New Shocks when?

Question

Have a `88 YJ with a 5" lift with 35" tires, it has Rancho shocks (6000 or

9000 don`t remember) and I have 35psi in the tires. When I bought the YJ the previous owner had only the right sway bar connected, I replaced the left side and the YJ handles much better in turns and recovers faster going over bumps at 50mph. Now of course the day I replaced the sway bar is the day I figured out that I was driving in 4wd high the past 135 miles. Maybe the steering improved simply by my now driving in 2wd...anyway problem solved. My old Jeep rides as if you were sitting on a board with wheels...I attempted to drink a cup of coffee while driving on patched up highway a couple of weeks ago...not going to do again! Even small bumps are jarring and I was just reading a post about someone trying to figure out a squeak he had....I woudn`t even hear a squeak in between the rattles! So I`m thinking shocks but the Jeeps handles the big bumps and 4" pot holes with rattles and shakes but that`s to be expected, it is the little bumps in city driving at 20-30mph that are bone jarring! Anyway I tried to rock the jeep to see /count the bounces but I had to jump on the bumper to do this but didn`t get a good count, but I don`t think it bounce more than 3 times, and I don`t see any leaks on the shocks. How would I buy shocks.....most say up to 4" lift.... mine has a 5" lift. But I don`t want to change shocks unless necessary.... I used to have a `79 HD Superglide changed shocks, changed fork springs,seals and oil didn`t make any difference...never did glide. I can live with it if that`s the way Jeeps ride. Thank you for listening Boris

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Mike Romain · Accepted Answer

You are running rock hard tires! They will rattle out fillings with 35 psi in them.

You should do a chalk test for psi, but I would imagine 26 would be lots.

To get a good footprint for the best traction, you need to match the tire with the vehicle weight. One way to do this is to mark across the tire a bunch of times with chalk, then drive in a straight line. The best traction and 'feel' should happen when you have about 1/2" of chalk left on each side of say a 12" wide tire. How wide are your 35's?

When I run 35 psi in my 33x9.5's , I only have 3" of tread touching the road! I need to drop it to 29 or so to get most of the tread down while still keeping sidewall stability with my tall skinnies.

When I ran 31x10.5's, I needed 26 to 28 psi for the best footprint. Those tires wore out perfectly even.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

RoyJ · Answer

When you are done doing Mike's tire tests and get the tire pressure set right, look at your springs. Odds are good that your 5" of lift are from some springs that wouldn't bend if you loaded the whole back with concrete blocks. Have a couple big buddies stand on the front or rear bumper and see how much movement you get. A stock YJ will move about an inch for every 200 pounds.Boris wrote:

L.W.(Bill) Hughes III · Answer

If you do have the Rancho 9000, they are adjustable.         God Bless America, Bill O|||||||Omailto:      wrote:

billy ray · Answer

Pull the shocks off and look at them, they may has a model number stamped into them. If not you can take the measurements and compare them to those listed in the manufacturers catalogue.

Or if you call somewhere that specializes in shocks or in lifted vehicles you will more likely find someone who is knowledgeable.

The previous posters are correct, you are running way too much pressure. As you increase your tire size you need to decrease their pressure. You also may have springs far too stiff for your YJ.

Boris · Answer

Tires are 315-75-16 I will lower the pressure to 26psi see if it helps.ThanksBoris

New Shocks when?

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