This can't be right!?! Shock bottoming out

I just installed an all pro leaf pack and bilstein 5125's. There is about 5 1/2" of down travel until it hits the stock bump stop but only 3 1/2" of travel left in the shock. Won't it destroy the shock, if i bottom out the suspension. do I have to extend the bump stops. I know other guys are running this set up without extending the bump stop. I've seen the pictures. Can you guys please chime in with your experience with this set up or any 3" lift and shock set up.

 

you should extend your bumpstop

 

continued research would indicate that is the best solution. But I'm not sure that is the best solution for me, in terms of what I need out of the truck. The truck will be use mostly for baja exploration. Long distances on bad dirt roads. the down travel of the suspension is more valuable than axle articulation. I need the suspension to absorb the big dips and bumps. the current bilsteins will allow a lot of up travel and axle articulation but i will have to extend the bump stop about 4" to protect the shocks. what about installing a shorter shock and keeping the 4" of down travel. then i would probably need a limit strap to protect the shock from the force of the recoiling suspension. anyone else have thoughts/ideas on the best solution for my needs.

 

Yes

Timbren makes a taller squishier bump.

Articulate the rear axle down to the bumps (one side at a time)
if yer shock bottoms out first...
you will have issues.

correct it or break it.

what other guys

 

Why are the shocks not the proper length?

 

I could have sworn i found another thread that showed my same set up with one side articulated down to the bump stop. I can't find it now. The "other guys" I'm looking for are those running the same or similar set up.I just want to see their solutions to this problem.

 

that's what came with the kit and there was no mention of needing extended bump stops.

 

Which 5125s did you get? If you got the 10" or 12", they are probably too long without extended bumpstops. If you got anything shorter than that, you'll probably be fine.

Also, if you are going over bumps at a high rate of speed (like jumping) the longer shock will allow the axle to extend farther and will help soak up the bumps... you might be better off with the longer shock anyway. Just a thought...

 

If u don't wanna do the bumpstop extention, u can get bumpcans (hydraulic stops) and mount them appropriatley

Otherwise, the bottoming out will kill the shock.

 

they are only 9" travel bilstein 5125's #

$94 33-186542 Bilstein Shock, B8 5125 Series, Monotube, 15.12 in Compressed / 24.35 in Extended, 46 mm, Steel, Zinc Plated, Each

33-186542. Here is what I did. bolted on a section of square bar to the upper bump stop contact point. How could you use a 10" or 12" shock? you would have to extend the bump stop so far, you would lose all down travel. I debated upper shock mount relocation. I think you could get an extra inch or two by installing a mount above the frame rail, just under the bed. the hydro/air can bumps are a good idea. I would like to eventually remove the square bar but I would have to find a way to extend the shock first.

 

^looks like you did a good job on your bumpstop extension. So you mentioned that with a 12" shock you'd loose all your "down travel". I'm assuming you talking about compression of the shock here.(I call that up-travel, as in the wheel moves up towards the body of the truck).

You are right, as you increase the body of the shock you are losing the ability to compress you suspension as far. But for every inch that the shock body lengthens, you get 2 inches of additional travel. So, even if you lose an inch of compression, you'll get 2 inches of extension. Now, when you get larger tires, they also prevent you from compressing your suspension because the contact the body. This is where longer shocks and more extension really pay off. You exchange 1" of useless compression for 2" of useful extension.

 

Anyone else come across the same issue recently?

I was looking at getting 2.5"-3" of lift and up untill now was looking at the 9" 5125, but this makes me think the 8.5" would be a safer bet (if I am only running 32" tires, maybe it wouldn't be 1" of useless travel)

 

You can always measure your full droop length and your full bump length and then purchase a shock which works with those measurements. Thats what I would do with a custom setup.

 

It took me some time reading to fully understand everything, then that was when I realized that you have some conflicting info. I know everyone knows what you are trying to say, but to help clarify things, you do not have DOWN travel to the bump-stops, you have UP travel to your bump stops. i.e. the axle travels UPWARDS until the bump-stop reaches the frame. When you articulate DOWN you are talking DOWN travel, and that is when you have to worry about possible limiting straps to prevent the shock from being over-extended.

If you do not want to replace your existing shocks, I would suggest getting bump-stop extensions that are 1/2 inch longer than your maximum shock compression. This allows for hard hits that will compress the hard rubber bump-stop. Then find out what the maximum down-travel is, and get a limiting strap installed that will stop down travel of that side about 1/2 to 1/4 of an inch before the shock reaches full extension. Because of the way the shocks are installed differently on each side, it would not be unusual for the two limit straps to be slightly different in length.

 

I'd really like to avoid having to modify bump stops, if possible. Not sure how you would measure the up/down travel of the new setup without having some serious weight to fully compress the spring to the bump stop?

 

I know now how travel of the shock is referred to on this forum. But it just seems non-intuitive and basakwards.

I always envision the state of travel in the shock from the chassis point of view, or from the view of the passengers in a vehicle.

You go over whoop. At first the shock extends and the chassis extends UPWARDS. When you land on the other side, weight of the vehicle and gravity compress the shock and the chassis goes DOWNWARD.

I just refer to it as compress/extend on a shock now.

 

Most people use a forklift. To lift one tire at a time.

 

Flex your ride yo.

 

It's how it is referred to in every shop or forum I have been in. Down-travel has always been when the axle travels downward, and up-travel has been when the axle moves upward. That is how I always learned it. This is why I was a little confused when bump stops were mentioned with down-travel. I had to read it again to get what he was saying.

 

Remove the shocks, disassemble the leaf pack so that you only have the main leaf remaining. Reinstall the single leaf back on the truck.
Jack up the rear of the truck so that the rearend can fully droop down and then measure from bolt to bolt. This will be your extended length.
Then put the jack under the rearend. With only a single leaf it will collapse quite easily under the weight of the truck and will sit on the bumpstop. When it sits on the bumpstops, measure from bolt to bolt again. This will give you your collapsed length.
This is how we measure custom shocks for hot rods and desert prerunners. Once you have the measurements you can reassemble the leaf pack and put it back the way it was and then order the right length shocks.
You can then compare your existing shock lengths to the measurements you just took to see how far off they are.