Custom Hybrid Suspension Mix for Max Tow Gladiator (JKS / Dobinsons / Fox)

[JmattNYC]

I bought a Max Tow to get 4.10 gears in a Sport. Not attempt to tow 7700 pounds.

This fella seems to be worried about payload, and most any quality aftermarket spring is going to offer better payload support than the Max Tow spring - especially the Dobinsons in question.


I only bought the Max Tow for the 4.10 gears. Gladiator have no business towing near 7700 pounds anyway, and would be miserable doing it.

Any suspension most folks upgrade to will have comparable payload capacity or better to a stock Max Tow as many lift kits are tuned in consideration to armor and bumpers.

I

I bought a Max Tow to get 4.10 gears in a Sport. Not attempt to tow 7700 pounds.

This fella seems to be worried about payload, and most any quality aftermarket spring is going to offer better payload support than the Max Tow spring - especially the Dobinsons in question.


I only bought the Max Tow for the 4.10 gears. Gladiator have no business towing near 7700 pounds anyway, and would be miserable doing it.

Any suspension most folks upgrade to will have comparable payload capacity or better to a stock Max Tow as many lift kits are tuned in consideration to armor and bumpers.

Yes i got the max tow for mostly the same reasons. The reason why i went to bare bone sport was to get the most payload (1751lbs) possible because i knew i would be building somewhat heavy and i wanted the less tech as possible. I wanted the last of the roll up windows as well lol. I do miss my heated steering wheel and seats thou, past few winters up North been brutal. You are correct i do want to preserve more payload more then anything and do tow sometimes but nothing extremely heavy.

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[WILDHOBO]

Surprised no one has mentioned this but when you start replacing the suspension not only are you no longer making it max tow, you have to throw capacity ratings out the window. The only thing you're keeping is cooling which yes plays a part but not as much as your suspension.

If you are planning to keep towing then I'd keep the springs. I replaced the (leaking) shocks on mine with Rubicon ones but I probably would never try to tow near capacity. For anyone else who would think about getting a Max Tow and replace the suspension just save the money and don't.

Long story short please be careful when towing with not stock suspension, you should always assume have less capacity.

While I get your point, plenty of aftermarket springs and shocks are MORE capable than stock. Don’t get me wrong. Changing heights and adding weight decreases payload, but a well thought out suspension UPGRADE does not always decrease towing capacity. Not if it’s done with towing specifically in mind.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I only bought the Max Tow for the 4.10 gears. Gladiator have no business towing near 7700 pounds anyway, and would be miserable doing it.

Any suspension most folks upgrade to will have comparable payload capacity or better to a stock Max Tow as many lift kits are tuned in consideration to armor and bumpers.

No question. My supposed 7000lb towing capacity when stock was hilarious. Can it do it? If you had to for a short distance at reasonable speeds, probably. The most I’ve towed is probably in the 6k range. It’s doable, but you’re manually shifting to keep the transmission temp under control. I tow a lot with mine. A lot. But my preference is to stay in the 4k range. 5k for short trips.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Which is why my wife limits my spending. I would love to try dobinson springs, but I've already tried three other brands.

At that point I’d be talking to Deaver and telling them exactly what I want so they build to my specs. Either them or some other company who makes “to order” coils.

 

[Gvsukids]

Yes we need control lol This hobbies of ours. Which ones your running now?

After Rancho and Diesel Gladiator springs, I have Synergy 1" up front with 5100 shocks. I have the stock Max Tow setup in the rear with airbags. But with over 116000 miles, I'm next in the market for rear suspension.

 

[JmattNYC]

After Rancho and Diesel Gladiator springs, I have Synergy 1" up front with 5100 shocks. I have the stock Max Tow setup in the rear with airbags. But with over 116000 miles, I'm next in the market for rear suspension.

Understood! I saw a few of your videos and you put your gladiator to work.

 

[JmattNYC]

*** UPDATE: Funny thing happned today guys, my lovely wife bought me a mopar lift kit lol Bless her soul. She surprised the hell out of me, ive should know she has seen me snooping and she been asking questions lol . I order the Dobinson rear coils and looking for the fronts on a site that doesnt have it on back order. Now i am wondering what to do, run these springs for bit or bundle these on ebay with my used front and rear plastic bumpers. Anyway no where near ready to install yet, still waiting for what front track, Mybe rear track or just rear track bar relocations for future upgrades especially if i go HD Antirock to pick. Still waiting to choose others items like , Rancho, jks or AEV geometry brackets and which tires size am going with. Staying with stock steel wheels for now for budget and the all steel theme i have. going beyond 34inch will require me to get spidertrack wheel spacers which i had in the past so no biggie. I may drop JKS because in truth in the research ive been doing all roads been leading to synergy. I forgot they produce great products that mostly all are engineered to work together. But yes what a wonderfull surprise lol

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

*** UPDATE: Funny thing happned today guys, my lovely wife bought me a mopar lift kit lol Bless her soul. She surprised the hell out of me, ive should know she has seen me snooping and she been asking questions lol . I order the Dobinson rear coils and looking for the fronts on a site that doesnt have it on back order. Now i am wondering what to do, run these springs for bit or bundle these on ebay with my used front and rear plastic bumpers. Anyway no where near ready to install yet, still waiting for what front track, Mybe rear track or just rear track bar relocations for future upgrades especially if i go HD Antirock to pick. Still waiting to choose others items like , Rancho, jks or AEV geometry brackets and which tires size am going with. Staying with stock steel wheels for now for budget and the all steel theme i have. going beyond 34inch will require me to get spidertrack wheel spacers which i had in the past so no biggie. I may drop JKS because in truth in the research ive been doing all roads been leading to synergy. I forgot they produce great products that mostly all are engineered to work together. But yes what a wonderfull surprise lol

Man you better keep that packing crate!!!! Those things look so awesome! A nice clear sealant or epoxy coating on there and that’s a very nice garage/shop piece.

