What strut/shock provides the longest travel?

[kjpilot]

I have the lift height info down, now I'm looking for articulation...lots of it. At this point in my decision process, articulation is more important than height or ride quality...I'll get there later. O

I like the coil over layout of the Rusty's kit. I haven't committed myself to it yet, But that is the type of lift I want.

 

[Eddo]

The Rancho RSX17004 or the new OME N132L shocks for the rear.

The front there isn't too much you can do. The OME struts in the front are probably your best bet. You can always do a bit of a clevis lift to get it to droop a little further.

FYI, Rusty use the OME struts in the front for his kit.

 

[kjpilot]

Eddo,
Do know anything about the Rancho RSX 17505 for the front? AllJ has them on their KJ page next to the ARB bumper pic:
http://www.boulderbars.com/kjproducts.htm

I haven't seen anyone writing about these yet.

I'm kinda baffled as to why there is a number of lifts out there that raise the KJ to 3.5", with Al's arms, that people are using trouble free, but they are all combinations of spacers, coils & clevis lifts. If these are successful, why isn't there a 3.5" strut & coil only lift? 1" of spring lift gives better articulation than 1" of billet aluminum, right?

 

[CRD4Liberty]

The Rancho struts and shocks are excellent, the OME are just a little better and reported to be a little longer lived. The increasearticulation remove the rear bar, disconnect the front bar while wheeling and add some Rubicon Super Flex rear control arms that are also at AllJ's.

 

[Eddo]

Eddo,
Do know anything about the Rancho RSX 17505 for the front? AllJ has them on their KJ page next to the ARB bumper pic:
http://www.boulderbars.com/kjproducts.htm

I haven't seen anyone writing about these yet.

I'm kinda baffled as to why there is a number of lifts out there that raise the KJ to 3.5", with Al's arms, that people are using trouble free, but they are all combinations of spacers, coils & clevis lifts. If these are successful, why isn't there a 3.5" strut & coil only lift? 1" of spring lift gives better articulation than 1" of billet aluminum, right?

The RSX 17505 are decent. It is what I have in my KJ. The OMEs do ride better, but cost more. There rear RSX 17004 are alright, but they are not valved for the KJ so the ride is OK. The OME shocks I had rode much better in the rear. I'd spend the extra few dollars and at least get the rear OME N132L

For certain lifts it doesnt matter much. A spacer only effects compression. There is plenty of room for futher compression in a stock setup so a small spacer in the front doesnt effect much. Also, in the rear alot of people add bumpstops to prevent bottoming out the shock and stuffing the tire to far into the wheel well. So even a large spacer in the rear just limits a little of the compression and acts like a bumpstop.


If you want a good setup for cheap then go grab Rusty's lift and set it up like this
http://www.lostkjs.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15164
The clevis lift w/ the conduit nuts will allow you to drop the suspension as far as you can. Any further and you have upper ball joint contact on the spring. The clevis lift is not enough to effect compression and bottom out the strut.

The rear shocks are really want control flex in the rear. So go order the N132L from All J and you will have a nice ride, with the most flex you can get out of a KJ without too much cost.