Shocks too stiff or too soft?

[FutureOdin]

I'm trying to determine how to get a better ride on pavement with my Gladiator. She's a road princess, will never really see any type of offroading.

With that said, it's got the Mopar 2" lift + Fox shocks that come with it, 315/75 KO2s on Qudratec Morphic wheels that have been road forced balanced, plus Yeti XD Tie Rod and Drag Link, Fox 2.0 TS steering stabilizer. I feel that I'm still getting a little bit of death wobble when I hit really hard bumps/heaves, but that for the most part has gone away.

I just feel like it rides harsh--I can feel every little bump on the road. Driving my dad's 2019 RAM Rebel is night and day (alright, maybe an unfair comparison, but still).

I feel like it's the shocks that's causing this, but not sure where to go from here. Are they too stiff? Too soft? If I get replacements, what should I get?

Sponsored

 

[SteveInOrlando]

What PSI are you running your tires at?

To be honest, it sounds like your tires are over inflated. I run my stock Rubicon AT3 tires at 32PSI. Never more than 34PSI. I can feel a massive difference with just that 2PSI difference.

You might also look at the load rating of your tires. Stock these come with C load rated tires which means softer sidewalls. E rated are typical light truck tires, but they will transmit more road noise to you at the same PSI as a C rated tire.

Other than that, you have a stiff sprung jeep. You can feel the road, that is the nature of the beast. I have tried the Falcon 2.0 shocks. The bounce went away, but they transmit more of the road noise to the passengers. The suspension is a little stiffer and you will feel the bumps. That said, you don't get as much bounce when you go over things. Pick your poison.

 

[FutureOdin]

What PSI are you running your tires at?

To be honest, it sounds like your tires are over inflated. I run my stock Rubicon AT3 tires at 32PSI. Never more than 34PSI. I can feel a massive difference with just that 2PSI difference.

You might also look at the load rating of your tires. Stock these come with C load rated tires which means softer sidewalls. E rated are typical light truck tires, but they will transmit more road noise to you at the same PSI as a C rated tire.

Other than that, you have a stiff sprung jeep. You can feel the road, that is the nature of the beast. I have tried the Falcon 2.0 shocks. The bounce went away, but they transmit more of the road noise to the passengers. The suspension is a little stiffer and you will feel the bumps. That said, you don't get as much bounce when you go over things. Pick your poison.

I believe I’m at 32 PSI, maybe 34. I’ll have to check.

I got the KO2s since they were one of the only 315s that were C rated.

Yeah, I just don’t remember it being this noticeable before the lift or on my previous Gladiator.

 

[sass JT]

Sound like you have “bump steer” than “death wobble” IMO.

IMO the fox 2.0 shocks are better than stock but they aren’t that great. Personally, king shocks with resi’s and adjusters or going to fox 2.5’s or their 3.0’s with separate adjustable low speed and high speed compression would help. But ride over bumps is very subjective.

 

[FutureOdin]

Yeah, bump steer is probably a better phrase. To me, it seems like death wobble, because when I switched over to a set of stock JL wheels, I would get death wobble (would have to pull over and stop on the side of the road). Now it just seems like bump steer, a little wiggle of the wheel when going over heaves/bumps.

Either way, it's driving me crazy. I don't think bump steer should be something that occurs even after lifting?

 

[bleda2002]

Yeah, bump steer is probably a better phrase. To me, it seems like death wobble, because when I switched over to a set of stock JL wheels, I would get death wobble (would have to pull over and stop on the side of the road). Now it just seems like bump steer, a little wiggle of the wheel when going over heaves/bumps.

Either way, it's driving me crazy. I don't think bump steer should be something that occurs even after lifting?

It's a sfa so bump steer is pretty normal. You may just be noticing more a lack of caster and/or your steering wheel is slightly off center. Even with the Mopar lcas the caster is still low after the lift so you may just need more as I felt a lot of bump steer after my lift until I got 6 degrees of caster.

Also if the steering wheel is slightly off I felt it had more bump steer too.

 

[FutureOdin]

It's a sfa so bump steer is pretty normal. You may just be noticing more a lack of caster and/or your steering wheel is slightly off center. Even with the Mopar lcas the caster is still low after the lift so you may just need more as I felt a lot of bump steer after my lift until I got 6 degrees of caster.

Also if the steering wheel is slightly off I felt it had more bump steer too.

I did have it aligned, but didn’t get a printout. So potentially some geometry correction brackets will get me more caster?

I’ll see if I can bring it somewhere to get current readings.

 

[bleda2002]

I did have it aligned, but didn’t get a printout. So potentially some geometry correction brackets will get me more caster?

I’ll see if I can bring it somewhere to get current readings.

The issue is that caster can't be changed with out either brackets or adjustable control arms so even getting it aligned won't dial more in. I'd wait on getting it read again until you get the brackets which will give you the best ride at the sacrifice of a little clearance. Then once you have those installed get a read out and shoot for 6 degrees.

 

[FutureOdin]

Right. I think I'll go with some brackets. AEV makes a nice set, but is it worth the extra $$$ over Rancho? Are there others?

 

[bgenlvtex]

Right. I think I'll go with some brackets. AEV makes a nice set, but is it worth the extra $$$ over Rancho? Are there others?

Mopar 2" lift comes with longer LCA to correct camber. No additional correction should be needed provided they were intalled

 

[FutureOdin]

Mopar 2" lift comes with longer LCA to correct camber. No additional correction should be needed provided they were intalled

They were, I did the install myself. I assume you meant caster--I've seen other folks comment they've used the brackets with the 2" lift Mopar LCAs to get even more caster.

 

[bgenlvtex]

They were, I did the install myself. I assume you meant caster--I've seen other folks comment they've used the brackets with the 2" lift Mopar LCAs to get even more caster.

Yes I did mean caster.

Higher caster will make the steering "lighter" or lower effort and is not desirable in my opinion.

Vibration at road speeds is a function of wheel/tire concentricity and balance. If the tire/wheel assembly is not round it will shake, forever regardless if it is balanced.

"Death wobble " is loose or worn components and can be exacerbated by high caster, first stop there is retorquing every fastener in the suspension.

I think you have a couple of separate problems. Your vibration and your "Death wobble" and they are not necessarily related to each other.

Are the wheels the correct bore diameter for the pilot, or are they multi fit that require pilot inserts? If they are round, correctly mounted and balanced, the wheel pilot interface is the next stop on looking for an eccentric assembly.

 

[FutureOdin]

Yes I did mean caster.

Higher caster will make the steering "lighter" or lower effort and is not desirable in my opinion.

Vibration at road speeds is a function of wheel/tire concentricity and balance. If the tire/wheel assembly is not round it will shake, forever regardless if it is balanced.

"Death wobble " is loose or worn components and can be exacerbated by high caster, first stop there is retorquing every fastener in the suspension.

I think you have a couple of separate problems. Your vibration and your "Death wobble" and they are not necessarily related to each other.

Are the wheels the correct bore diameter for the pilot, or are they multi fit that require pilot inserts? If they are round, correctly mounted and balanced, the wheel pilot interface is the next stop on looking for an eccentric assembly.

It's definitely not a tire/wheel issue. I've swapped out for another stock set, and still had the same issues (even worse). I've rebalanced my tires twice + bought a new set of rims and had that balanced, still no difference.

 

[Mac]

My understanding is higher caster will help reduce the light front end feeling, it should be around 6-7, when you lift a JT 2-3” without caster correction it can get in the 4 range that will cause the wander and not return to center feeling.

 

[hickman785]

Around March 2021 I started noticing my Gladiator was riding very rough and bouncing constantly. I felt like I could feel every little bump in the road and then I was experiencing a smooth bounce all the time. I had about 600 pounds of gear in the rear end at the time with air bags.
I added Falcon 3.3 shocks but they made no difference other making it more stiff. Next I changed tires to KO2 load range c, but that made no difference. About 3 weeks ago I added a Clayton 2.5 ride right kit because everyone said my springs were not strong enough to support that weight without killing the ride. After adding the Clayton kit there's still no difference with the bouncing. It still bounces all the time. It feels like the rear end is too stiff.
I have adjusted tire pressures and to my surprise the truck rides better with higher pressures. When they are lower the truck bounces much worse. When the pressures build up, the bounciness reduces and the overall harshness gets worse.
At this point I have absolutely no idea what to do. One person says it's my shocks, the next says my shocks are awesome and not the issue. One says it's the weight, then another says it isn't the weight. Others with the same or more weight don't have this issue. Plus I took about 300 pounds off it several months ago and nothing changed. I put the weight back on, and still, nothing changed.

Any ideas or suggestions? Next step is to sell or trade the Jeep, and I really don't want to do that.

Sponsored