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Constant-Load Springs/Suspension Setups?

nickjaynes

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Hey guys. I just outfitted my Gladiator Rubicon with a bed rack, gear pods, RotopaX, water tank, and rooftop tent. Now, it drives fairly heavy. I was hoping to wait on a lift for a while. But I want to get the back end feeling a bit less squishy.

Are there any milder lifts or spring kits tuned for constant loads? I don't really want much of a lift — 2.5" at most. I am more interested in counteracting the additional weight and getting ride quality back close to stock (or better) than I am lifting too much. I'll be adding an ARB bumper and WARN winch to the front this week. So I am looking for a full kit, not just rear.

Any recommendations? Thanks!

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RH 67

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Stock the Rubicon comes with triple rate springs at the rear a lot of lifts offer dual rate springs so you need to be careful. RK offers a quad rate spring for the rear and i`ll tell you it`s nice loaded or unloaded, i would contact them to see if they will offer a 2.5.
 

Texops

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Stock the Rubicon comes with triple rate springs at the rear a lot of lifts offer dual rate springs so you need to be careful. RK offers a quad rate spring for the rear and i`ll tell you it`s nice loaded or unloaded, i would contact them to see if they will offer a 2.5.
I am really liking RK also the ride is excellent.
 

TRUMP2020

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Hey guys. I just outfitted my Gladiator Rubicon with a bed rack, gear pods, RotopaX, water tank, and rooftop tent. Now, it drives fairly heavy. I was hoping to wait on a lift for a while. But I want to get the back end feeling a bit less squishy.

Are there any milder lifts or spring kits tuned for constant loads? I don't really want much of a lift — 2.5" at most. I am more interested in counteracting the additional weight and getting ride quality back close to stock (or better) than I am lifting too much. I'll be adding an ARB bumper and WARN winch to the front this week. So I am looking for a full kit, not just rear.

Any recommendations? Thanks!

08A64489-A653-4823-8D28-1B315FF70288.JPG
I have the rough country 2.5" lift on mine. cheaper option but i have no complaints so far. Whats the brand of that rack?
 

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Gobi1Kenobi

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ssteve

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Springs might not help as much as you hope. Constant vs dual or triple rate is something that's fairly overblown in the truck industry imo. Coming from sports cars, track cars I realized this when I got my HD ram with people arguing between carli and thuren. Now here with different companies.

If you have a load on say a triple rate spring, your negating a large portion of at least the softer rate because its compressed a majority of the time when under load. Depending on the weight of the load you could potentially be negating a portion of the second rate as well ultimately leaving you with basically a constant rate spring anyways. Yet you still have that "floaty" feeling. That's because the shock isnt valved to slow the compression of that weight down. So you change that triple rate spring to a single rate spring, yet keep the same shocks and your not actually changing much on the compression stroke since ultimately you were never using much of the triple or dual rates that the spring offered since it was compressed passed that point most of the time you were driving anyways.

Ultimately What I would do is one of two things. If your truck will have that load on it all the time, get a heavier spring and a larger bore shock with ability to adjust the compression stroke.

If your only carrying the weight on trips then I would get a secondary device that adds more spring rate... Timbren's, airbags or even air bump stops that have ability to adjust where they engage. and pair that with a better shock.
 

ssteve

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Texops

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I agree Shocks will take the bounce out . My Overland factory shocks suck so bad bounces down the highway, i only swapped to rubicon shocks & it stopped it completely. Now i have Rockrawler 3” springs & king shocks super controlled, & can handle 5000# trailer without sagging & no bounce .
 

JBOverland

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Have you looked at AEV lift? I do not personally run it, but know they are set up with the expectation of a heavier bed load and retain a comfortable ride.
 

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darkhorse13

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I have a ZRoadz bed rack and Ironman4x4 RTT with the RC 3.5" lift and I hate it, the rear is bouncing around all over the highway.

https://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-s...c.html?find=2020-jeep-gladiator-jt-4wd-740603

Tips on stiffening the ride?
Please see my post here as my setup is also heavy. I'm running rear 3.5" Clayton springs (highest triple spring rate currently on market) just to achieve a 3" lift. I'm running their 2.5" front springs.

Shocks are your issue if you're bouncing. The Falcon SP2 3.3's on soft shaft setting and dial on #1 soft are still VERY supportive and don't allow the rear end to bounce. I am a big advocate of any 2.5" shock on the market with adj dial... just pick your brand color :)
 

darkhorse13

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Hey everyone,
Just wanting to provide a longer term-ish update since the installation of my Clayton 3.5" rear springs with my constant load. If you stop reading here, the summary is that I am still very happy with Clayton springs.

IMO opinion, the Clayton springs are still the best offering on the market for a heavy constant load application.

Again, these are triple rate springs with the following rates = highest (published) spring rates of any mfg that I can web search
  • Spring Rate 1 = 190 lbs/in
  • Spring Rate 2 = 280 lbs/in
  • Spring Rate 3 = 360 lbs/in
Clayton under-advertises their lift heights by roughly 1/2". My front 2.5" springs came out to 3.0" of lift and my rear 3.5" springs are closer to 4.0" of true lift.

Here's how I came to these numbers... ~260lb total
1) AluCab Gen 3.1 tent = ~175lb (78kg from AluCab brochure)
2) AluCab Shadow Awning = ~60lb (It's currently off the vehicle and I put it directly onto the scale)
3) AluCab 1450mm load bars (pair) = 12.5lb (weighed on scale)
4) 23Zero Shower cube = 13lb (weighed on scale)

Full setup: (approx level F-->R; measured 21.5" at OEM rock rails at each end to ground)
Jeep Gladiator Constant-Load Springs/Suspension Setups? 1616080713780


Jeep Gladiator Constant-Load Springs/Suspension Setups? 1616080740228


After removing 260lb listed above... (approx 1/2" rake F-->R; measured 21.5" at OEM rock rails at front and 22.0" at rear to ground)

Jeep Gladiator Constant-Load Springs/Suspension Setups? 1616083734637


Jeep Gladiator Constant-Load Springs/Suspension Setups? 1616080962909


I hope this helps people with their own constant load and spring decisions.

John
 
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syreeves

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darkhorse13

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Have you looked at AEV lift? I do not personally run it, but know they are set up with the expectation of a heavier bed load and retain a comfortable ride.
AEV won't disclose their spring rates. I doubt the standard rate AEV's will handle this load and keep the advertised 2.5" ride height given my experience with the Clayton springs. I am more than happy to be wrong though.

I won't make a rear spring switch until there's a guinea pig to try them :) or they publish rates. I'm just a regular guy who is not sponsored with any of these companies and unfortunately I don't have the income to keep testing springs (although I'd love to because my day job is data analytics and this type of research and publication is fun for me)

Knowing what I know about the Clayton's I at least have a baseline now for my spring rate needs.
 
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darkhorse13

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@nickjaynes - give Iron Rock Offroad a call. The owner is involved in my Scout Troop. He builds pretty cool stuff including custom suspensions - at the very least he will have info for you if you want something off the shelf.

https://www.ironrockoffroad.com/?gc...vI80ynYiEciCz8Wmy__fW7LzzgBnXjKRoC-8kQAvD_BwE

NOTE: I am not getting paid for this. Not affiliated. I just know that he does some pretty cool stuff.
Thanks! I will reach out. I really think that traditional Jeep lift companies are finally starting to recognize the spring needs of the Gladiator overland crowd. This is a new market and it's quickly shed light on the fact that not much exists for these constant loads... besides throwing on a variety of rear spacers to compensate (which isn't the appropriate solution IMO)
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