Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Shock questions for rear outboard and front relocation

RockyTopTJ

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Looking into outboarding in the near future. Already have the rear towers, just browsing for shocks at the moment.

I've been researching trying to find relevant info on preferred shock options and looking at specific inputs on what to look for/avoid. Reading around obviously Fox 2.0s seem to be a good starting point, and so that's where my search began. Well reading more and more I've seen Blaine recommend steel body Foxes, and that DSC resis are a nice addition but seem to be a pain, or more accurately for me- a price, to work onto a 2.0 shock. I'd like to have DSCs because my weight can change enough to warrant adjustments and the different types of terrain and usages my TJ sees.

Well I've come across these that seem to be the perfect candidate for DSC resis. 7/8 shaft, steel body, 12" length, etc etc. Kartek also has them with the option of already attaching the DSCs, though at a premium, so I don't have to worry about buying those separately, buying hose and adapters, fitting it, and having extra reservoirs I probably won't ever use.

I have a couple concerns, I suppose:

1- There's no 11" option for the front that I've found. I've seen 12" as doable and I'm willing to do the work if you all say it's worth it for getting these shocks.

2- The valving is at a 50/70 as per Fox. This kinda concerns me maybe more than it should be because I believe I've seen most TJ Fox shocks at 30/90, maybe I'm wrong. I know I'm getting the DSCs for tunability, but I'm unsure if the 50/70 is a 50% compression at the lower, middle, or upper setting. Kartek offers a "softer" valving per their website, so is that something you would consider? Or is the valving percentages really unimportant for having a DSC resi attached? Or really I guess should I have the shocks professionally tuned and then add the DSCs on top of that custom tune? I know the basics of shock compression and rebound damping and how to alter those for situations, but that's about as far as my knowledge goes. I don't know the ins and outs of flutters and whatever else.

Now I guess all of this goes out the window if these are shitty shocks to begin with, but it seems on the surface to be a nice option for fitting a DSC reservoir on a 2.0 instead of going through the headache of piecing together your own shock to fit them.
 
1- There's no 11" option for the front that I've found. I've seen 12" as doable and I'm willing to do the work if you all say it's worth it for getting these shocks.

Fox's are tried and true around here. There's a couple tuners to choose from. Here's the link for the 11 and 12" shocks using the drop down menu. I don't think you'll need a 7/8" shaft as you listed above, but the experts can correct me on that.

https://www.polyperformance.com/300...s-smooth-body-remote-reservoir-shock-58-shaft

2- The valving is at a 50/70 as per Fox. This kinda concerns me maybe more than it should be because I believe I've seen most TJ Fox shocks at 30/90, maybe I'm wrong. I know I'm getting the DSCs for tunability, but I'm unsure if the 50/70 is a 50% compression at the lower, middle, or upper setting. Kartek offers a "softer" valving per their website, so is that something you would consider? Or is the valving percentages really unimportant for having a DSC resi attached? Or really I guess should I have the shocks professionally tuned and then add the DSCs on top of that custom tune? I know the basics of shock compression and rebound damping and how to alter those for situations, but that's about as far as my knowledge goes. I don't know the ins and outs of flutters and whatever else.

Post #9 in this thread for valving reference:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/fox-2-0-remote-reservoir-shocks-rebuild-thread.72550/
 
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Fox's are tried and true around here. There's a couple tuners to choose from. Here's the link for the 11 and 12" shocks using the drop down menu. I don't think you'll need a 7/8" shaft as you listed above, but the experts can correct me on that.

https://www.polyperformance.com/300...s-smooth-body-remote-reservoir-shock-58-shaft

I've seen the 11" option you've listed, but that's a 5/8 shaft. Fox themselves say the DSCs need a 7/8 shaft for whatever reason. I believe @mrblaine commented on why that is in another thread. In the 7/8 shaft there is no 11" I've seen unfortunately.
 
I've seen the 11" option you've listed, but that's a 5/8 shaft. Fox themselves say the DSCs need a 7/8 shaft for whatever reason. I believe @mrblaine commented on why that is in another thread. In the 7/8 shaft there is no 11" I've seen unfortunately.

Depends on who your tuner is. Mine has no issue tuning around the 5/8" shaft.
 
Depends on who your tuner is. Mine has no issue tuning around the 5/8" shaft.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall you saying that there was virtually nothing left of the shock after having to replace everything to fit DSCs on a 5/8" shaft.

I'm not sure if I'm completely asking the right questions for this anyway. Nevertheless, what is the way you/your tuner like to do it?
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall you saying that there was virtually nothing left of the shock after having to replace everything to fit DSCs on a 5/8" shaft.

I'm not sure if I'm completely asking the right questions for this anyway. Nevertheless, what is the way you/your tuner like to do it?

If you swap shafts all you keep is the body and then modify the end cap. If you keep the shaft, then you just modify the cap for the larger hose.
 
Ah okay. For modifying the cap, are you talking just drilling and tapping a larger hole for the fitting? I'm not sure how reputable Kartek is, just found them while browsing, but they seem to just use adapter fittings for a larger hose. I assume now that is bad as it's just bottlenecking the fluid flow anyway, correct?
 
