Question re shock relocators

Alright guys and girls. Just joined up as will be needing this in future I'm sure! Just bought an o2 off my mate and have been out in it previously seeing what it can do. Our local site is very rutty and the 1 thing it needed was clearance. I have ordered a 2" lift kit (shocks and springs) and they mention the rear shock relocators as being a good idea. I get them in principle and understand why and how they work but my question is do they also add any extra height as it only mentions the rear which I thought odd!? I'm not after the extra height as yet and went for 2" so didnt have to do longer brake flexis and that (yet) so wanted to check these wont increase height more and cause issues like snapped lines. Thanks in advance. Mike.

Oooh Oooh! Me! Let me answer this one before Tom does...

No, they're not absolutely useless and a waste of money...

BUT...

In the example you're saying - you're already buying a +2" lift kit comprising of 2" longer springs* and 2" longer shocks... So, the longer springs will give you 2" of lift, and the shocks will be a matching 2" longer than stock? So, no, you don't want to add shock "relocators" / "repositioners" / spacers...

Why? Well, the shocks are 2" longer than stock already, so you don't want to add the extra 1.5" that shock relocators add, as then you'd have a shock that was effectively +3.5" longer than a stock one...

The result? No, no added height, but more added droop, so your shocks would extend more than you need and your brake lines wouldn't be long enough, and your shocks may droop low enough that your springs become loose...

Also, the compressed / closed length of the shock is 1.5" shorter too (as you've added the spacer to the bottom), so you're in danger of the shock "topping-out" (the piston slamming into the top of the tubular body of the shock) before the suspension cycles up properly, i.e. without bump stop spacers, the shock is going to close completely before the axle hits the black rubber cone bump stop on upward travel...

So you need to choose shocks of the right length to use with these sort of relocators, so you'd need - say - a +2" spring and a +1" shock with relocators on the bottom of the shock on the rear axle... to give you the right amount of range of movement in the shock to match the spring...

On my blue S200KYS Jimny for example, I've got +5" springs and +4" shocks with these kind of relocators on the bottom, so that my range of movement of the shock matches that of the spring... i.e. on full droop my spring is still sat on the bottom axle spring seat and doesn't lift off the raised 'cone' in the middle of the seat, so it doesn't 'dislocate'. and on upward articulation the spring compresses enough that the axle hits the bump stop before the shock tops out, also without the spring becoming 'coil-bound' (the spring's coils touching each other which can fatigue the spring)...

So there's a few things to consider before adding spacers to a shock (of the right length)

There's two opinions of whether these type of relocators are needed, I'm with the ones that say Yes, partly as I sell them (as ZookBOB) and use them from practical experience... My Jim has +5" of spring lift using Mercedes saloon springs, so you can imagine the angle of the rear shock mounting bolt after the axle has rotated downwards at the back with the lift applied, no way a rear shock is going to sit on that rear mounting bolt without a LOT of twist on it, so I made up a pair of custom relocators so that the shock sits in the U-bracket above the original mounting bolt without twisting so much that it's under a LOT of tension on the bush, which is know to wear them prematurely or even break the bolt...

* You realise with +2" of spring length you'll probably need castor correction on the front radius arms? Otherwise the steering won't self-centre and will become a bit 'vague'.

Ah brilliant thankyou! It was the zookbob ones i found! Yeah thats great cheers, clears up what I thought, you'd use them as say a budget option with 2" springs and a standard shock. Castor correction yes...will look into that, luckily am in no rush and want to do it right. That being saif have been saddled with a pt cruiser to drive recently so vague steering has been taken to new heights haha.

Just bought your castor correction bushes cant wait to go offroading again...been about 8 years since my pickup converted fourtrak!

'Budget', yes, in some cases, with a 'small' lift and adequate existing shocks, a spacer is all that's needed... but then also when you get really high and the rear axle rotates down (even with castor corrected rear arms) with all the lift then the bottom shock bush and bolt just can't cope with the angle it's been forced to work at, the bush deteriorates prematurely (hard word for us blokes!) or the shock bolt breaks off the axle...

Thanks, I'll combine both your orders and send them out first class in the morning...

Dave 'ZookBOB'

Thanks Dave and for the advice. I'll use the castor correctors and keep the relocators for the future. Then if I want another inch or so lift I can use those and a 3" spring set, change to longer flexis and that too how mad it will go depends on how long its a daily driver for!

Also don't forget, if it's ruts you're concerned about, a suspension lift doesn't make a great deal of difference. It improves your approach and breakover angles, but what you need most is extra space under your diffs which it doesn't provide.

The only ways to improve ground clearance is by fitting bigger tyres or cutting and welding the bottom of the diff housing. Or with portal axles, but if you can find a set for the Jimny please show me where! Out of these the easiest and most common is sorting the tyres.

Ah, yes, but fitting larger tyres opens another can of worms... as it upsets the gearing... an expensive fix then follows...

S200KYS wrote: Ah, yes, but fitting larger tyres opens another can of worms... as it upsets the gearing... an expensive fix then follows...

That's only if he joins your lunatic fringe with 31's and the like

An upgrade to 215/75s or at a push 235/75s can still be used without needing a gearing change. Although the gearing change is fun and is also a worthwhile mod, but then that's heading down the rabbit hole...

Venter wrote: That's only if he joins your lunatic fringe with 31's and the like

PMSL

Yeah cheers axle to ground height remains as is of course but angle improvement would help too. If often slammed its bullbar thing into an incline before much else happened, I'll probably end up taking it off anyway as it justs foward so much but we'll see how it goes! A bit more travel couldn't hurt either! I know its all the start of a slippery slope