LCA bump stops munched

[Skyhigh4by]

I set my lift just slightly front high with 5" blocks in the rear so I figure about 7". All of my angles are great CV & tie rods are pretty much flat and there is alot of room between the UCA and droop stop. My LCAs are just touching the bump stops when sitting on flat ground.

There is a place up the mountain that I drive up to a couple times a week and its really bumpy and really snowy. I have to keep my speed up in the snow otherwise Im stuck and I run with yotas and jeeps so if I get stuck no one is heavy enough to pull me. Its pretty rough on the truck and I even catch air at times trying to keep speed up over bumps and through cross ditches.

Everything is holding out great BUT just the other day I noticed that both of the LCA bump stops are now destroyed from up travel. Im not really sure what to do about it.

I will replace them stops but should I just crank the front up another inch or so and then lift the rear to match.... A friend of mine wants me to take the blocks out and do a shackle flip.

 

[Chevy1925]

its a typical thing with the stock yellow bumpstops. they dont last long under heavy abuse. dont crank your front end yet. Order up a set of Z71 bumpstops for 08+ trucks and put them on. they are a stiffer rubber material that holds up better. Norcal truck carries them i know for sure and they will know what you are talking about. I dunno if any vendors here carry them though, you might try hitting up henry first.

 

[PhilsLB7]

Subscribing . . . mine are gone too.

 

[Skyhigh4by]

So you think the bumpstops should take alot of the suspension compression force?

I've compressed the stock yellow ones enough that there was basically metal to metal contact.

 

[BUST'EM 504]

What about the dmax store if not I may get them from nick

 

[Chevy1925]

So you think the bumpstops should take alot of the suspension compression force?

I've compressed the stock yellow ones enough that there was basically metal to metal contact.

They are not ment to stop metal to metal contact. They are actually made to be part of your suspension and only dampen the bad blows. The red ones im talking about are like putting a stiffer spring in your suspension once the lca hits it but you can still blow through it if bad enough. This is where shock valving comes into play if your really concerned about bottoming out but you will sacrifice nice street ride.

 

[Skyhigh4by]

My ride is beauty right now. I spend more time in the dirt than on pavement and it rides great. I do and will continue to run it hard though so I think I should crank a bit and try the other bumpstops. I dont think a little more angle on the CVs is gonna hurt anything.

 

[Chevy1925]

My ride is beauty right now. I spend more time in the dirt than on pavement and it rides great. I do and will continue to run it hard though so I think I should crank a bit and try the other bumpstops. I dont think a little more angle on the CVs is gonna hurt anything.

post a pic of the LCA bumpstop space and the UCA bumpstop space. Cranking it the bars a little isnt gunna gain you much difference if your shocks are not ment for the situations. If your bottoming the truck out, run more off road than anything, you need different shock valving. Its like taking a chevy impala off onto a dirt road. it rides great and smooth till you start getting into the rough stuff. Their suspension travel and valving isnt right for it. You have the travel there, you jsut need the valving to go with. If you get it right, you have still have the ride you like off road, can put the front end in the air and not worry about bottoming out to metal on metal, and keep a good speed.

Does your front end kicks up into the air when you hit a 1 foot high or bigger rut or after you hit a rut ill bet the front end wants to bounce or big rock? what shocks are you running? Ive been in this suspension game a looooong time from full out desert race trucks to rhinos/rzrs to day to day prerunners and trucks like ours. Suspension travel does not matter near as much as shock valving. Its not uncommon out here to see a truck with 12"s of travel out run and handle bad terrain better than a truck with 20"s of travel just due to good shock valving.

 

[billdunn83]

A friend of mine wants me to take the blocks out and do a shackle flip.

this is one reason that is holding me up deciding on a lift... I am big into offroading and with everything I have read/experianced blocks are only good a street lift. if you want to lift the rear properly get a set of Deaver leaf packs. they are big in the "jeepspeed" world and I am told they ride like a dream.

if you know of a place or instruction on doing a shackle flip could you shoot me a link because that is what I was thinking about doing since I can plainly see by looking at the shackle setup that will give you 4-5" of lift.

