hit oilpan pretty good, anything I should be checking?

[daniel_buck]

Sounds like that might be good for limiting both the entire axle droop (driveshaft angle) and the shocks? As it is right now, if I take the springs out, disconnect the trackbar and swaybar, the axle will flex a bit more than an inch more than the shocks allow for.

So instead of getting longer shocks (which will mean longer bumpstops too? My bumpstops right now are just about perfect for maximum up-travel allowed by the shocks) I'm thinking about just putting limit straps on all 4 corners as well as the center of the rear.

[curtis]

I would not worry about the shocks on the droop side. the axle droop is always stopped by the shocks in a jeep. It's the up travel that will break a shock or the brackets. The only thing you need to worry about is the drive shaft binding and brake lines.

[inVERt'D]

I disagree with it being fine to allow the shocks to limit axle droop. Droop can damage a shock too.

In the rear of a TJ it's normally the rear sway bar that limits droop. In the front with longer shocks and sway bar disconnected, the control arms will hit the spring mounts, and the track bar will hit the top of its bracket.

[curtis]

How does the TB limit the droop on the passenger side? If you put longer shocks on the rear, what happens to the coil spring (falls out?)

[daniel_buck]

up front, my control arms hit the spring/shock mounts and leave the shots about 1 inch short.

But I'm not sure how all this translates into real-world flexing when everything is connected back up with the springs in there. I guess a dynamic hit would press it pretty far? either way, I'm guessing I need to do something, either longer shocks & bumpstops, or limit straps.

[inVERt'D]

The front TB bottom-out works together with the CA bottom-out and steering linkage bind IIRC. Usually there is some CA bind in there as well. Removing the rear sway bar can allow your rear coils to fall out unless your shocks are too short.

Don't think I've heard of or seen longer shocks alone allowing the coils to fall out, but I guess that would depend on how your SB was set up, your control arms, length of the springs, and all that.

Shocks can limit droop, and if they never get yanked on hard, you'll likely get away with it. Thing is, like driveshafts, they're not made to limit axle travel, so it's really not a good situation when that occurs in the wild.

[curtis]

Ok, I do not run a rear TB and I run a 3 link in the front. My front TB never binds up and my rear suspension never binds. My suspension has always been stopped by the shock travel and never had a problem with it. When you flex to the max on the shocks you are in the big rocks at a slow crawl. I can make my front and rear coils fall out by just adding longer shocks. my SB's don't limit much.

[inVERt'D]

I've gotten away with it quite a bit myself. The question is, do you feel lucky?

[curtis]

It has worked for me for a long time, so that's why I believe in what I say.

[inVERt'D]

Are shocks designed to limit travel?

[6spdYJ]

Are shocks designed to limit travel?

Yes. No. Sort of. Well, not really. Okay, yeah, almost. I'm sure the shock manufacturers would say no. But, what limits the droop on a stock JK? How about coilovers? Air shocks? Aren't those shocks too? Is it a good idea to rely on shocks as the end-all travel limiter? The magic 8 ball says no.

[aw12345]

On any car or truck previously and currently sold the axle or wheel droop is limited by the shock absorber.
Oem stuff doesn't come with limit straps

[inVERt'D]

Even if you don't know of any exceptions to that, you can't possibly know that to be true.
I shouldn't have to argue this, but here goes.

OEM stuff doesn't come with limit straps because the OEM (and many high-performance) suspensions are designed to be self-limiting, shock or no shock. Leaf springs, torsion bars, sway bars, ball joints,
upper and lower coil spring retainers, and steering linkages all control wheel droop. On most of those
the shock may bottom out, but not under normal driving conditions, and even if they do, the
aforementioned factors combined with comparatively light wheels and tires will mitigate most of the
shock to the shock.

Long travel off-road suspensions are different animals. Much of the bind is eliminated by design.
Sway bars systems aren't as stiff, or may be completely disconnected. The big tires put a lot more
weight on the wheels, and the axles themselves are likely to be very heavy for the spring rates
compared to OEM vehicles. Just as importantly, they are driven through places and in manners that
stock vehicles weren't engineered to endure. All of that means that a shock can be coming down on the
end of its stroke with a lot more force.

How much this matters will obviously depend upon how and where you drive, not to mention the cost of
your shocks relative to your budget. Still, I think it's important to know the difference between "I've
gotten away with it up to now," and "this is the best way to do it." A strap is cheaper than any
decent new shock, and it will be a more durable droop limiter than even the best racing shocks. I
wouldn't discourage anyone from running them.

Maybe this video is relevant to you or maybe not, but things would have ended better if he'd been using limit straps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUMTgsR9ueY

[daniel_buck]

Ok, so I FINALLY got my lazy self to check the driveshaft, since I haven't wheeled with the pushed up transfer case since I put the 4" springs in. Wheeling next weekend, so I figured I better check, haha!

In any case, I jacked up the vehicle by the gas tank skid until the load was off the rear axle, no binding! Smooth rotation, but man that driveshaft angle sure does look steep!

http://youtu.be/uUjOQCAQlaM

[daniel_buck]

So here's a question, I've done this driveshaft binding check, and it rotates nice and smooth even at full suspension droop (I even jumped on the tires a bit to make sure they were as low as they were going to go).

However, now that I've got the doors and windows back on (because of the rain a few days ago) I'm hearing a faint clicking sound, or tapping sounds that I don't remember before, and it appears to be coming from behind me, not from the engine bay. (as best I can tell), it's very fast, and seems to increase speed with the speed of the vehicle, regardless of gear. It's faint, so it's a little hard to tell for sure. To me, it sounds fast enough to be the driveshaft clicking. But there's no vibration that I can tell. And by time I get going faster than maybe 20mph, I can't hear it anymore.

Could this be the driveshaft, even though it doesn't bind or give any extra resistance with the suspension uncompressed? or could this be something else? There's no twigs or anything rubbing against the tires or anything else that I can see. And while under the jeep rotating the driveline I didn't hear anything.

ideas?