Thread: ARTICULATION WITHOUT LIFT ?

Not without instability issues.

Uptravel is as important as down travel. So, you need to stuff the wheels in the guards in cross axled situations. Without wheel stuff it'll get very tippy very quickly.

Longer travel involves longer shocks. For say 2" droop, you lose 1" approx stuff in the shock body. It doesn't collapse as far as it did. That's the problem.

Anyone can get travel out of the rear. It's freeing up the front to match the rear that's a black art. If you don't, and retain a stiff front, you'll get a lot of body roll & instability from the front end in extreme situations. And there's a compromise between front articulation and driveability.

Have fun,
Regards
Max P

easy but its not

assuming that you are happy with the ride as it is now?

there is an inch or so left in the relaxed length of your springs. you can use that. after that you can look at dislocating cones.

longer shocks is howit is done. though you may need to move the top mount higer.

NB a lot of lift kits IE 2" lift springs and shocks do not actually give you 2" of more travel. upping the wire dia of the springs plus some extra turns in there soon cut down any advantage in potential travel.

depending on how must you want you may run into sway bar problems. or you will if you want more than another 2" of drop. then you need to think about dislocating or planing around with shocks to compensate.

and before people jump in and say it can not be done. i can pick up my back wheel 1 meter with a fork truck. SD ride hight for a county which is lower than a defender

I'm going to disagree with Tusker and say... Yes, entirely possible, and IMO, better!

Tusker has picked the issue, and that is the closed length of your damper. If you can retain factory up-travel (by relocated top shock mounts to fit the longer closed length), then you are going to get a very good and stable car.

In fact, if you can retain factory up-travel, with more down travel, at BOTH ends, it'll become much more stable off road... and hence, more capable.

How much more travel are you going for?

I am about due for new shocks , but do not want to raise the roofrack height , as it is a work vehicle & would like to get at the ladders easily .
Other than that it would be nice to get as much travel as is practical .

Yes it is possible, and desirable in many cases. You just have to look at serious rock crawlers and buggies. They worked out that the best option was low CofG with LOTS of down travel. Sorry Tusker you are wrong on all counts except the balanced front vs rear travel.

Of course if you want to travel at high speed over big bumps you need the up travel...

For your application, the best option by far is to fit air springs.
1. You can choose the ride height you want
2. You can drop the vehicle down on the bump stops to load and unload from the roof.
3. With the right shocks you can have heaps of down travel while keeping the ride height the same.

+2"'s are an easy, bolt-in affair, and dependent on the shock, should fit with no further mods.

If you want to go longer, you need to pick the shocks you want, determine where to relocate your upper mounts to, and you'll need to extend brake lines. Then whatever else you find... If retaining stock height, avoid bump stop extensions, in favor of raised towers.

I ran 12" shocks in my stock height RRC for a while, have subsequently lifted it 2".

Have I got this right ?
Longer shocks & nothing else will give some improvement .
longer shocks & raised mounts even better
After that it is more parts & more expense
Or the above with air springs
Any of the above with no downside ?

Originally Posted by dero

Have I got this right ?
Longer shocks & nothing else will give some improvement . yes
longer shocks & raised mounts even better yes, we are talking shocks with 12" or so of travel, better for flex, but more than likely, not necessary for your car.
After that it is more parts & more expense generally, yes
Or the above with air springs thats an elegant, and somewhat costly solution in my opinion...
Any of the above with no downside ?

If I was you, I'd just whack +2's in it and call it done, depending on your springs, you may need retainers to prevent dislocation. (I don't care who says dislocation is good, it's all ****, tried it, tested it, and retained my springs...)

If you do go to +2's, you just want to be sure that they have a small enough closed length, so the shock is not crushed on bottom-out.