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Riding the Woops with Mojave and "Bottoming-Out"?

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joeym7

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No problem at all.

My opinion, based on your description is that you were hitting front bump stops, possibly even bottoming them out. I haven't personally bottomed mine out (yet), so I can't really say what that "feels" like, but I think if you did actually hit the frame that would be fairly noticeable as the whole truck would kind of shudder.

Take a look underneath and see if there is any scraping marks on the frame or anything underneath. my bet is there isn't.

Here is another similar thread on the subject that may help: (1) Mojave bottoming out | Jeep Gladiator Forum - JeepGladiatorForum.com
Good idea, now that I got the thing clean (all day yesterday) and waxed (1/2 day today) I'll be going under with the crawler in a day or two...
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No problem at all.

My opinion, based on your description is that you were hitting front bump stops, possibly even bottoming them out. I haven't personally bottomed mine out (yet), so I can't really say what that "feels" like, but I think if you did actually hit the frame that would be fairly noticeable as the whole truck would kind of shudder.

Take a look underneath and see if there is any scraping marks on the frame or anything underneath. my bet is there isn't.

Here is another similar thread on the subject that may help: (1) Mojave bottoming out | Jeep Gladiator Forum - JeepGladiatorForum.com
And pS thanks for the link, very good info...So maybe I hit the H-bump stops on most of the incidents (with some noise), and there was one incident where it was really LOUD that may be a time I bottom out the H-stop too.

If i cant find anything else when i creep-under, I'll assume the above...Either way same "fix" I have to slow down a tad on the woops. 👍
 

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Hello Folks,

I was Wheeling with 4 Wranglers (3 lifted, one stock) Sunday over the roughest terrain so far for this Newbie. Ton of fun, but I encountered behavior with my Mojave unique to me for the first time...We would hit the long series of "text-book" looking woops, very close each other, moderately deep maybe (apparently deeper than I thought anyway :) )...I can't say exactly how fast i was going, maybe 10-15 MPH when I hit them. At any rate, usually the first one or two where fine, but as the up and down momentum built up, after a couple, there was noise indicative of something bottomed out on the truck. It kind felt like shocks hitting a bump-stop, but I couldn't figure out how that could happen with the dual shock pairs set up on the Mojave? These woops weren't "that" extreme. (Obviously, when I slowed down just a hair no more bottoming out).

I asked the the Trail Guide who has been at this for 30 years and he didn't think it was the shocks but rather some part of the frame hitting the top of the woop I just went over. Possibly a skid plate or heat shield (he) offered.

So what do you guys think it was, shocks, frame, and if frame what section? (I'm going to get the creeper out later to take a look.)

Thanks Friends,
-Joe
Video?
 

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Despite the marketing, it’s not a trophy truck. There’s only so much suspension and on whoops or heavy washboard, especially as some speed you will bottom it out.
The sound he is hearing is the plate hitting the hydraulic bump stop, which is essentially a shock that obv hits a plate then engages another shock preventing bottoming out to a larger extent, your just hearing it kick it, if it actually bottomed out the sound would be very loud with a big hit feeling in the chassis, sports, rubicons etc don't have hydraulic bump stops just a piece of rubber that would actually bottom out.
 
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Excellent article comparing Mojave vs Rubi...Each has its specialty, they point them out (objectively I believe). Woops and many other things mentioned too.

Imperfections aside, both are very, very, capable in "stock-trim". Can't beat that for those of us who want to plug and play and leave it at that (stock ;-)).

-Joe

https://www.autoweek.com/drives/a32743754/we-drive-the-jeep-gladiator-mojave-on-the-desert-trails-that-shaped-it/#:~:text=The Mojave uses Fox's high-tech hydraulic bump stops, and,and sport new spring mounts.&text=A peek underneath the back end at the rear suspension.&text=Tim Sutton-,The 2020 Jeep Gladiator Mojave uses larger Fox,those found on the Rubicon.
 

