Zone Offroad kit rides rough
- Thread starter elkelsor
- Start date
Let's confirm your tire air pressure first by answering the questions in post #3 above first.
I have 33s, I think about 28 psi, but I’ve tried a few different pressures, and I know the zone nitro shocks are stiff
I think you would be surprised how much of difference just a few psi can make. if you haven't tried dropping below 28 psi, give that a shot before you invest in different shocks.
I am running Rancho's now. Prior to these I had Rough Country N3's installed by the PO as sale bait and as much as they absolutely sucked there was a perceptible improvement when I dropped the tire pressure even a few psi.
Ultimately you may decide to change shocks, but don't do so without at least trying a lower tire pressure.
Go to 26 which is appropriate for a lightly loaded TJ. 28 is more appropriate for when it's fully loaded.
Black Max shocks are awesome. Add an Oro Swayloc and you'll really enjoy life Dual rate sway bar is awesome.
As suggested play with tire pressure.
Do you have C rated tires? Or are they D or Es?
-Mac
As suggested play with tire pressure.
Do you have C rated tires? Or are they D or Es?
-Mac
"The first thing that impacts ride quality is road surface conditions.
I don't care about tire pressure or tire weight ratings or anything to do with tires except that they hold air, are well balanced, and run smoothly.
I've played with several JK tire and rim take-offs. Same size tire, same rim, the MT rides like dog shit, the street tire is one of the best riding tires I've ever driven on. It isn't as simple as load range."
mrblaine
I don't care about tire pressure or tire weight ratings or anything to do with tires except that they hold air, are well balanced, and run smoothly.
I've played with several JK tire and rim take-offs. Same size tire, same rim, the MT rides like dog shit, the street tire is one of the best riding tires I've ever driven on. It isn't as simple as load range."
mrblaine
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Just researching this ORO Swayloc, very nice. How is this different from the Currie Antirock?
Also first time on the ORO website. That airlift system seems awesome. I’d like to see that on my wife’s JKU. Bigger tires, lift, travel and will drop below stock height when dropped for easy exit/entry.
Looks like she needs a second job to finance this
It's a dual rate sway bar. I got the manual one. One position is super soft for off-road and the second is super tight for the road. Probably one of the most significant performance upgrades to my TJ. And that stiffer road setting really compliments the softer Black Max shocks.
-Mac
Looking for photos of it installed or an install video. Wanna see it in place. Got any good photos?
It goes in basically like an AntiRock, but the bar has an inner rod and and outer tube and one side has a tab that locks and unlocks to the arm using a manually actuated lever. The tab is attached to the stiffer bar so when you lock them together you get both inner and outer which is a stiffer street setting, and when unlocked only the inner bar which is the off-road setting similar to the AntiRock.
Here's a couple of mine.
I installed the same lift a couple of years ago. The the zone shocks have already failed. I am upgrading to the RS5000x soon. Seems the shocks are not the most robust either so plan on changing them out anyways.
Edit: corrected shock name
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As was said,
There is so much truth here. I spent a significant amount of time chasing a softer ride. In the end the single biggest factor was tires. While I was already running Black Max shocks and a 26psi tire pressure, the ride was miserable on a "C" rated MTs. I pulled them and switched to a "C" rated AT. That, in combination with existing Black Max shocks and a 26psi tire pressure made a night and day difference!
There is so much truth here. I spent a significant amount of time chasing a softer ride. In the end the single biggest factor was tires. While I was already running Black Max shocks and a 26psi tire pressure, the ride was miserable on a "C" rated MTs. I pulled them and switched to a "C" rated AT. That, in combination with existing Black Max shocks and a 26psi tire pressure made a night and day difference!
Here's a couple more, with a stock bumper setup. To be clear, this was just to see if it would fit with a stock bumper. To make it work correctly, anyone contemplating this combination would need to notch the bumper where the arms move up and down. That said, it's not an ideal setup and the Swayloc is better paired with a quality bumper. This was just to show more pictures of the Swayloc, as requested!
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Similar experience here.As was said,
There is so much truth here. I spent a significant amount of time chasing a softer ride. In the end the single biggest factor was tires. While I was already running Black Max shocks and a 26psi tire pressure, the ride was miserable on a "C" rated MTs. I pulled them and switched to a "C" rated AT. That, in combination with existing Black Max shocks and a 26psi tire pressure made a night and day difference!
Switched to the "C" rated Fallen Wildpeak AT3W @ 26 psi and the Rancho RS5000X shocks with stock sway bars. Aside from when navigating over more dramatic NE potholes and expansion joints, the combo rides better than I expected a TJ could. I've been researching swapping to a SwayLoc on the chance it might make the ride even better. My off-road is mostly fire roads, outer beach sand and light sand so the lighter setting on the SwayLoc might be wasted on me...
As was said,
There is so much truth here. I spent a significant amount of time chasing a softer ride. In the end the single biggest factor was tires. While I was already running Black Max shocks and a 26psi tire pressure, the ride was miserable on a "C" rated MTs. I pulled them and switched to a "C" rated AT. That, in combination with existing Black Max shocks and a 26psi tire pressure made a night and day difference!
So do we believe it to be as general as MT vs AT or is there enough variation within tire classification for two different MTs to have that much difference?
I don't know enough about tire tech to know whether MTs have a significantly different carcass as to make the tire rougher riding, or if it's just inherent to the deeper, larger tread blocks.
My ride got a fair bit worse going from 32" KO2s to 35" STT pros but there were just too many variables to attribute it to classification, brand, or size.
I'd believe C vs D vs E before MT vs AT.
C D and E are sidewall plies and directly affect the stiffness of the tire.
MT and AT are tread designs. MTs typically are noiser on the highway and usually have softer compounds resulting in faster wearing tires. YMMV.
-Mac
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