Anyone with 12" up front

[casual]

Anyone got 12" or more of travel up front that use there rig for go fast?
I'll never race and just want a bas ass prerunner xj! I know it's not the best platform but I love my xj lol.

Ive got a 4x4 and was wondering if I can get 12" or more travel up front?
I know money can allow anything. But how hard would it be?

 

[slcpunk74]

I think that Xjeeper may have a 12" shock up front. Search him and check out his build thread.

 

[XJEEPER]

Really not that hard to do. I simply moved my lower front shock mounts to the outside LCA mount which lowered them approx 2". Been running 12" travel shocks for 3 yrs in this configuration. They've handled my occasional low altitude passes quite well

 

[crazyjim]

I was running a 12" when I was on 2.0's, it was a Fox stem top and relocated lower mount, add to that a shortish body and you've got plenty of room.

When I went to a 2.5, I had Joel over at Bilstein build me an 11" custom 2.5 with the body length of a 10". The problem was going to a 2.5 meant a much longer body, and much less up travel if I stayed with a 12" shock. Even with a relocated lower mount we're still talking less than 4" or so of up travel, which is no bueno for a go fast rig. With the 11" he built, it's the best of both worlds. Hit him up, he'll make more, if you wanted to go 2.5. I can't say enough about Bilstein's service and product. I had a thread on here somewhere as well about this exact topic.

 

[XJEEPER]

Nice to know, Jim. I'm in the market for new shocks all the way around, it's time to upgrade to a tuned setup instead of off-the-shelf valving.

Got contact info for Joel?

 

[WESJxj]

im pulling twelve. im using 10in 2.5 FOA's , with deaver coils. The lower mount was moved back a little bit.Im making mine a pre runner also.

 

[DieselSJ]

im pulling twelve. im using 10in 2.5 FOA's , with deaver coils. The lower mount was moved back a little bit.Im making mine a pre runner also.

12" from a 10" shock?

Please post pics of that.

 

[Oil Town XJ]

I'm running 12" 7100's short bodies with 6" lift coils and they fit perfect

 

[GrimmJeeper]

I'm pulling 11.5" of travel with a 14" coilover up front. Steering droop is my main issue, I can't use the full potential downtravel because my steering gets too close to maxing out for comfort.

 

[lyleorszulak807]

Im running 12" Bilstein 7100 short bodies, and 5.5" deaver coils. More than enough shock travel, the steering is my main limitation as Grimm has said. Thinking about getting a currie setup to alleviate it a bit.

 

[XJLI]

Im running 12" Bilstein 7100 short bodies, and 5.5" deaver coils. More than enough shock travel, the steering is my main limitation as Grimm has said. Thinking about getting a currie setup to alleviate it a bit.

good to know... i was going to start searching on what size shocks to run with the deavers.

and jim, i'll def be calling joel when i'm ready to order.. those shocks are sex.

 

[I Beamed Jeep]

 

[I Beamed Jeep]

That is a pic of wesjxj shock mnt.

 

[lyleorszulak807]

Yeah I just finally put them on this last weekend, picked them up a while ago thru a guy on this forum. Got tired of looking at them on the bench, installed the t and j upper bracket and made my own brackets out of some 3/16th I had lying around for the bottom. I placed the lower mount at the top of the LCA box, did some measuring and from there I have 6" down and 6" up on the shock.

I have a D30 non vacuum disco sitting on my work bench with some poly red bumps from summit, undergoing some trussing. So this setup was just a experiment to see what works and yes Im going to order some limit straps too. I dont know why I didnt do this earlier, wow what a difference over cheap skyjacker shocks. On another note, I looked at others who have built there mounts on the bottom and was thinking I had to mount them lower around the LCA bolt or lower, but from there I would only have 3-4" down travel.

 

[tone]

I'm running the Bilstein 12" 7100 short body's as well with Deaver coils and a 1" spacer and they work awesome for what I put them through, good on road ride too! My lower shock mounts are on the LCA mounts too and I have had the T&J upper mounts for years but haven't put them on cause I need to have a 90* fitting. Just don't know anyone around here who can do it..

 

[casual]

So it seems alot of people have 12's up front. But does that mean you guys have 12" of travel (or more), or just bigger shocks?
Im gonna run 16" shocks in th rear, through the floor. I just need to figure the front out. I'll need more down travel(droop) because I'm keeping 4wd & I don't wanna crush the oil pan.

What would be the most travel you could get up front, without doing coilovers or beams?
Its a dezert truck so high speed dirt roads & wash boards. It will see air time (trussed D30 already built) & whoopdy doos.
Jim as I've said before your rig is the tits. I just wanna see how much I can improve the front suspension.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

I'll need more down travel(droop) because I'm keeping 4wd & I don't wanna crush the oil pan.

all you have to do there is properly limit uptravel with bumpstops. you shouldn't limit your downtravel with your shocks, you don't need more downtravel to prevent hitting the oilpan. you need downtravel to keep the wheels from skipping off the top of the whoops. the more the wheels stay on the ground the smoother of a ride you're going to get.

 

[DieselSJ]

So it seems alot of people have 12's up front. But does that mean you guys have 12" of travel (or more), or just bigger shocks?
Im gonna run 16" shocks in th rear, through the floor. I just need to figure the front out. I'll need more down travel(droop) because I'm keeping 4wd & I don't wanna crush the oil pan.

What would be the most travel you could get up front, without doing coilovers or beams?
Its a dezert truck so high speed dirt roads & wash boards. It will see air time (trussed D30 already built) & whoopdy doos.
Jim as I've said before your rig is the tits. I just wanna see how much I can improve the front suspension.

I know the challenges we have to make everything live a long life at 10". With a track bar, I think 11-12 is really pushing it. Saying that, I know how insanely fast we can go with 10".

 

[chris_amrein]

I think the Krellwitz-built 3700 class Wrangler got 12-13 inches up front with a track bar/crossover steering combo. If you want more than that you'll probably need to ditch the trackbar and go with a wishbone-style suspension with the steering box under your seat.

But that's pretty extreme and one of the biggest mistakes I see is guys chasing travel numbers as a measure of how good their car is. I've seen cars with 16" + travel that handle like crap and, like DieselSJ said, Jeepspeeds with 10" of travel up front go really, really fast.

Build the car rigid with good power-to-weight ratio and I promise you'll have a blast with 10" travel shocks.

 

[casual]

all you have to do there is properly limit uptravel with bumpstops. you shouldn't limit your downtravel with your shocks, you don't need more downtravel to prevent hitting the oilpan. you need downtravel to keep the wheels from skipping off the top of the whoops. the more the wheels stay on the ground the smoother of a ride you're going to get.

im bumped already with 1 1/4" clearance till the pan. so I can only go down from here lol.