Front strut length

greenmachine · Dec 24, 2010

ive been reading around and from what i have gathered is that if i am going to run the ome hd coils up front, my new strut will be the same length as the stock one. i am curious to know how if the struts are the same length as the stock ones, how will i gain lift?

ptsb5a · Dec 24, 2010

The springs do it. It's magical.

greenmachine · Dec 24, 2010

haha i hope so. i have the front end torn apart and one front strut swapped out. comparing it to the stock one they are nearly identical in size. is this right?

speedracerbubba · Dec 24, 2010

yes.
Like Ian said, the springs are what give you lift and there is plenty of room in the stock design for some lift.

Scottm2010 · Dec 27, 2010

Haha! I was just about to come on here and ask the same question!

rockymountain · Dec 27, 2010

ok, this is the question, for the experts.

first, is there a longer shock for the front?

second, what benefit or non-benefit would that bring? What would a longer front shock do? I can imagine, but would just like to see what some of the experts think.

speedracerbubba · Dec 27, 2010

If you go higher you run into cv issues and it just snowballs from there.
Tom has more insight but you can go high enough to damage the cvs with what is already available.

rockymountain · Dec 27, 2010

speedracerbubba said:
If you go higher you run into cv issues and it just snowballs from there.
Tom has more insight but you can go high enough to damage the cvs with what is already available.

I'm talking about staying within the safe range the cv's will handle. I run boiler plates for example, why not have a shock 3/8 inch longer instead? That would be a relevant question. It would give you more travel in the setup for one, but is that good or bad?

tommudd · Dec 27, 2010

Stock length front shocks will give you as much travel as one can really expect from the front setup, longer would allow the front to drop more but also at the cost of tearing up CVs when maxed out. Plus then you get into the upper control arm hitting the coil spring fully dropped and yes it snow balls from there.
Right now I still have mine too high really and when sitting on jackstands I don't turn the CVs due to them hitting, so not good. But I was trying something different and although it looks good when off road its not good on the CVs. Now of course you could go and get the cut CVs but then it will still hit the spring, so you get Als new setup which has smaller springs,..... so you see every action has a reaction which in the end cost way more $$$$$
Depends on what you want to spend but in the end a simple longer front shock is not the answer:shrug:

rockymountain · Dec 27, 2010

Yea that's what I thought. I'm thinking more simple than that. I run OME springs with Boiler plates. If I could find front shocks 3/8 " longer and ditch the boiler plates, that would keep the length the same and not affect the height and/or cv angle or spring hitting knuckle. Would this be better or worse? I'm thinking it would make the guy at the shop happier since he wouldn't have to compress the spring as much.

I'm just thinking out loud mostly. I just wonder how it would affect the ride. It may just make smoother/softer. :shrug:

tommudd · Dec 27, 2010

I think you are confusing yourself here.
A shock 3/4 of an inch longer would not do one thing for you, removing the 3/8 inch top plate would lower the front by 3/4 of an inch so where are you going with this?
When compressing the springs that amount will not help your guy one bit really, the spring rate will, just ask my guy, he's compressed at least a dozen sets of front springs for me with the 927s, the 790s,,,.... well he said he stood back a little bit further!:happy175:

matt5214 · Dec 27, 2010

Rear shocks could be longer. With only a 2" lift on mine I installed a set of Skyjackers on the rear that are measured out to accomodate the lift.

tommudd · Dec 27, 2010

matt5214 said:
Rear shocks could be longer. With only a 2" lift on mine I installed a set of Skyjackers on the rear that are measured out to accomodate the lift.

