a few questions regarding shorter front bump stops

[jeep-N-montero]

It seems that most folks who have ran the shorter poly bump stops without the sway bar are the ones who typically have busted CV shafts, am I correct on this?

For those who have ran without both the bump stops and sway bar, was it worth the extra worry?

If I run the stock bump stops without the front sway bar do I ever need to worry about the CV shafts as long as I'm not a throttle junkie?

 

[Toasty]

It seems that most folks who have ran the shorter poly bump stops without the sway bar are the ones who typically have busted CV shafts, am I correct on this? YES

For those who have ran without both the bump stops and sway bar, was it worth the extra worry? NO

If I run the stock bump stops without the front sway bar do I ever need to worry about the CV shafts as long as I'm not a throttle junkie?No worries, give them hell they are as strong or stronger than stock D44 unis when used within their normal range of operation

how's that?

 

[SoCalMonty]

I have to disagree.

It depends on your local terrain, and how you wheel the truck. I've got the low-pro stops, and no swaybars, and I haven't had an issue yet. The difference in angle on the CV joint is minimal. I also haven't bent a draglink or tie rod end; I had the whole front end taken apart a few days ago replacing my old sloppy ball joints and tie rod ends, and I compared the old parts to the new parts. I also had a spare drag link. Everything was straight.

My driver's CV shaft has only had half a CV boot on it since I bought the truck, and I would slap grease in it before each trip. It was pretty much bone dry. I replaced it with a 175k mile junkyard CV axle that had a decent boot this past weekend, but the old CV axle that was on the truck is still fine. It's now my spare.

While it may increase the chances of breakage, I can't agree with the "sky is falling" opinion of the matter (ie, if you have low pro bump stops, **** will break GUARANTEED, no matter what).

As for the difference in compression with the low pro stops on the up travel, note the hub's location in relation to the rocker line of the truck (before and after). The truck stays much more level now when the suspension is crossed up:






When I get the time, I will also be increasing the down travel by slightly relocating the striker plates for the down travel bump stops. I currently don't have any bump stops for the down travel, but when it does make contact, the sound is annoying (it rarely makes contact with noise as I'm typically driving pretty slow and gentle when in the rough).

 

[JamesW]

I've taken out the droop stops on mine,made a nice difference,gives a small bit more down travel. I've bust 2 cvs on mine on 31's. One was a bit clicky since I bought my pajero. The second one I broke was a milner one,and it was junk. I had bought the whole shaft from them,and the boots failed in 4000km. When I went to replace the boots I tried to take the spider off the shaft,and rather than use a C clip on the end of the shaft,they pressed the spider on,and smacked around the end of the shaft with a punch to flare it out. Took nearly 30 tons in a press to get it off the end. A few months after that and the cv broke completely,But it has been replaced by a genuine mitsubishi one out of my donor shogun.

I would go for it,the CVs are very strong,the only way to bust them is getting air with the wheel spinning stupidly fast and then biting the ground,but that method would probably break CVs with or without Bumpstops

 

[montypower]

It should be noted that the factory CVs are way stronger than aftermarket. You need to have people clarify if they broke OEM CV or aftermarket.

I ran my 1992 on 33x12.5s with the front bump stops cut in half and tbars cranked to 3-3.5" lift (nearly no downtravel). Never broke a CV. Of course, I did add manual hubs to limit wear. I sold the truck in 2002 with 230k miles. It's still driving around 12 years later with the same setup! Must have 300-400k on it by now.

 

[Toasty]

Ok, well on 31's or even 33's you'll never break anything even WOT especially without a locker. BUT i managed to break 2 CV's at the same time on soft dirt (full flex and full lock steering) not getting on it or anything. Having said that my UCA's are bent at the mainshaft (something else that only happens with low pro bumpstops), I'm just saying that my Montero's with full bumpstops take a serious amount of extra abuse compared to mine with the low pro bumpstops. I got away with low pro bumpstops for years with no issues but it has caught up to me, on a side note the '94-'96 DOHC SR's have much bigger CV joints so they'll take the abuse longer as well.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Great info so far, just been looking at ways to get more travel without compromising reliability. Today I'm going to check out a 95 and a 97 Montero at the junkyards for some spares, no idea if they are SR models until I get there though.

