Hey everyone,

I hope nobody minds but I'm starting a fresh thread for this question instead of adding to the 86++ page long brackets ordering thread.

My truck and writing about it have been pretty much completely on hold for 2 years as I tried my hand at a tech startup completely unrelated to trucks. No time, no money.

I've been running my Superlift / Coilover / Tall Leafs setup pretty much trouble free EXCEPT:

- The coil on the passenger side sometimes rotates into a position where it comes into contact with the frame, causing annoying squeaks every time it compresses. More grinding required.

- I'm still running the (now proven INCORRECT) Daystar KU09037BK Bolt-In Extended Bump stop setup and have just been gentle with the truck with mostly city driving.

- The new rear leafs lack the rubber spacers of the stock eye bushings and sometime shift (with a clunk) in a turn. It's not unsafe, a mechanic has told me, but something I now plan to fix.

I now plan to fix all this with a weekend of crawling around in my driveway, but first I want to order the right bump stops.

Insofar as I can find in the monstrous coilover bracket thread, mikerider is running these: Eibach shaft bump stops and logan03CO also suggested these Fox shaft bump stops.

Thing is, these options are different heights and will all have different effects on actual shock travel. I obviously don't want to be bumping into the stoppers prematurely.

Could anyone who has tried these or another bump stop option successfully with the superlifted coilover setup (including some hard miles off road!) share their thoughts on what has actually been tried and has worked? I'd definitely like to hear from mikerider because those yellow Eibach stops seem to be the tallest (and most travel-restrictive) option. Did you notice premature bottoming out once these were on the truck?

Thanks for your help, everyone! Once I've got the info I'll install everything with a wearable camera on so I'll have some video to update my complete coilover writeup.

Cheers,
Pierre

 

Hey I am very curious whether you figured this out or not. Shaft bump stops definitely seem like the best option. I am doing a coilover swap on my superlifted 08 FX4 in a couple months and it would be nice to know what bumpstop setup worked out the best before I order my coilovers. Also wondering about the rubber leaf spring spacers and what you used to fix that.

BTW, great job on the whole superlift/coilover/leaf spring write up. Very detailed and informative. It must have helped ALOT of people (including myself) who are/were interested in doing this to their trucks.

 

Thanks for your kind words - glad that post was helpful.

I never did really resolve this but in that monster coilover brackets thread I proposed a different solution that could be simpler and work for everyone. Never received a response, though.

The biggest problem with relocating the bump stop is it no longer fully comes into contact with the lower control arm. I'm not a super big fan of the shaft-mounted bump stop solution because it doesn't relieve the shock mounts of any impact force overall (like the stock bump stop was designed to do), and the shaft itself could still break with an extreme bump.

So rather than try to find a better location for the bump stop, why not modify the LCA somehow so it better meets the bump stop in its new, inboard position?

The LCA has a curved inboard edge which makes it tricky to fabricate/weld on an extension to its surface (not impossible, just tricky). So my idea is to update the design of the coilover brackets themselves so that the lower one acts as a "surface extender" on the LCA to better meet with the extended bump stop.

Why is this better? Well, first of all, it would be no extra work and minimal extra cost for people installing the coilover bracket kit. Everyone needs to deal with this bump stop problem somehow because coilovers don't fit without chopping off the mount. For people retrofitting a bump stop solution, it saves us the hassle of having to take our coilovers apart to put the shaft-mounted stops on, too. It would be a pure bolt-on. I'd pay to get an updated lower coilover mount kit.

 

Ya I have read most of that coilover brackets thread and I couldn't agree with you more. The bracket kit should include a solution for the bump stops. People who buy that kit are buying it for the convenience of not having to do any fab work. It kind of defeats the purpose if you have to fab up addition plates to extend the surface for the bump stops. Otherwise why not just weld a couple tabs on the LCA and make your own upper coilover brackets while your at it. I would pay an extra $20 for the kit if addressed this issue.

I haven't even ordered my coilovers yet so I could easily just throw the shafts stops in during installation. But I'm just not sure what size works. I'll probably just get my metal fab guy to do your solution. Like you said it's easier on the shock tower that way too.