 

[Chevy1925]

this is one reason that is holding me up deciding on a lift... I am big into offroading and with everything I have read/experianced blocks are only good a street lift. if you want to lift the rear properly get a set of Deaver leaf packs. they are big in the "jeepspeed" world and I am told they ride like a dream.

if you know of a place or instruction on doing a shackle flip could you shoot me a link because that is what I was thinking about doing since I can plainly see by looking at the shackle setup that will give you 4-5" of lift.

And then your pinion angle goes way up, you gain driveline vib and are either cutting spring pad plates off and rewelding or putting 10+ degree shims under the leaf pack.

Unless your racing, blocks are not the end of the world. They just induce more axle wrap and require you make sure the u-bolts stay tight. Quality blocks are a must as well. good tration bar is a good idea. Ive had blocks in mine for 5 years now and its never seen an easy day off road. Not one issue to date with them. That includes chasing for race teams and recovery of broke race cars

 

[Skyhigh4by]

post a pic of the LCA bumpstop space and the UCA bumpstop space. Cranking it the bars a little isnt gunna gain you much difference if your shocks are not ment for the situations. If your bottoming the truck out, run more off road than anything, you need different shock valving. Its like taking a chevy impala off onto a dirt road. it rides great and smooth till you start getting into the rough stuff. Their suspension travel and valving isnt right for it. You have the travel there, you jsut need the valving to go with. If you get it right, you have still have the ride you like off road, can put the front end in the air and not worry about bottoming out to metal on metal, and keep a good speed.

Does your front end kicks up into the air when you hit a 1 foot high or bigger rut or after you hit a rut ill bet the front end wants to bounce or big rock? what shocks are you running? Ive been in this suspension game a looooong time from full out desert race trucks to rhinos/rzrs to day to day prerunners and trucks like ours. Suspension travel does not matter near as much as shock valving. Its not uncommon out here to see a truck with 12"s of travel out run and handle bad terrain better than a truck with 20"s of travel just due to good shock valving.

Im using the shocks that came with the Zone kit. I doubt theyre any good. Shocks are on my list of things to replace but budget wont allow for that ATM. I was gonna atleast try to wear these ones out a bit before I replaced them.

Ill try to get some pics ASAP. Right now the bumpstop is just resting against the LCA on my flat driveway. I had heard there should be about a 1/4" or so gap...

this is one reason that is holding me up deciding on a lift... I am big into offroading and with everything I have read/experianced blocks are only good a street lift. if you want to lift the rear properly get a set of Deaver leaf packs. they are big in the "jeepspeed" world and I am told they ride like a dream.

if you know of a place or instruction on doing a shackle flip could you shoot me a link because that is what I was thinking about doing since I can plainly see by looking at the shackle setup that will give you 4-5" of lift.

Deavers are in the plans but right now just not in the budget.

My buddy wanted to cut a hole through the bottom of the hanger and run the shackle down through it then brace/gusset the hanger to strengthen it back up. Im not really certain thats a great idea but I havnt really explored the idea much either.

And then your pinion angle goes way up, you gain driveline vib and are either cutting spring pad plates off and rewelding or putting 10+ degree shims under the leaf pack.

Unless your racing, blocks are not the end of the world. They just induce more axle wrap and require you make sure the u-bolts stay tight. Quality blocks are a must as well. good tration bar is a good idea. Ive had blocks in mine for 5 years now and its never seen an easy day off road. Not one issue to date with them. That includes chasing for race teams and recovery of broke race cars

Your saying a shackle flip will throw the pinion angle out of whack???

Im running 5" flat blocks right now and dont have any vibrations or shakes.

 

[JoshH]

What about some air bump stops?

 

[Chevy1925]

Im using the shocks that came with the Zone kit. I doubt theyre any good. Shocks are on my list of things to replace but budget wont allow for that ATM. I was gonna atleast try to wear these ones out a bit before I replaced them.

Ill try to get some pics ASAP. Right now the bumpstop is just resting against the LCA on my flat driveway. I had heard there should be about a 1/4" or so gap...

i see them work best with the LCA no more than a 1/8" off the bumpstop or jsut barely touching, much more and suspension droop can be hindered and you will be wearing upper ball joints out quicker. but this all depends on what kind of room you have to play with between your UCA and its bumpstop

Deavers are in the plans but right now just not in the budget.