 

[montypower]

Just add a locker and enjoy 3 wheeling. These trucks are never going to win flex contests. Everyone always wants more. My Tacoma IFS has 9" travel yet people spend $4-6k to get 12" "long travel". Everything has compromises.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Just add a locker and enjoy 3 wheeling. These trucks are never going to win flex contests. Everyone always wants more. My Tacoma IFS has 9" travel yet people spend $4-6k to get 12" "long travel". Everything has compromises.

My Jeep has close to 14 inches of travel, I know it spoiled me.

 

[Toasty]

Leave the front as is and you can make it up in the rear, just add shock towers and longer shocks. It makes a big difference and helps keep both front tires on the ground. I don't think i need to whip out the pictures again.

 

[JamesW]

I broke a mitsubishi one,made absolute bits of the cage for the CV,fired grease and bits of metal everywhere! The milner one went a lot more compliantly,after one hit,it stated clicking,and after the second it was toast,i've 2 mitsubishi ones in mine now so i'm pretty confident about not breaking them too easy.

I find having a small bit of front articulation and a lot in the back helps in some situations,but in others you get shafted,The whole truck could be tilted at a huge angle,because one of the front wheels is down a hole,but the rear wheels are perfectly horizontal,driving it is grand once you get used to it,but coming from something with 2 solid axles the way it leans off road can come as a bit of a shock.

I discovered that if you try and get too carried away with the articulation at the back,you end up throwing a heap of money at it for little gains. As a result of replacing the shocks I've had to put in a longer brake hose,because the standard one wasn't long enough,then I discovered the handbrake cables were getting pulled through the rear of the drum,so I disconnected them,and put in LWB ones,then my springs started popping out of their seats,so I needed to put in TF relocation cones. At the end of all that exercise I could have a fair whack of the money needed for a front locker put away if you include all the time i've spent swapping out the parts. But at the end of the day,the best bragging rights come from having big travel,so in that respect it was kind of worth it

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Leave the front as is and you can make it up in the rear, just add shock towers and longer shocks. It makes a big difference and helps keep both front tires on the ground. I don't think i need to whip out the pictures again.

By shock towers do you mean the shock stem eliminators that allow you to run a loop to loop shock?

 

[Toasty]

You can't just run a longer shock even with lift without raising bumpstops but if you put a tower or shock hoops that are eyelet on top (like you said, stud elimination) you gain the down travel. Like JamesW said you'll need to go longer brake lines, air line, vent line, spring retainers, and modify the E-brake cables. This cost me about $50 total, but i fabricate and have access to things most others don't and i got my shocks for free. 9" Rancho Pros

Here's my current setup, stock springs and nothing crazy.

Montero rear suspension modification writeup



This one was more extreme, modified trailing arm, lowered 1.5" (Gen 1 SWB coils) and shocks mounted in the center of the frame. This is fine for something superlight but shocks mounted like this on a full bodied rig would have a ton of sway and the dampening would be really poor.

The Truggy Montero and it's silly amount of travel

 

[cnutco]

Just add a locker and enjoy 3 wheeling. These trucks are never going to win flex contests. Everyone always wants more. My Tacoma IFS has 9" travel yet people spend $4-6k to get 12" "long travel". Everything has compromises.

👍


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jeep-N-montero]

You can't just run a longer shock even with lift without raising bumpstops but if you put a tower or shock hoops that are eyelet on top (like you said, stud elimination) you gain the down travel. Like JamesW said you'll need to go longer brake lines, air line, vent line, spring retainers, and modify the E-brake cables. This cost me about $50 total, but i fabricate and have access to things most others don't and i got my shocks for free. 9" Rancho Pros

Here's my current setup, stock springs and nothing crazy.

Montero rear suspension modification writeup



This one was more extreme, modified trailing arm, lowered 1.5" (Gen 1 SWB coils) and shocks mounted in the center of the frame. This is fine for something superlight but shocks mounted like this on a full bodied rig would have a ton of sway and the dampening would be really poor.

The Truggy Montero and it's silly amount of travel

I wish the pictures were still there.