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4" lift - front springs contacting bumpstops

5763 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  LJ Dave
I have a 4" OME spring/shock combo with all adjstable trackbars and ROKMEN short arm CA's. It's a stellar lift, but it seems that the springs have sagged some and they are 'arced' (like they don't sit straight because the perches aren't parllel and thus the springs bend unnaturally) a little bit and when sitting on level ground the rear section of the spring is making contact so when I turn and articulate just a little (like the curb in my driveway) it makes contact and the noise drives me batty!

When I lift the body with a jack to fully unload the spring then it wants to hit up front. I have extended bumpstops as well, and it's the cup that's hitting.

My geometry seems just right otherwise, I have no DW and it tracks straight as an arrow.

Besides new springs, long arms, or anything drastic is there anything I can do to help this? It seems the only other short term option would be to possibly remove the bumpstop extensions, but that presents it's own problems off road (i.e. overcompression).

No pics right now, but I can take some if I need to illustrate better what I'm talking about.

I'm all ears for ideas.
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I know what you are saying, and I almost have the same issue (its close to hitting the bumpstop cup on one side) and on the other side, the top front part of the spring is contacting the inside of the upper perch/spring bucket. It will rub and make a loud noise on large enough bumps. Some people told me it was normal and theirs is the same, but It wasn't like that until I installed a currie TB and 3/4'' spring spacers for the winch. Does yours also rub there or just the inside of the coil instead?
I have the same issue with the metal cup of the bumpstop rubbing on the front spring. I took the spring off and ground the outer edge of the portion of bumpstop ring (the metal sleeve). I haven't had the jeep out since I ground it down so I'm not sure if it's fixed yet. The bumpstop ring is still very close to the spring. The rub on my jeep (05 TJ with 4" fulltraction Long arm) is only on the front passenger side.
make sure the botom of the spring sits in the groves on the spring mount, i thing end of the coil on drivers side faces rear, pass. side faces front
I rotated the spring to fit correctly in the perch, and it's a little better. it still does it, just not as bad. I'm thinking the grinding might be a decent idea, I'll have to think about it a bit. I'd love to fix the geometry, but it's just too much of an undertaking for my shade-tree skills.
I think most of us have an issue similar to this. To over come the contact in the front, I moved the front axle as far forward as I could get it without the drag link and tie rod binding together. Should be about a half of an inch. This will "straighten" out the spring a little. This is also a condition of the short arms, the rotation of the arm "pulls" the axle back towards the body of the Jeep taking the spring along with it. Therefore, the spring will rub the front of the bump stop. This is illustrated in the picture below:

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Had this issue some what on my LA setup. Like jeepin AL I moved the axle forward and like Dank I also cut the "lip" off of the metal cup that holds the front bumpstop. No isses at all anymore.
I've got my front extended a bit already, and I'm afraid to go too far and screw up my geometry. It's abotu a 1/2" from the diff cover to the drag link, so I can't go much farther anyway...

I need a long-arm... AEV/Nth fund starts today!
vandyatc said:
I've got my front extended a bit already, and I'm afraid to go too far and screw up my geometry. It's abotu a 1/2" from the diff cover to the drag link, so I can't go much farther anyway...

I need a long-arm... AEV/Nth fund starts today!
If you are going LA you should do your homework and look into other brands just to make sure you want to go with AEV. I have not been too happy with my stinger setup (four link would be much better) and AEV's customer service is not very good in my opinion. I am building another 05 LJ for a second money pit and am seriously considering the Tera LCG with coil overs. Make sure you budget in both front and rear sway bar setups and do it right once the first time.

Goodluck on the build, hope things are going well in your personal life, looks like the heep is paid for too... great feeling eh! :D
Thanks! I wrote that, and started looking and think I'd rather go with a Clayton, but I need to make sure that it will work with my Nth skid. I love that skid, and I don't want to get rid of it. I just need to be SURE that there is enough room to get the rear LCA frame side mounts in the right place. I think in that case simpler is better when it comes to some of the long arms. I have an Antirock up front and love it. Do you have it front and rear? How do you like it in the rear for driving on road?
vandyatc said:
Thanks! I wrote that, and started looking and think I'd rather go with a Clayton, but I need to make sure that it will work with my Nth skid. I love that skid, and I don't want to get rid of it. I just need to be SURE that there is enough room to get the rear LCA frame side mounts in the right place. I think in that case simpler is better when it comes to some of the long arms. I have an Antirock up front and love it. Do you have it front and rear? How do you like it in the rear for driving on road?

Josh,

I run Swayloc off my OBA setup up front and like it very much. Only issue with my setup is my air has a very slow leak so when I wheel I have to turn the air on every 45 min or so. I do not have a rear swaybar setup yet but am about to do the antirock back there on the outside of the frame rails that should help correct some of the rear geometry. I want a four link in the rear and will be getting that custom built... having issues with the top arms connecting with the bottom arms so I may have to go back to the drawing board for the rear. What you will find is that trac bars will give you a lateral move say when you hit a speed bump whereas the four link should just pop up then straight back down (just a different feel, no rear end slip to the side feeling over hard bumps). Goodluck with whatever brand you go with... Clayton makes a fine product.

Brian
I grind the lip off the bucket that holds the bump stop every time a lift a TJ. Seems like it always hangs up on the spring until you do this simple fix.
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