Hey everyone. So I’m currently in the process of swapping my front axle to a Dana 44 from the Dana 30. Vehicle is on a lift. I didn’t notice this before with the Dana 30 but when I raise the vehicle so the axles are full drop, the drivers side is sitting lower than the passengers side. So low that the coil spring is loose with about 1” gap. This is a modified vehicle I bought with 2” ish of lift. I can physically push the passengers side down so it’s level and the spring also has a gap. Are the shocks just too long? Only other change I made was to go from the “1 ton” steering back to a stock style steering. On the ground under its own weight it’s level side to side and front to back. Any input is appreciated
Shocks too long?
- Thread starter Jayhawk851
- Start date
It is generally a good idea to have the shocks stop before the spring becomes loose. A longer softer spring can solve that and keep the downtravel you have.
How much bumpstop extension do you have?
Do the shocks bottom out before the bumpstops do?
Start here...
What is the total travel of the shocks?
How much shock shaft is showing at the normal ride height?
Last edited:
I’ll do that next time I get to the shop I’ll check. Btw with it fully dropped the brake hose is too short. I checked the old brake hoses and they were the same length. I’m thinking the shocks are just too long for the setup.
There is a methodology to figure things like this out.
Care to elaborate? I’m not unfamiliar with vehicles. I’m just uncertain why this wasn’t a problem before and now it is.
What is the total travel of the shocks?
How much shock shaft is showing at the normal ride height?
To elaborate, the shock should be roughly 50/50 travel at the normal ride height.
Start by figuring that out. The rest of the problem solving continues from there.
It's tomorrow. What are the results?
A 1/2" spring spacer would even out the shock travel and also add a 1/2" of free length relative to the factory upper spring seat.
1" spacers.
yep.
What do your springs measure with the weight of the jeep on it?
What is the distance between mounting points at ride height?
You can look up compressed and extended lengths on places like summit racing to find a shock whose middle length is close to fitting your jeep at ride height.
Surprisingly enough the lift height assigned by shock companies to their shocks is only a starting place. Not something to be believed.
You will probably find that the rear is a compromise because of the way jeep mounts the shocks from the factory.
I ended up getting shocks that were an inch shorter and works perfect. The old shocks were also bad so I needed them anyway. Thanks for the advice and input.
Similar threads
