Spring tune-up ramblings....

[tower210]

Spent some time tinkering getting the scram ready for spring sunshine.

Topped off the coolant....only to notice a nice steady drip on the floor leaking somewhere from the bottom of the overflow reservoir. Any good fit aftermarket reservoirs? Or do I need to remove and find/patch the leak?

Running 3.5" lift Alcan springs with Bilstein 5100s. Noticed in the rear I only have about 3" of exposed shock. Closer to 4" on driver side front and 4.5" (its a CJ) on passenger side front. I guess the Alcans may have settled a bit over the past 6 years. I'm sure around town I'm not likely bottoming these out; but could see doing it on the trail. How much exposed shock does everyone have sitting in the drive?

Shock part number ends in 6542 with about a 12.5" body in front. Can't read the part number on the rears...but body is only 12" long....

Looking at the bilstein catalog; it appears the 6542 should have been a rear shock and the fronts area about an inch longer... It's possible 6 years ago I put the rears on the front and the fronts on the rear... the 3" exposed rod seems like a little too close... Thoughts?

 

[Jeeper_4_Life]

I would advise figuring out your compressed and extended lengths and figure out a shock that will work in that space and decide how much up travel you want. When I ran the RE4.5 kit i used the shocks they said and had nothing but issues on the front at least. I don't think I had the right lengths. When I redid my suspension and went SOA I did what I just mentioned and called Accutune. They valved some fox 2.0's that would work in the space I had. It was expensive but worth it. If not going that route you can probably find a Bilstein to fit your space and find part#'s that may work.

 

[tower210]

Sounds like I need to do some measurements…. I like the idea of custom valved Fox. How do they ride?

 

[Jeeper_4_Life]

Sounds like I need to do some measurements…. I like the idea of custom valved Fox. How do they ride?

I have RE 1.5 SOA springs and with the shocks they ride pretty well. The front could be a little stiffer. I only have about 3-4" uptravel to the start of the bumpstop. So it gets into bumpstops fairly soon hitting bumps with speed.