Thats why we have always used shocks for a 99-04 Dakota 4WD or 98-03 Durango on the rear, they are the right length to use when lifted
OME/Bilstein are good front or rear Skyjacker :Bye:

rockymountain · Dec 27, 2010

tommudd said:
I think you are confusing yourself here.
A shock 3/4 of an inch longer would not do one thing for you, removing the 3/8 inch top plate would lower the front by 3/4 of an inch so where are you going with this?
When compressing the springs that amount will not help your guy one bit really, the spring rate will, just ask my guy, he's compressed at least a dozen sets of front springs for me with the 927s, the 790s,,,.... well he said he stood back a little bit further!:happy175:

Yea I think you're right. Guess I'm just thinking too much.

arty52:

ikuo78 · Mar 26, 2024

greenmachine said:
ive been reading around and from what i have gathered is that if i am going to run the ome hd coils up front, my new strut will be the same length as the stock one. i am curious to know how if the struts are the same length as the stock ones, how will i gain lift?

This is a very interesting post.
In other words, the OME spring increases preload to provide lift.
In order to achieve high preload with a free length close to stock,
It feels like they have increased the spring rate.
Increasing the spring rate reduces the amount of compression when subjected to the same load.
Depending on the coil length and wire diameter, the stress on the coil will also increase.

ikuo78 · Mar 26, 2024

rockymountain said:
Yea that's what I thought. I'm thinking more simple than that. I run OME springs with Boiler plates. If I could find front shocks 3/8 " longer and ditch the boiler plates, that would keep the length the same and not affect the height and/or cv angle or spring hitting knuckle. Would this be better or worse? I'm thinking it would make the guy at the shop happier since he wouldn't have to compress the spring as much.

I'm just thinking out loud mostly. I just wonder how it would affect the ride. It may just make smoother/softer. :shrug:

By increasing the shock length and using a spring with the same spring rate as the stock but with a free length 1 to 1.5 inches longer than the stock, you can increase the travel in the extension direction and get 2 to 3 inches of lift and stock ride quality.
However, the travel in the extension direction will cause interference between the control arm and the shock assembly, so
In reality, you cannot increase the shock length.
So, what will happen if you install a spring with the same spring rate as the stock and a longer free length?
The free length that is extended is less than the amount of compression when the car is on the ground, so
You can get almost the same effect as a spacer lift.
If the extended free length is greater than the amount of compression when the car is on the ground, this will lead to an increase in preload.
This is because the length of the assembly is fixed.
Although the spacer lift reduces the travel in the direction of contraction.

Can I get a spring that has the same spring rate as the stock but is longer than the stock?
Is that for diesel?

And I'm curious as to why OME doesn't do this.

KJowner · Mar 27, 2024

It's an unfortunate situation caused by the independent front suspension. The H&R springs are longer and a progressive rate design I believe. They are made for the diesel too, if you search on here there's a really good post with lots of information on H&R as well as OME.

ikuo78 · Mar 27, 2024

KJowner said:
It's an unfortunate situation caused by the independent front suspension. The H&R springs are longer and a progressive rate design I believe. They are made for the diesel too, if you search on here there's a really good post with lots of information on H&R as well as OME.

Thank you.
It's very useful here.

Not having a ladder frame also makes things difficult.
Currently, I am satisfied with the spacer lift that came with the vehicle when I purchased it, but I think the shock absorber has reached the end of its lifespan, so I am considering rebuilding it.
My spacer is simply press-fitted to the underside of the shock absorber, so it seems that it cannot be reassembled.

KJowner · Mar 29, 2024

ikuo78 said:
Thank you.
It's very useful here.

Not having a ladder frame also makes things difficult.
Currently, I am satisfied with the spacer lift that came with the vehicle when I purchased it, but I think the shock absorber has reached the end of its lifespan, so I am considering rebuilding it.
My spacer is simply press-fitted to the underside of the shock absorber, so it seems that it cannot be reassembled.

Is it on the clevis? If so it should come off.

ikuo78 · Mar 29, 2024

KJowner said:
Is it on the clevis? If so it should come off.

Although it is sandwiched like this,
The shock side is press-fitted.
It's made of aluminum.
I don't think repressing it will work.

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