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Whoops! There’s the whole problem right there. You were going through the Woops instead of the Whoops.😆
Just messing’, it’s an honest mistake for those who don’t live in the desert or watch a bunch of extreme off-road sports.
On a serious note I believe the whole problem lies within the speed that you’re carrying. What you described is more or less crawling through the whoops so you’re experiencing a lot of bucking. Whoops are meant to be hit at a reasonable speed to where you are “skimming” across the tops of them. Your tires should never see the bottoms of the dips.
Try the same stretch at 40 mph instead of 15 and you will see the suspension do what it’s designed to do.
 
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Whoops! There’s the whole problem right there. You were going through the Woops instead of the Whoops.😆
Just messing’, it’s an honest mistake for those who don’t live in the desert or watch a bunch of extreme off-road sports.
On a serious note I believe the whole problem lies within the speed that you’re carrying. What you described is more or less crawling through the whoops so you’re experiencing a lot of bucking. Whoops are meant to be hit at a reasonable speed to where you are “skimming” across the tops of them. Your tires should never see the bottoms of the dips.
Try the same stretch at 40 mph instead of 15 and you will see the suspension do what it’s designed to do.
Interesting, I wanted to go faster but the stock wrangler was in front of me (it was going very slow). But even the lifted wranglers were going somewhat slow, they certainly weren't skimming.

I do get the physics of what you are saying, and I along with some others on the forum have also experienced that the Mojave suspension really kicks in at "speed"....I'll give it a try next time at 40ish.
 

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Whoops! There’s the whole problem right there. You were going through the Woops instead of the Whoops.😆
Just messing’, it’s an honest mistake for those who don’t live in the desert or watch a bunch of extreme off-road sports.
On a serious note I believe the whole problem lies within the speed that you’re carrying. What you described is more or less crawling through the whoops so you’re experiencing a lot of bucking. Whoops are meant to be hit at a reasonable speed to where you are “skimming” across the tops of them. Your tires should never see the bottoms of the dips.
Try the same stretch at 40 mph instead of 15 and you will see the suspension do what it’s designed to do.
PS My woops were a lot closer than the ones in this vid - but I can see they are kinda jumping onto the upslope of the each whoop in sequence and usually don't touch the trough...

Still it is obvious at the higher speeds if something goes wrong one can loose control fairly easily.

My troughs were very close but fairly deep (and yes you got it exactly right we were kinda "rock crawling" over the them). But I am not sure I can take a leap of faith and doing at 40 MPH right now (if you slow down in the middle it could look "ugly" :). So I'll see if I can try it on some other close but less deep woops first at 40. Should be fun.

 

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Video of the run with the sound you are describing.
I know some do it, but I haven't got to the stage where I film when Wheeling.
 
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And pS thanks for the link, very good info...So maybe I hit the H-bump stops on most of the incidents (with some noise), and there was one incident where it was really LOUD that may be a time I bottom out the H-stop too.

If i cant find anything else when i creep-under, I'll assume the above...Either way same "fix" I have to slow down a tad on the woops. 👍
Folks, so I used my new creeper to go under Mojave (I must really Love her, I never bought a creeper for any of my other cars! -lol). I went under on each of the four sides, no damage, no scratches, not even any of the thin film of remaining mud rubbed off anywhere...

(What I did find is more mud in spots I didn't think of LOL...I'll post that for other newbies in the car washing thread I started a couple of months ago so other Newbie's can make use of it.)

So as you all have been saying, it has to be the hydraulic-bump stops which tend to be noisy...And I would assume the (one) time it really gave off a Bang! and had me thinking maybe the frame hit, was likely when I bottom out the H-stops.

Thanks to everyone who posted I learned a lot about my suspension, and special thanks to Beemer533 who get kudos for pulling all the pieces together in the most comprehensive description.
 

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guys, just FYI there aren't 2 shocks at each wheel, what you are seeing is the main shock cylinder and remote reservoir cylinder.
 

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Here’s a video of my suspension. I was going around 20mph the whoop was a big sewage dip . Felt like bump stop did it’s job but sometimes it does feel hard if I go faster than 20mph.
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