shocked by shock and spring replacement cost

[Texops]

Thanks - now a way to regain some of the height I lost in the rear with the max tow springs. The Overland springs are a lot longer. I lost a good half inch or so in the rear (gained a strong inch in the front - less rake but I sure didn't want to lose height in the rear)

Just need to recenter the steering wheel now since the front height changed, the wheel is off.

I have some 3/4” rear spacers that would probably do good on there.

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[ShadowsPapa]

I have some 3/4” rear spacers that would probably do good on there.

I gained a strong inch on the front,
lost .5" on the rear.
That's 1.5" rake out - I had wanted to take a little rake out as hopefully the max tow springs won't drop as bad as the Overland springs did staying in the Overland payload and towing specs.

So 3/4 back under the rear puts it up .25" over stock in the rear,
1.0 in the front over stock so that's a loss of .75" rake.
Not bad, as I wanted some rake out and a little lift isn't bad at all. No need for any longer or different parts otherwise.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Got the steering wheel centered again. It took a full turn of the knurled sleeve to get it straight. Man, that was easy. I did about 3/4 of a turn, tightened the clamp and drove it a couple miles, came back, gave it a bit more, tried it, just right now.
In the end I shortened it by about 1 turn (that's turning it counter-clockwise looking at it from the left end since they are left-hand threads)
I backed it into the garage, watched the lines in the video as I backed, worked the wheel back and forth until I felt the tires were straight ahead and the steering wheel was off by about the same amount as it was when on the road. I shut it off and made my first adjustment, looked at the steering wheel and indeed it was nearly perfect. Tweaked it a bit more - very good.

While I was under there just looking at a couple of things I caught the steering knuckle and thought to myself - holy cow, this thing has some serious SAI - these should self-center after a turn pretty matter-of-factly.

 

[Alabama Mud Machine]

I gained a strong inch on the front,
lost .5" on the rear.

I bet the old lady was happy....

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Guess I should have said the TRUCK gained an inch.......... oh, well........

Anyway, my wife called me this AM (on her way to another get-together with her quilting friends) and she said "hey, there's a bubble gum car for sale over here, come take a look".
That means there's a 1930s-1950s car for sale (she loves the old cars painted bright colors and calls them bubble gum cars because of the colorful gum balls in the machines - I call 'em jelly bean cars)
OK, hopped in the truck to drive over and see what she meant. Well, it's a 55 Chevy Belaire, 350 engine, 350 auto trans, stock color (red and white) and all original interior. Sorry, honey, I don't think you'd like this one so much - especially at 35K)
OK, here I go again, drifting - back to the topic - I pulled out of the driveway and though - I feel the steering even more than I did. I got to the road and it wanted to self-center more than it used to. Turned the corner and it wanted to straighten out. That's GOOD. It should with that much SAI at the knuckle.
Then I let go of the wheel - went a good quarter mile and only touched the wheel once to compensate for a bit of road crown change, otherwise tracked true and straight. I feel it has more road feel - in the good way. Felt firmer, more solid. Steering wheel was perfectly straight across when going straight. Moved it either way and it resisted right away - good thing. It should resist turning a little bit, but it responded instantly.
It rode better, and the handling was better. I never expected that with simply swapping springs and shocks - and raising the front about an inch then centering the steering wheel perfectly.
Steering wheel being perfectly centered is a huge deal on older cars - if it's off and some dope pulls the wheel and turns it and puts it back on to center, that's just wrong. It throws the sector off center.
In any case, I've always been "ok" with how it steered and handled, but I think it's even better now, unless I'm just trying to convince myself it is to justify the work and parts HA. I do like the ride better - no bouncing, sticks firmly to the ground, bumps are better.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Here's pics of the truck as it sits now - but I could not find good "before" shots other than these - one was taken at a grocery store parking lot, and one at the local small town post office last winter. The last 4 are current.

Then after the swap - I lost about a half inch in the rear and gained an inch up front.

 

[eternus]

Just for kicks, and because my wife said I was too busy and had too many other projects to do it myself (plus my shop is FULL of cars to work on) I asked the dealer's shop - what would it cost to install shocks and springs that I supply - take-offs from other JTs.
They seemed sort of "huh?" for a moment, then I told them I had a set of 4 shocks from a JT Rubicon and a pair of rear Sport S max tow springs, and Rubicon front springs I was going to put on my truck - what would it cost if they did it. I would furnish the parts, ready to go.
I figured maybe it would take them a couple of hours, 3 tops, especially with their shop, tools, lift, torque specs on hand and so on.
I dunno what their rate is but - $680!
Holy cow - told my wife there was no way I was spending that kind of money to do something I've done dozens of times on cars over the years - just last year did a total suspension and steering rebuild on my 73 and swapped all 4 springs and shocks and put on Caltrac bars, too. How much time can it take on the JT compared to removing rusty leaf spring bolts from the frame.
The front shocks on my cars are inside the front springs, and a royal pain to get to the two nuts that hold the bottom of the front shocks to the spring support - and the rear shocks - the tops are up in the TRUNK - and this old guy doesn't have fun squatting in the trunk of a car reaching into small holes to take the nuts off the shock tops.
The JT has to be 1/10th as hard as doing shocks on my cars!
Takes a special spring compressor to do the front springs on those cars - and time. You have to take off tires, shock tower top, remove the front shocks, insert the compressor......... anyway, it's a process.
Anywho - the service writer guy showed me the number 680 and I must have had a stunned look on my face as I said ok, thanks............