 

[JmattNYC]

Man you better keep that packing crate!!!! Those things look so awesome! A nice clear sealant or epoxy coating on there and that’s a very nice garage/shop piece.

YES!! i am impress with the crate. I will dig into later.

 

[Gvsukids]

Understood! I saw a few of your videos and you put your gladiator to work.

We were out in Colorado last week for the badge trails.

 

[JeepOfTheseus]

Man you better keep that packing crate!!!! Those things look so awesome! A nice clear sealant or epoxy coating on there and that’s a very nice garage/shop piece.

I still have mine, even though I've long since upgraded from the kit. I still plan to do "something" with it.

As an aside, @WILDHOBO - you ran just the standard Teraflex springs, right? How was the rake? Does the front need spacers?

I'm in a similar situation, wondering if I should do a hybrid setup. I have AEV 3" HD front and back, but the rake has always been annoying. Now that I've removed the RTT, it's even worse. Even with the .5" spacer up front, the rake is bad (and that's the max I can go due to the Fox hydro-bumps).

I have the Fox 2.5 remote reservoir shocks, 2-3" model with 2" Teraflex shock extensions. Right now the shocks are just about mid-travel at ride height.

I still have a rack/gear on the back, so it's not completely unloaded, but I'm not sure if the Outbacks make sense for me. I contemplated 4.5" standard up front (and no spacer) and 3.5" Outbacks in the rear. Something else to consider: I bought a pair of Rock Krawler spring correction pads in the rear - it's basically a wedge to correct the seat angle, because I have a single-piece driveshaft. I never installed them because they are basically a 1" spacer. It's a gamble, but I was thinking that might "level" things out.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I still have mine, even though I've long since upgraded from the kit. I still plan to do "something" with it.

As an aside, @WILDHOBO - you ran just the standard Teraflex springs, right? How was the rake? Does the front need spacers?

I'm in a similar situation, wondering if I should do a hybrid setup. I have AEV 3" HD front and back, but the rake has always been annoying. Now that I've removed the RTT, it's even worse. Even with the .5" spacer up front, the rake is bad (and that's the max I can go due to the Fox hydro-bumps).

I have the Fox 2.5 remote reservoir shocks, 2-3" model with 2" Teraflex shock extensions. Right now the shocks are just about mid-travel at ride height.

I still have a rack/gear on the back, so it's not completely unloaded, but I'm not sure if the Outbacks make sense for me. I contemplated 4.5" standard up front (and no spacer) and 3.5" Outbacks in the rear. Something else to consider: I bought a pair of Rock Krawler spring correction pads in the rear - it's basically a wedge to correct the seat angle, because I have a single-piece driveshaft. I never installed them because they are basically a 1" spacer. It's a gamble, but I was thinking that might "level" things out.

My build is the opposite a little. I always keep the rake so it doesn’t sag when towing or hauling, or both. I have run jks standard and teraflex outbacks in the front, in the past. The 3.5” outbacks rode better than jks. I also have fox hydro bumps in the front. I’ve adjusted the bump with synergy pucks below. Flat top surface for the hydros and adjustable from 2” to 4” at 1” increments.

Now that I switched my front bumper from full steel, full width, to an aluminum skinned stubby, and since I flipped my drag link, I’m running 4.5 rock Krawler standards in the front. That killed my take, so I’m now running 6.5 hd evo springs in the rear. I used to have spacers front and rear, but now have none. Lots of control arm adjustments to get the springs straight in front, and pretty close in the rear. Why do we do this to ourselves?

 

[JmattNYC]

My build is the opposite a little. I always keep the rake so it doesn’t sag when towing or hauling, or both. I have run jks standard and teraflex outbacks in the front, in the past. The 3.5” outbacks rode better than jks. I also have fox hydro bumps in the front. I’ve adjusted the bump with synergy pucks below. Flat top surface for the hydros and adjustable from 2” to 4” at 1” increments.

Now that I switched my front bumper from full steeol, full width, to an aluminum skinned stubby, and since I flipped my drag link, I’m running 4.5 rock Krawler standards in the front. That killed my take, so I’m now running 6.5 hd evo springs in the rear. I used to have spacers front and rear, but now have none. Lots of control arm adjustments to get the springs straight in front, and pretty close in the rear. Why do we do this to ourselves?

BTW i did more digging into Rock Krawler kits and products overall. I see mopar has been partnering up with them more and more(see gears series and redrock edition for this year's EJS). I am impress with how much they have evolved and how much they grew. I remember some years ago where metalclock used to try to make them out like a copy cat compony or lowrate. Nope these guys are the real deal and have a lift for everyone. I was very impress and if i was a hardcore rock guy like you i would def run their stuff. Still could consider their springs in the future

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