--> Air Shocks (Fox 2.0's or 2.5's

[uncc civilengineer]

SOMEONE Fill me in!

Im about to Long arm my XJ over the Christmas Holiday and I was considering/looking/contemplating/throwing out there the idea of putting in some Fox AirShocks...

Tell me why its a bad idea -OR- should I go for it?

Im really not too worried about the fab work. Im just looking to do the Front at this time and shouldn't have much trouble fabbing up some form of shock hoop up front. I can also get my hands on some Nitrogen so thats not a big deal...

Here is what I have been looking at:

Fox 2.0's

Travel Col. Length

12" 19.0
14" 21.0
16" 23.0
18" 26.0

Fox 2.5's

Travel Col. Length

12" 22.5
14" 24.5
16" 26.5
18" 28.5

I dont know which to go with or if i'm just wasting my time typing this. I have tried the search and no luck.

Questions:

1. Anyone running these up front on an XJ?
2. Can these be daily driven (15 - 40 mpd) for the next few months?
3. WEIGHT? what issues will I have, is the XJ too heavy???
4. Any other issues besides mounting?

I just dont see anyone running this setup so......... im assuming its not possible or beneficial but wanted to ask anyway.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[85cherokeechief]

I do not have any experience with air shocks on an xj, but a friend of mine has the 2.0" air shocks on the back of his s10 blazer. The main downside to air shocks that I have seen is that they tend to stick, giving a bouncy ride. That being said, I am planning on putting the 2.0's on the rear of my xj, but it is not daily driven either. I do not think they would have any problem holding the weight, I think the 2.0's are rated for 1000lbs each, but just to be safe, try to find a scrap yard or dump that will let you weigh the front end of your jeep.

 

[CRASH]

You'll need 2.5's on the front of a full bodied rig. Best not to run the 2.0's at max just to barely hold up the front.

 

[uncc civilengineer]

Crash,
any advice, experience? I was thinking the 2.5's probably in the 14" travel flavor...

As for mounting them, I was looking at cutting out the spring bucket up top and basically using the hole and some form of hoop for mounting.

Is it worth trying... would I still be able to drive it on the road?

 

[CRASH]

Yes, there is no reason they can not be DD'd. If it was me, I'd do coil overs because they uncouple damping from suspension more effectively, but with proper set-up and tuning, the air shocks will be fine. 14's are nice.

Brace those carefully, including a nice strut bar across the engine and you should be fine. utilize as much of the OEM sheetmetal in the area as possible, as the inner fender plays a big part in the structural integrity of the coil towers. Basically, I would cut out the "dropped" portion of the coil pad, flip it upside down, and weld it back in. That's an oversimplicifation, but the theory holds. Use the OEM mounting surface effectively.

 

[uncc civilengineer]

Makes sense.... Im going to do some more research I saw some Excel files floating around somewhere dealing with setting up the air shocks...

Im also going to look at coilovers but was just concerned and do not want to have any holes coming out of the hood, etc.

Im sure the coilovers would be much easier to accomplish...

Chris

 

[CRASH]

You can fit 14" CO's without cutting the hood, at about 8" of lift.

 

[XJ_ranger]

just a heads up - Air shocks in a DD is a terrible idea...

PM Captain Ron - he has had:

Fox 16" 2.0's on all 4 corners of his buggy
Fox 14" 2.0's on all 4 corners of his buggy
Fox 12" 2.5's on the front and 14" 2.0's in the rear of his buggy...

and running at approx 70mph across the desert for any longer than about 10 minutes starts to fade the shocks, and they do 'weird' things...

Air Shocks are for dedicated trailerd rock crawling rigs...

coilovers are for psudo DD's and other high speed, long distance driven rigs...