So, I ordered my Sport S Max Tow today... is the concensus that Rubi Front, Max Tow Rear + Rubi Fox Shocks is the best ride quality + minimal lift for someone that’s not planning to rock crawl in this beast?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Best? I won't say. Good? Yeah. The Rubicon front springs in MY case gave me nearly 1" up front. The fox shocks all around were a big difference in ride and road feel. Much better, less mushy.

In any case, I recommend a shock upgrade to anyone with an Overland, maybe even a Sport......

The Rubicon springs up front may or should take some of the "rake" out, level it a TAD. You can get 3/4" spacers to lift either front, or rear, or both.
It's a cheap swap and you can decide later if you want to invest more or do things different, so little money spent if you later change your mind.

 

[TJRjeepn]

DAMN! That's ridiculous. I was quoted LESS than $600 to have my 2.5" Evo Enforcer Stage 2 Plus installed on my JTR, and it's fully-adjustable w/ all 4 springs, adj. front LCA's, adjustable F&R trackbars, etc... And that price includes a 100% proper setup, all adjustments, axle alignments, AND a professional 4-wheel alignment when it's done!

Where can that deal be had?

 

[jorbasaurus]

Thanks for all of the great information, everyone! Got my JTRD takeoffs installed this afternoon with minimal issue. So many helpful posts. Truck gained an inch up front and half an inch in the back. Ride was great in my short test run to realign steering - going to test out the new suspension on some trails tomorrow!

 

[TTU03]

Just picked up rubi take off springs and shocks. Local shop charges $100/hr and they believe this will be a 2 to 3 hour job. I really wish to do it myself but I lack the floor jack, jack stands, torque wrench, and high torque impact. I’m not sure I would ever use the tools again so I figure the shop price is ok. Seems like a straight forward process though.

 

[NC_Overland]

Guess I should have said the TRUCK gained an inch.......... oh, well........

Anyway, my wife called me this AM (on her way to another get-together with her quilting friends) and she said "hey, there's a bubble gum car for sale over here, come take a look".
That means there's a 1930s-1950s car for sale (she loves the old cars painted bright colors and calls them bubble gum cars because of the colorful gum balls in the machines - I call 'em jelly bean cars)
OK, hopped in the truck to drive over and see what she meant. Well, it's a 55 Chevy Belaire, 350 engine, 350 auto trans, stock color (red and white) and all original interior. Sorry, honey, I don't think you'd like this one so much - especially at 35K)
OK, here I go again, drifting - back to the topic - I pulled out of the driveway and though - I feel the steering even more than I did. I got to the road and it wanted to self-center more than it used to. Turned the corner and it wanted to straighten out. That's GOOD. It should with that much SAI at the knuckle.
Then I let go of the wheel - went a good quarter mile and only touched the wheel once to compensate for a bit of road crown change, otherwise tracked true and straight. I feel it has more road feel - in the good way. Felt firmer, more solid. Steering wheel was perfectly straight across when going straight. Moved it either way and it resisted right away - good thing. It should resist turning a little bit, but it responded instantly.
It rode better, and the handling was better. I never expected that with simply swapping springs and shocks - and raising the front about an inch then centering the steering wheel perfectly.
Steering wheel being perfectly centered is a huge deal on older cars - if it's off and some dope pulls the wheel and turns it and puts it back on to center, that's just wrong. It throws the sector off center.
In any case, I've always been "ok" with how it steered and handled, but I think it's even better now, unless I'm just trying to convince myself it is to justify the work and parts HA. I do like the ride better - no bouncing, sticks firmly to the ground, bumps are better.

What do you mean by SAI?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

What do you mean by SAI?

Steering Axis Inclination. The axis, or line drawn through the ball joints, isn't straight up and down. So when you turn the wheels, it literally pushes the wheels down, raising the truck up. This helps cause the wheels to want to self-straighten after a turn.
Both wheels gain positive camber as they turn, causing them to want to return to center.

I'm an extremely "visual person" so pictures are my thing.

 

[NC_Overland]

Steering Axis Inclination. The axis, or line drawn through the ball joints, isn't straight up and down. So when you turn the wheels, it literally pushes the wheels down, raising the truck up. This helps cause the wheels to want to self-straighten after a turn.
Both wheels gain positive camber as they turn, causing them to want to return to center.

I'm an extremely "visual person" so pictures are my thing.

Solid response. Thank you.

I was just looking this thread over to give myself a refresher. I might be helping a friend do it. I used a lift last time but don’t have access to one right now. It was way easier with a lift.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Solid response. Thank you.

I was just looking this thread over to give myself a refresher. I might be helping a friend do it. I used a lift last time but don’t have access to one right now. It was way easier with a lift.

Yeah, wish I had things caught up and my shop cleared out and a lift installed like planned. IF I trade, I'll be doing it all again, twice. Once to remove from this truck and put it back to stock, and then again with new. But so far............ not looking good.

I find it interesting that of the two who have replied to my request for bone-stock OVERLAND measurements in another thread, my JT appears to sit 1" higher than theirs and I find that odd, especially in the back since the max tow springs are shorter and when there were no spacers, it was almost the same height in the back, definitely NOT higher in the back than stock springs, then I add the .75 Daystar spacers and now this truck sits roughly 3/4-1" higher in the back than theirs.
The front is 1" higher than those who responded. (the lighter of the Rubicon springs, plus Daystar .75" spacers plus the weight of the winch, bumper, receiver and skid plate netted about 1" gain in height.

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