wolfmanii

to install a lift kit that comes with shock and coil, the ride quality will change.

Can someone tell me me which one determines the ride quality: shock or coil.
Also, can you specify which parameter determines the ride quality and hos!

Thanks!

RN M OVR

I'm not an expert, but I do have experience with many different lift combinations. Coils can determine ride quality, but from my experience it is mostly the shocks that determine your ride quality. Some shocks are adjustable -- stiff or soft. The stiffer the shock, the better your vehicle's balance and handling. The softer the shock, the smoother the ride but you need to take turns slower in order to keep your vehicle from losing control or getting off balance. Shock 101: twin tubes are usually fairly stiff and monotubes are usually a better ride. This is just basic info. I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in soon enough.

Oh, almost forgot, shock travel also plays a part. The longer the shock with the correct lift for it's use, the better the ride quality. For example, if you have a shock that is -- let's say -- designed to compensate 6" lift and you have a 4" lift, your ride quality and flex on the trails will be pretty good. But if you have a 2" budget boost and a shock designed for a 6" lift, that shock is going to be compressed abnormally when driving; therefore a stiffer ride -- and if you flex when wheeling your budget boost may fall out.

TEEJ

LOL

Its like asking what determines if a baby can walk, is it his knees, or his thighs?



BOTH are a part of what determines ride quality.

A PERFECT suspension will allow the tires to go up/down, while the rig stays level, undisturbed....GETTING that is the hard part, as there are too many variables to control.

For example, the weight of the rig, with you, and maybe just you, or, a load of passengers or equipment, etc...can change.

Your speed will change.

Your tires will change.

And so forth.




Essentially, the shock's job is to DAMP motion, so that you don't oscillate, and some forces are absorbed, rather than transmitted.

For example - If its too stiff on compression, when the tire hits something that make it rise, instead of damping the rising motion, soaking up the force like a catcher pulls the glove back as he catches a fast ball, to slow it GRADUALLY....the impact and motion is transmitted up to the frame, and that corner of the truck rises along with the tire....instead of the tire going up/down and the truck riding level.

It can be stiff on compression because the spring rate of the coil is too strong for the force of the rising tire/axle to compress the coil...and that transmits the motion and impact to the frame/your butt, etc.

It can be too stiff on compression because the shock is resisting the rising tire/axle too strongly, ALSO transmitting the impact to your butt, etc.

It can be that the coil is not too stiff in of itself, and the shock is not too stiff in of itself, BUT, COMBINED, they make the RIG too stiff to compress on impacts, etc.

It can be that the shock is valved along with the coil to allow soft compression, but, after its compressed, the coil wants to rebound, firing the tire/axle back at the road again.....but the shock's rebound valving might be too WEAK to control that force, so the tire slams into the road too hard, and the tire itself then wants to bounce back up again, etc.

Add to that that you might swap on heavier tires, or add armor, etc...and the shock's valving may go from being correct, to off again, as it may have been valved to control the 35's, but the 37's left the rebound valving too weak, and the taller lift coils were ALSO overpowering the shock's ability to control them, etc.
And so forth.

So, there is a LOT of interplay between the coils and the shocks...changing one really means you need to change the other to compensate if you were to be really trying to be fair to both....and even if they are right for each other, you can make them wrong by simply choosing the "Wrong" tires, etc.

Food for thought.

mkjeep

I'll have to agree with TEEJ on this (even though he is really knowledgeable and acts like he knows everything , basically your coils need to be compatible with the shocks you choose and or vice versa. I've been through 3 lifts on my jk and have found that the best shocks for said coils is the ones they recommend for the kit. As most have done testing for this( or claim to anyhow), although you can get improvement over just changing shocks, the same thing can be said for the coils.

TEEJ

LOL

I don't act like I know everything.

I cheat, I just answer the ones I DO know...which makes me seem smarter.

:P

zoeydad

That Sir, is wisdom.

wayoflife

i'm sorry but i'm going to have to go out on a limb and disagree a bit here. i have to say that a majority of ride quality comes from your coils and the problems with a harsh ride comes from the fact that in order to make lift coil, most manufacturers resort to making them stiffer. if you think about it, you can technically have two coils of the exact same height with one being soft and the other stiff and i can assure you that the later will give you more height just by virtue of being stiff. of course, making a coil softer typically involves adding more winds and this will reduce the amount of compression you can have before going solid. likewise, the softer it is, the more prone to warping it becomes. this is in fact the reason why companies like currie and aev use dual rate coils as one portion of the spring provides lift while the other offers a more comfortable ride. the only problem with dual rate coils is that while they do offer a lot of droop, they typically don't offer a whole lot of stuff.

having said all that, most of the people i know who are or have been unhappy with their ride had coils that were on the stiff side of things but also had basic old school hydro shocks installed which are typically too stiff and/or unresponsive as well. of course, this only makes matters worse and once new high quality shocks were installed, they claimed that their ride was better. thing is, better is relative and if you've ever had a chance to ride in the same jeep with several different coils installed and same shocks installed and vice versa, i can tell you that you would see the most change in ride quality from the type of coils you were running - not shocks. but hey, that's just what i've seen.

wolfmanii

the key points I got so far is

coil and shock must match to provide good ride quality
coil plays more role in ride comfort than shock, but shock can help too

Since my JK is mainly daily commuter, ride comfort is really important. So far,
the info I collected told me that Old Man Emu can provide the best ride comfort.
So my current top choice is 2 inch OME lift (including light duty coil and shocks)

How do you think about Old Man Emu, or do you have other recommendations?

wayoflife

not exactly but close. from my experience, coils make the most difference in ride quality. depending on what shocks you're running, the ride will be better or worse. if you start off with harsh coils, you will not be able to improve the ride even with the best shocks. does that make sense? also, when i hear things like the "right match", i need to remind you that ride comfort is 100% subjective. what one person thinks is a good match, another may not agree. this is just something you need to be aware of.

as far as the OME kit goes, i have installed that exact kit in the past and in my personal opinion, it offered a very good ride.

wolfmanii

Just a quick question:

when you had OME kit, did you add anything else? such as adjustable track bar, sway bar link extension?