My buddy wanted to cut a hole through the bottom of the hanger and run the shackle down through it then brace/gusset the hanger to strengthen it back up. Im not really certain thats a great idea but I havnt really explored the idea much either.

just flip the shackle if your gunna do that much work, a die grinder and a air chisle will make quick work of the rivets. plus you can go back to stock if you want


Your saying a shackle flip will throw the pinion angle out of whack???

Im running 5" flat blocks right now and dont have any vibrations or shakes.

yes it sure can! unless you bought different blocks than what zone sent, you should have a 3-6* taper in that block for a 6" lift. dropping only one end of the leaf springs 4-5"s will put a noticable change in the pinion angle. the more you push the shackle side of the spring down, the more the pinion will rotate up since the front mount point of the leaf spring has not been dropped 4-5"s along with the rear.

answers in red


Josh, air bumps will work but not as well as the rubber bumps unless you add a ton of nitrogen, make the pistons holes smaller and thicken up the oil IF you run them in the stock location. you have to run the bumpstops so they are at a 1:1 ratio with the suspension to work correctly out of the box, running the air bumps in or close to the same location as the factory bumpstop puts the bumps at a 1:.25 ratio (think of it like the overdrive in a transmission). that means the leverage will be multiplied that much more to the bumpstop and will make it easier for the LCA to blow through the bumpstop. hope that makes sense. Ive been toying with the idea of building a shock hoop for a air bump that hit the UCA at is farthest point out (toward the tire) and cutting my UCA bumpstop in favor for limit straps. All that is getting closer to happening, hopefully by mid summer it will be reality

 

[billdunn83]

Unless your racing

did you read his first post about going fast offroad?

yes leafs or the shackle flip will increace your pinion angle so you will have to either do shims of a slip yolk eliminator with a CV driveshaft. as you said most blocks have the shims built in so what is wrong with having a great spring pack with a little shim? I am just saying I have seen blocks fail many times over( including on my own trucks in the past) it is not a fun time especially if you are in the mountains in the snow as the OP said. IMO packs are the way to go but the shackle flip would be wayyy cheaper and I like the idea you gave of grinding the rivets and flipping the whole bracket that sounds like a solid plan.

 

[Chevy1925]

did you read his first post about going fast offroad?

yes leafs or the shackle flip will increace your pinion angle so you will have to either do shims of a slip yolk eliminator with a CV driveshaft. as you said most blocks have the shims built in so what is wrong with having a great spring pack with a little shim? I am just saying I have seen blocks fail many times over( including on my own trucks in the past) it is not a fun time especially if you are in the mountains in the snow as the OP said. IMO packs are the way to go but the shackle flip would be wayyy cheaper and I like the idea you gave of grinding the rivets and flipping the whole bracket that sounds like a solid plan.

Going fast and racing are very different in my book. going fast means you do it for a short period of time, racing your in it for the long haul. I did contradict myself and ill fix that. i just do not feel only doing a shackle flip and shimming the axle is the "right way" to go about it. your changing spring angle, adding much more leverage to the spring/shackle combo which can change spring rate, and you run into the possible issue of the tire hitting the fender if you flex enough. I have not seen hardly any blocks break or do as your saying. they have been far and few between and the ones i did see were from poor casting or loose u-bolts or excessive axle wrap (which can cause loose u-bolts among other things). i agree a deaver pack is the way to go either way, anything under that will have its pros and cons jsut like you and i are stating so it jsut depends on what you think will work best.

 

[billdunn83]

agreed

 

[Skyhigh4by]

I have a set of slightly angled 2" blocks from my leveling kit. Might be the correct angle to make up for shackle flip???

How much height would I gain from flipping?

 

[Chevy1925]

I have a set of slightly angled 2" blocks from my leveling kit. Might be the correct angle to make up for shackle flip???

How much height would I gain from flipping?

been a while since i been under my truck but it depends on if you resue factory brackets and i dont remember if the shackle perch is off set on the barcket that goes to the frame. id say you would see about 1.5 - 2" of lift max (using all factory holes and brackets)

 

[Skyhigh4by]

So I guess longer shackle too then...