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Bumpstops with Coilovers?

RunningProblem

RunningProblem

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Sep 12, 2020
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Are bumpstops required with coilovers? Yes very newb question. No I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm imagining coilsprings go exactly where coil springs would go but this removes the bump stop. Do you only need bump stops in a go fast race car, or will it fuck the coilover beyond believe to NOT have a bumpstop or air bump slowing the axle down and limiting travel?
Is there actually a way to limit travel using the coilover? For example installing a 16 inch coilover and limiting it to a maximum of 12 inches of travel and using the fully compressed coil springs as a bump stop.
 
Yes you need a bumpstop to prevent the coilover from fully bottoming out on itself metal on metal. Do not use coil bind for the bumpstop unless you want many broken parts including the shock mounting bolts if the tabs don't fail first.
 
Cool. I thought so, but I've seen rigs built without them and never know if that's okay, or just the most ignorant thing possible.
 
I used the style like TT posted on my old trail rig with good luck. I used ones off a Camry strut IIRC and they fit perfect. My current rig has air bumps though.

Outside of bump stops you need limit straps to keep the shocks from being torn apart. I know some people for without them but they are cheap insurance to keep from over extending your shocks and damaging them.
 
Yeah shocks don't like to be bottomed or topped out metal on metal. That's how you break things. Limit straps are cheap cheap insurance to prevent major shock damage and/or trip ending early.
 
  • use the proper length coil over for the job, limiting a 16" travel shock to a 12" is fundamentally retarded
  • having a physical bumpstop independent of the shock is ideal, because if you have a shock failure you have something to keep the axle from finding something it shouldnt, ie oil pans, alternators, steering pumps, letting a drive shaft find a trans case, etc.
  • a quard wrap quality limit strap is needed, plan on 1" of stretch for every 12" length of strap. again keep this system independent of the shock. stay away from the ass vault ones ruff stuff sells, they stretch a lot and quickly.

plenty of people run with out them and get away with it, but its an expensive gamble
 
Yeah if you only want/need 12" travel just get 12" shocks. Then you can get correct spring rates instead of running super soft springs to get a 16 to sit correctly for a 12" stroke length.
 
The 12" travel with 16" shock was just an example based on something I saw locally. It looked like he used shorter springs to limit the travel just based on how far down the coil spring adjustment nut was. this one looked like it was a good 5 inches down from the top so I just imagined he bought shorter coil springs and used the coilovers he already had.
Limit straps I knew were required. I didn't know about planning 1" of stretch for each 12" of strap length. Good info.
The physical bump stop is also a good idea/reminder without them nothing stops the axle from going through the engine bay other than the coilover and that can always break.
 
RunningProblem said:
It looked like he used shorter springs to limit the travel just based on how far down the coil spring adjustment nut was. this one looked like it was a good 5 inches down from the top so I just imagined he bought shorter coil springs and used the coilovers he already had.
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people do weird things with springs, so id ignore the location of the adjuster nut.
 
mobil1syn said:
people do weird things with springs, so id ignore the location of the adjuster nut.
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My ft uppers are 12" instead of 14" and look like he's saying, They function perfectly but look odd cause they don't fill out the shock more. My rear has maybe 3" tops of room between the collar and top front is more like 5"
 
Some coilovers/struts come with integrated bumpstops, such as ORIs. Perhaps that's why OP has seen some trucks without bumps.
 
I’m talking about ‘standard/normal’ coilovers but never thought about some with internal bumps. More like King/Fox/FOA/Ridgerunner
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
Some coilovers/struts come with integrated bumpstops, such as ORIs. Perhaps that's why OP has seen some trucks without bumps.
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My Fox's came with about a 3/4 inch external rubber bump on the shafts. They're prob sufficient for slow crawling and I don't "plan" on doing any go fast stuff but I'll prob opt for external bumps just in case.
 
The Unknown said:
My Fox's came with about a 3/4 inch external rubber bump on the shafts. They're prob sufficient for slow crawling and I don't "plan" on doing any go fast stuff but I'll prob opt for external bumps just in case.
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So did my SAWs, they are about useless and often split and fall off. They are just there to keep hard parts from crashing , my Radflos have them as well.
 
Good info. I will probably end up going with some kind of hydraulic bump stop to limit up travel, then research limit straps more for full droop and do it better than the absolute minimum. It should get annoying trying to mount the shock, remote reservoir, and bump stop in the same area.
 
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