Long Travel BS Thread

If you dont use limit straps and overextend the 5100 you can get almost 7 out of it and bind the cv on downtravel.
Maybe thats why i keep blowing driver side cv axles.

 

Haha damn that’s good to know. What UCA are you using? Poly bushings in the lower? I might want to make a bomb proof mid travel out of it…

 

Tuff country upper arms
Stock lowers with poly bushings
Jd fab pivot kit
5100s and 886s
Camburg spindles

 

Thanks to everyone here mine is…

Coilover 10/10
Front bypass 18/10
Rear 12/8 with a flutter - this one still needs some work though.

 

Just because 5100’s may be a tad longer than “nice” extended travel coilovers you are kidding yourself if you think they’re an upgrade from the latter. @CGoss is a unique animal and makes them work well on his truck and I have admittedly ram 5100/885’s for the last 5 years as daily driver and occasional crawler / washboard cruiser & 5100’s leave a lot to be desired though they technically get the job done. Even if they’re longer - for applications like your wife’s FJC don’t go thinking they are a “wonderful choice” for the average user. They work great but are not 2.5” coilovers.

 

No doubt, but for a slow crawling, budget mid travel build 5100’s look fine. Definitely not in the same realm as a 2.5 body with a resi. I’ve had 5100’s (with stock coils and 886’s) and extended kings. The 5100s would have been totally fine for the light wheeling I was doing at that point. The kings were a waste of money. Now it’s long travel and not really any point in straying from the 8” coilover norm.

 

I think I’m hindsight I’d still do 5100’s with OME coils if I had to do it all over again because it’s only like $450 for the pair of those which is quite a great value & leaves funds available for other upgrades. ‘5100’s get it done’

 

Out of curiosity I measured the actual preload on my 18"x500 coils, 2.25" passenger and 2.75" driver. IIRC that's within the "acceptable" preload from the article travis shared a few weeks ago which said if you need more than 4" of preload you need stiffer coils.

 

Depends on the springs bind height and travel of the shock they are installed on. You’re probably within the acceptable range but nearly maxed out.

 

Maybe, I don't know how you're defining "maxed out". At full compression I still have ~1" before hitting block height IIRC.

 

Don't forget... The adjusting nut isn't the only preload. You automatically have around 2" of preload just putting the spring on.

 

I know. I measured the length of the coil on the coilover at full extension. 15.25" and 15.75".

 

For your purpose it probably works well. But you're definitely undersprung for the majority of applications.

 

I don't disagree

 

It’s been a good rate for my use, too. But it will take a rear sway bar to make my front stuff properly. Should have all my parts in to build one in a week or so.

 

That's part of why I left my leafs a little stiffer. I have the icon rxt which has options 1, 2, and 3. I was on 2 because of my RTT but after ditching that I decided to just leave it. I'm still at only 1.75" lift and the stiffer rear forces the front to articulate a little easier.

 

I bet the friction or resistance from twisting a leaf pack when stuffing one side helps, too. There’s probably some inherent spring rate from the pack/shackles trying to twist that links don’t have. My rear flexes out wayyy too quickly and easily.

 

That's a good thought as well, I'm sure you're right.

 

I don’t know how accurate that is, but it sounded pretty good

 

Picture below from Eibach's Catalog. An 18x500 spring has a block height of 8.43" & 9.57" of travel. If you have a 7.5" shock (assuming you're fully cycling said shock) that max preload you should have is 2.07". (18-8.43(block height)-7.5(travel)=2.07") OR (9.57"(spring travel)-7.5"(shock travel)=2.07"). If you have 1" of exposed shaft at full bump, you're only using 6.5" of shock travel so the equation slightly changes. You're max preload is 3.07". (9.57"-6.5"=3.07").

It's very simple math but also isn't precise. It makes sense on paper but then you have all sorts of variables to consider in real world application. It does help as a guideline though.