Ah okay. For modifying the cap, are you talking just drilling and tapping a larger hole for the fitting? I'm not sure how reputable Kartek is, just found them while browsing, but they seem to just use adapter fittings for a larger hose. I assume now that is bad as it's just bottlenecking the fluid flow anyway, correct?
Kartek in general is top notch. I don't know who is running the shock side so no idea there. We machine the cap for larger threads.
 
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Kartek in general is top notch. I don't know who is running the shock side so no idea there. We machine the cap for larger threads.

Gotcha. Apologies for the barrage of questions. You still send the shocks to a tuner even with DSCs? I realize you're particular and especially with racing things need to be precise, but I'm a bit confused on the point of internal tuning if you're adjusting with the knobs anyway? Are the knobs just not gradual enough?

I suppose I'm really wanting to just grab the 7/8" shaft shocks from Kartek and deal with the 12" fronts so I don't have to modify the end caps myself. I don't know how messy of a task that is. I can screw up welding towers and fix it, I don't want to accidentally screw up a shock lol.

I was just concerned of the valving that comes on the 7/8", but Kartek offers softer that may be beneficial if it's close enough to just adjust with the knobs.

I really just don't know what I don't know and would like some insight on the plethora of options lol
 
Gotcha. Apologies for the barrage of questions. You still send the shocks to a tuner even with DSCs? I realize you're particular and especially with racing things need to be precise, but I'm a bit confused on the point of internal tuning if you're adjusting with the knobs anyway? Are the knobs just not gradual enough?

I suppose I'm really wanting to just grab the 7/8" shaft shocks from Kartek and deal with the 12" fronts so I don't have to modify the end caps myself. I don't know how messy of a task that is. I can screw up welding towers and fix it, I don't want to accidentally screw up a shock lol.

I was just concerned of the valving that comes on the 7/8", but Kartek offers softer that may be beneficial if it's close enough to just adjust with the knobs.

I really just don't know what I don't know and would like some insight on the plethora of options lol

I put 12” shocks on mine without much issue. Using 4” curries springs I had to also use a 1” coil spacer to get additional lift so I could achieve 6” of up travel. With that much uptravel the trackbar frame side was getting into the axle side coil perch at full stuff, so I had to cut away and modify the coil perch as tight as I could to the coil to get the clearance.

I used the poly performance towers
 
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I put 12” shocks on mine without much issue. Using 4” curries springs I had to also use a 1” coil spacer to get additional lift so I could achieve 6” of up travel. With that much uptravel the trackbar frame side was getting into the axle side coil perch at full stuff, so I had to cut away and modify the coil perch as tight as I could to the coil to get the clearance.

I used the poly performance towers

He will have a few issues trying to squeeze 12s under the factory front fenders. The top of the mount will end up inside the engine bay. He may also want to figure out how the keep the springs seated at full shock extension so that the tail stays in the pocket.

11s are much easier to fit up front.
 
He will have a few issues trying to squeeze 12s under the factory front fenders. The top of the mount will end up inside the engine bay. He may also want to figure out how the keep the springs seated at full shock extension so that the tail stays in the pocket.

11s are much easier to fit up front.

Ahhh, yea…. Stock fenders would be an issue, forgot about that one. So highlines it is… but those are easy… right? :ROFLMAO:
 
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Ahhh, yea…. Stock fenders would be an issue, forgot about that one. So highlines it is… but those are easy… right? :ROFLMAO:

I started my highline install about 11 months ago. There are a handful of things I need to finish and another handful of things I should finish. 😉
 
Gotcha. Apologies for the barrage of questions. You still send the shocks to a tuner even with DSCs? I realize you're particular and especially with racing things need to be precise, but I'm a bit confused on the point of internal tuning if you're adjusting with the knobs anyway? Are the knobs just not gradual enough?

I suppose I'm really wanting to just grab the 7/8" shaft shocks from Kartek and deal with the 12" fronts so I don't have to modify the end caps myself. I don't know how messy of a task that is. I can screw up welding towers and fix it, I don't want to accidentally screw up a shock lol.

I was just concerned of the valving that comes on the 7/8", but Kartek offers softer that may be beneficial if it's close enough to just adjust with the knobs.

I really just don't know what I don't know and would like some insight on the plethora of options lol
If you aren't going to put the effort and time into tuning the DSC shocks, then leave them in the store. All shocks need to be tuned and that isn't for racing, that is for every day use. The DSC can't fix a crap tune in the shock. There is a difference in the tune between a rig with an Anti-Rock up front and one that runs a SwayLOC. Or at least there is in our world.
 
If you aren't going to put the effort and time into tuning the DSC shocks, then leave them in the store. All shocks need to be tuned and that isn't for racing, that is for every day use. The DSC can't fix a crap tune in the shock. There is a difference in the tune between a rig with an Anti-Rock up front and one that runs a SwayLOC. Or at least there is in our world.

Understandable. I also just found that the tune in the shock is what the DSC is at the lowest setting, and they only work to stiffen it. Makes sense in hindsight.

Who are the recommended tuners and what are the appropriate questions to ask them for what I want in a tune?
 
He will have a few issues trying to squeeze 12s under the factory front fenders. The top of the mount will end up inside the engine bay. He may also want to figure out how the keep the springs seated at full shock extension so that the tail stays in the pocket.

11s are much easier to fit up front.

Word on the street is Metalcloak fenders give you more uptravel.... ;)
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts