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Trying to improve Ride Quality, please help!!

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Old 01-18-2014, 07:18 AM
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Default Trying to improve Ride Quality, please help!!

Okay here is my issues, While driving in the city I feel every little pebble in the road, and hitting potholes ect. its almost bone jarring my wife hates it. I does not bother me too much however a smoother ride would be nice. here is my current setup:

2010 JKU
4" zone lift with their nitro shocks
AEV control arm drop brackets
Synergy Drag Link flip kit
315/75r16 GY duratracs ( I know they are E rated) @ 28p.s.i

I do not have any weight in the jeep, which I think could be part of the problem. I have a soft top and no spare i the vehicle. I noticed when I moved some bricks and had weight in the rear end it rode a bit better but not a ton.

Will new shocks make a difference, I am looking at bilsteins? Are the coils my issue? When I have the $$ and can put bumpers on the jeep will that help?
Old 01-18-2014, 11:58 AM
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Bilsteins are notoriously stiff. Id go with a set of ranch rs9000xl's. Cheaper than the bilsteins and they have quite a bit of adjustability. I plan on picking a set up in the near future.
Old 01-18-2014, 12:35 PM
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Provided you are ready to spend some money, you could try getting some dual rate springs and matching dampers or go coilovers alltogether. Than you can personalize your spring rate and damping control...
Old 01-18-2014, 01:07 PM
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A rougher ride is made up of both the coils and the shocks. More than likely it's the coils that are stiffer than the shocks are. And since you don't have a heavy rig that is why you're probably experiencing a rougher ride.

If you are just looking to replace just the shocks, OME seem to be a pretty soft shock.
Old 01-18-2014, 01:29 PM
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Originally Posted by D_engel
Bilsteins are notoriously stiff. Id go with a set of ranch rs9000xl's. Cheaper than the bilsteins and they have quite a bit of adjustability. I plan on picking a set up in the near future.

Notoriously stiff? I have to disagree there. Thousands of other posts would disagree as well.

I have a BDS 3" that rode too rough for me. (same manufacturer as Zone) I thought for sure I was going to change the coils to the EVO plush ride coils but thought I would try my shocks first. Glad I did. The Bilstiens improved my ride so much I decided I didn't need new coils.
Old 01-18-2014, 01:34 PM
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Originally Posted by meep97
A rougher ride is made up of both the coils and the shocks. More than likely it's the coils that are stiffer than the shocks are. And since you don't have a heavy rig that is why you're probably experiencing a rougher ride.

If you are just looking to replace just the shocks, OME seem to be a pretty soft shock.
I agree on the OME. For me ,it came down to Bilstein or OME. I decided on Bilstein because I didn't want yellow shocks and was too lazy to paint them. The Bilsteins are a brushed finish and they had already drastically improved the ride on my 2011 Ram 1500 4X4.
Old 01-18-2014, 03:33 PM
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Originally Posted by MedicJayCook
Okay here is my issues, While driving in the city I feel every little pebble in the road, and hitting potholes ect. its almost bone jarring my wife hates it. I does not bother me too much however a smoother ride would be nice. here is my current setup:

2010 JKU
4" zone lift with their nitro shocks
AEV control arm drop brackets
Synergy Drag Link flip kit
315/75r16 GY duratracs ( I know they are E rated) @ 28p.s.i

I do not have any weight in the jeep, which I think could be part of the problem. I have a soft top and no spare i the vehicle. I noticed when I moved some bricks and had weight in the rear end it rode a bit better but not a ton.

Will new shocks make a difference, I am looking at bilsteins? Are the coils my issue? When I have the $$ and can put bumpers on the jeep will that help?
I'd check the bushings.

As for the coils/shocks --
(Excluding coilovers, progressive, dual rate, or harder coils for towing), the usable range of shock valving is much greater than the differences between regular coils.

Last edited by GJeep; 01-18-2014 at 03:38 PM.
Old 01-18-2014, 05:25 PM
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I've been dealing with my 2" lift. I only air up to 24 psi and disengage my Evo swaybar for city driving. I tighten up on my adjustable King shocks up front to minimize the rolling from disconnecting. I know my springs are to stiff at this point, but not sure what springs to buy.
Old 01-18-2014, 06:09 PM
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I'd think you'd want to look at both new coils and shocks

For on road ride, the EVO plush coils seems to have a great rep. For shocks, plenty of good options out there... hard to advise.

I have Rock Krawler 3.5" coils with Bilstein 5100's on my jeep, and the ride is fairly soft and smooth (even more so with the Anti Rock in front now). I've also had Fox 2.0 IFP shocks, they were great as well, but I think the Bil's gave a little better on road ride for me.
Old 01-18-2014, 06:21 PM
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Ditch the E rated tires also


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