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Help - how to compensate for heavy front bumper/winch

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:14 am
by Al Czervik
Hi All, was hoping to get advice on what to do with the 155+lbs I just put on my front end (2017Rubicon). I put the Terafkex leveling kit on, but the front is sagging and the ride quality has gone down. Should I put on new front coils , shocks, or both? The leveling kit has 1in in back, 2in in front. I lost an inch in the front after the bumper/winch.
Measured from bottom of stock fenders:
Before front 36.5
Before back 35.5
After front 37.5
After back 37
Thanks for your help!

Re: Help - how to compensate for heavy front bumper/winch

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 1:09 pm
by Hoodoo Man
do you have synthetic winch line already? Can drop a few pounds off the front by changing to synthetic. If you change coils you generally change shocks as well. I dont think a 2' spacer will throw your current shocks off their ride height too much so I dont know that you are needing shocks yet and the rubi shocks are very good from the factory.

The easiest thing to do to get better ride quality may be to change the pressure of your tires. I'm guessing you are running stock tires at about 32 psi which is factory recommended. You might want to try going to about 28 psi for a few days and see if the ride is a little better. A ~150 superchip programer will allow you to reprogram the TPS sensors if you don't want the light on if you stay at that pressure. Some places will do this for you, possibly for a slight charge maybe for free but its nice to have the superchip as it does a lot more and can read and clear codes for CEL and such.

Re: Help - how to compensate for heavy front bumper/winch

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:03 pm
by BlackNBlue-ISH
Factory springs and shocks are designed and tuned with a specific weight in mind, and because you threw a ton extra on it, it won’t ride as well. Most lift kits that come with springs and shocks take that extra weight from bigger bumpers and winches into consideration so that problem is lessened. As far as the height goes, like Jeff was saying, possibly a larger spring spacer will get the height back. As for the shock, look into new shocks with an adjustable dampening. You’ll be able to set it right where you need it. That will be the best option until you put a different lift in.

Re: Help - how to compensate for heavy front bumper/winch

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 4:26 pm
by MDSRACING398
If you want it level remove rear spacer. Or add some weight to the back to even off the weight distribution. The front bumper is like the fat kid on the seesaw.

Re: Help - how to compensate for heavy front bumper/winch

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2018 12:13 pm
by KenCal
Just my 2cents, but the TF leveling kit is designed to level your jeep using the stock springs by adding spacers. It is not a lift kit with springs and other components. Invest in a quality lift of your choice and I think you'll be happy. The springs are what give you the lift and support for that bumper and winch.

Re: Help - how to compensate for heavy front bumper/winch

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2018 12:08 am
by Al Czervik
Thanks for the advice. I’m leaning towards putting on a heavy rear bumper to even it out and possibly putting in new 2in coils. I’ll update this post once I have something more to report.
Thanks!!

Re: Help - how to compensate for heavy front bumper/winch

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 8:19 am
by BlackKnight
I went from the stock 30lb plastic bumper to a 200lb EVO bumper and Superwinch w/synthetic. I dropped a 2" level kit on it and it was fine...