i wanted to know if i should scale the height of the new bumpstops to the suspension lift. example- i lifted the truck four inches, increase height of bumpstops by four inches

seems to me like that would be the most logical but then it would defeat the purpose of having more suspension travel.

i was thinking that since the old stops are about 2 inched tall, i should get a set that are three inches tall. that way, i increase suspension travel without risking stressing angles or brake lines with extreme flex.

cheers

 

[mounty71]

Is it 2 or 4 wheel drive? I'm not the most familiar with beams, more specifically with the TTB, but with just a lift you don't have more suspension travel. You have more ground clearance below the frame, but the beams still move in the same arch as before, they are just further away from the frame/body now to allow room for larger tires. You will likely be limited by the axle shafts binding or rubbing on the top of the "window" of the beams (if 4x4), or the pumpkin sometimes will hit the drop bracket if the suspension is compressed too far. You will want to space the bump stops down to prevent that from happening. Likewise, you will want to limit the amount of droop you have to keep from stressing anything going the opposite direction.

 

[Anime]

The front TTB bump stops usually just get lowered down with steel brackets, since there is no aftermarket offering that would replace them with the correct wedge shape for each side, though you can of course make a custom steel bracket with a larger poly bump stop at the correct angle.

The rears just get larger, longer bump stops, Energy Suspension, Daystar, etc., though you can also just use the stock bumps and lower them down a few inches with a steel bracket as well.

 

[Maniak]

Bump stops? What bump stops?

Our X which used to run a Duff lift that was modified over time (no more duff parts now) never ran extended bump stops...

Now, you really "should" run them but never have. What you need to figure out is what is going to limit your travel and figure out if it is worth putting in a bump stop to stop that...

For example. Until we replaced the front duff springs with what we have now the limit for up travel was the air box/inner fender. We didn't care.. about that.. No sharp points..

Now we have more travel and the steering stabalizer can is hitting a cross member, axle shaft is hitting the beam and the tire is still hitting the inner fender..

Sooo.. There are Dorman bump stops available and I'm probably going to either add one of those between the RA and the coil bucket (make a mount). Of course, I'm going to see if I can get a little more travel by cleaning up what is my limiting factors now.

Now, Don't let your shocks be your limiting factor.. They will break but if its the spring or something smooth (like the inner fender) it may not be worth all the work.

Now, if your jumping, get good bump stops to limit the up tavel and smooth out the limit.

~Mark

 

[bronchole]

I can tell you that for the rear you want a bump stop that keeps your rear leaf springs from inverting. Basically by the time your leaf is flat it should already be in good firm contact with the bump stop. I broke 3 leaf springs on my Bronco before I learned this.

 

[Maniak]

I think a lot of that has to do with who makes the springs.. Our rear springs go inverted every trip and we have yet to break a leaf.

The main leaf and I think 3 others are still an OME spring (old OME-36) that started life on Ricks Explorer when it was black. Its been on our rig for close to 200k miles. The pack is now made from OME-36 and f-150 leaves (I don't think I have the stock explorer leaf in there anymore). Its pretty much a frankenpack that flexes very well.

truckhaven-rti-2011-1 by maniak_az, on Flickr

~Mark

 

[Anime]

The overload leaf spring in the stock pack should keep the stock leaf springs from inverting more than they should.

If you remove the overload spring, you deserve what you get. It takes some thin, much more flexy leaf packs to deal with that. Stockers will flex some, but they are mostly made for ride quality and load carrying capability.

 

[jd4242]

If your not jumping your ex I don't think there is a need for them.they prevent stuffing a tire and also if your running JD shocks they have bump stops built in.I don't run them and never had a problem but I also run jd shocks and never jump it

 

[cerberusaardvark]

good points.

yes its four wheel drive, stock tire size. i kept the rear oe bump stops.

definitely not jumping it, mainly really rocky slow wheeling, some sand and mud.

im thinking of replacing the jd shocks because they seem to be going soft.

i swapped the old leaf springs with 344k on them with a pair with 97k, i swapped the overload spring over and stuck the addaleaf on bottom. they are very stiff, which i like because they dont sag under load. i installed some leaf keeper on them so they dont fan out or slap each other.

im guessing the way to measure travel is to remove the spring, put the tire back on, and jack the axle sides up and down while the frame is on stands. that way you could see how far your tires can stuff and how far you can drop them down without stressing the brake lines.

im fairly certain my springs will never allow my axles to droop too far or get stuffed up to far. they are skyjacker 4in constant rate series. much uch stiffer than the jd softies

 

[cerberusaardvark]

The front TTB bump stops usually just get lowered down with steel brackets, since there is no aftermarket offering that would replace them with the correct wedge shape for each side, though you can of course make a custom steel bracket with a larger poly bump stop at the correct angle.

The rears just get larger, longer bump stops, Energy Suspension, Daystar, etc., though you can also just use the stock bumps and lower them down a few inches with a steel bracket as well.

i threw my front bumpstops away after i took them out because of how much i had to destroy them to get them off, especially the drivers side. i was going to get some energy suspension ones just for damage insurance, as i recall some threads showing the ttbs getting ripped and torn from hard impacts with the frame.

what should i look for? wedge shaped or cone shaped, etc?

 

[jd4242]

i threw my front bumpstops away after i took them out because of how much i had to destroy them to get them off, especially the drivers side. i was going to get some energy suspension ones just for damage insurance, as i recall some threads showing the ttbs getting ripped and torn from hard impacts with the frame.

what should i look for? wedge shaped or cone shaped, etc?

Jds are made to be soft.they are to stuff tires.they are 70/30

 

[Anime]

You won't find any wedge-shaped bumpstops like the stock ones for the TTB, although you could probably just get some generic rectangular wedges and cut/grind them down at an angle. You might even be able to use pointy cone/missile shaped bumpstops on the front, but the stockers are just ideal because the point of contact is wide and spread out.

For the rears any wedge-shaped bumpstop works well.

Even new/used stockers are better than nothing. Despite the height increase, it's still better to have the bumpstops there protecting the frame to prevent contact even if the possibility is extremely rare. If your suspension needs bumpstops to limit travel and prevent damage to the shocks or overextension of springs, then you'll need to tailor the position of the stops to the limit of travel.