Coilover Decisions - Few Lingering Questions

Weebz

Weebz

Caught the Bug
As many of you know, I have been rebuilding for a bit a now and it's time to make final decisions on what to do with my suspension. Although I am pretty set on just jumping into coilovers (for the front at a minimum), the question and confusion keeps popping up on two fronts though. I have searched till my eyes hurt, read to my brain hurts, and called several different shops and builders and shockingly, have gotten nothing but different answers and opinions. Here are my sticking points and I would love to hear the opinion of the group as there isn't more of a collective knowledge that I trust than here. I just wanted to do my own research from what exists out there first.

1. As an East Coast wheeler, bombing across the desert, dunes, or whatever is not in my cards except for the random and rare trip. That being said, do I really need to the size and dampening of a 2.5" CO or is a 2.0" CO adequate for my slow and technical rock crawling style? This is a part-time daily driver as well.

2. How much benefit will I really get from a rear CO vs spring and shock? I get the adjustability portion with height, load, etc. but is travel really that different considering the orientation of the CO back there? If I could outboard I would and this wouldn't be a question but the cost to do that is just too high and frankly the one shop willing to do it I have spoken with I don't trust worth a shit. Cost of doing a standard CO in the rear isn't my concern but I also don't want to go down a path that isn't yielding a worthwhile result. Maybe a lot of the information I have gotten on this issue is bad and you can all set me straight real fast too.
 
I know we've all 3 gone back and forth on this, but just to get it down here: My feelings are that unless you are doing what Jeff alluded to, fast bombing out west where you can, the 2.0's for crawling and in general fit the bill just fine.
If you are going to drive fast, why not just skip ahead from the 2.5 option right on to the full DTD/Evolever system & be done with it?
 
I don't like the idea of rear coil overs for 3 reasons. 1, they are really exposed to rock damage. 2, all the rear weight of the jeep is now on the lower shock mounts instead of on top of the axle tube. 3. If you get road salt at all in your area, I'd be concerned with corrosion.

I'd Evo lever or stick with traditional coil/shock.
 
In for answers as well but I was always under the impression the 2.0 are more than enough for Jeeps due to the weight and the 2.5s are just overkill. I have only seen one place offer 2.5s in a kit but the fulll system is not all that great.

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Ddays said:
I know we've all 3 gone back and forth on this, but just to get it down here: My feelings are that unless you are doing what Jeff alluded to, fast bombing out west where you can, the 2.0's for crawling and in general fit the bill just fine.
If you are going to drive fast, why not just skip ahead from the 2.5 option right on to the full DTD/Evolever system & be done with it?
Click to expand...

We have good sir. And thank you for making me think on this more after our chat yesterday.
 
I don’t see any benefits to have 2.5” shocks unless you plan on driving fast constantly on rough terrain. I put heavy springs on my EVO bolt on’s and they ride great. I also have the air bumps which are nice also, especially in the rear. I feel that the regular 2.0 shocks are provide a great ride. I’m not familiar with accutune or their pricing, but I know a few people that have the EVO bolt on’s and they all love them. The only thing I don’t like about the bolt on coilovers is the rear. Any basic coilover setup will have the exact same placement, so it’s no knock on EVO. Some don’t have issues with them, I do. I keep hitting them... I may be choosing bad lines, idk but they are more exposed. The EVO lever is a killer setup if you want everything out of the way, but it is more pricy. If you are going coilovers in the front I would definitely do the rear also. The adjustability alone is worth it. I am constantly changing things in the back and carrying different things, so being able to adjust the height to accommodate is awesome.


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Add me to the list of thinking about this a lot. I haven’t really seen any huge advantage to bolt on’s for the rear. Front I think would be worthwhile. EVO lever is awesome. Every single jeep I have wheeled with that has it has impressed me. The travel and clearance really make a difference on bigger obstacles. My biggest problem with coil overs is having to rebuild them. Seems like another expensive pain in the ass for something I don’t really need. I still want them though.




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And this is the conundrum. This is what I’ve found to date.

Evo bolt-on 2.0 King Coilovers with king bumps $5,500. No labor required to install. $50ish to burn on rear stops

Accutune weld-on 2.5 Fox DSC Coilovers with Fox Bumps. $6,200.00. $500ish in labor in a shop to burn on the brackets. Accutune handles tuning the shocks.

EVO DTD $7,600+. $2,500+ in labor to install in tune at AMW 4x4.

I hate doing things twice. I get the short comings of the rear mounted Coilovers but I have a hard time spending twice as much on the DTD. I’ve seen it wheel, I want it, but I have a hard time justifying it. I have a decent coil spring set up under the Jeep right now with king 2.5” adjustable shocks. I could just add the bumps for $1,200 and be happy. Thus the conundrum...


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler
 
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wjtstudios said:
And this is the conundrum. This is what I’ve found to date.

Evo bolt-on 2.0 King Coilovers with king bumps $5,500. No labor required to install. $50ish to burn on rear stops

Accutune weld-on 2.5 Fox DSC Coilovers with Fox Bumps. $6,200.00. $500ish in labor in a shop to burn on the brackets. Accutune handles tuning the shocks.

EVO DTD $7,600+. $2,500+ in labor to install in tune at AMW 4x4.

I hate doing things twice. I get the short comings of the rear mounted Coilovers but I have a hard time spending twice as much on the DTD. I’ve seen it wheel, I want it, but I have a hard time justifying it. I have a decent coil spring set up under the Jeep right now with king 2.5” adjustable shocks. I could just add the bumps for $1,200 and be happy. Thus the conundrum...


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler
Click to expand...

Add the bumps and be happy. Spend the money you would have spent on hotels food and fuel for a great adventure! That’s what I just decided.


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wjtstudios said:
And this is the conundrum. This is what I’ve found to date.

Evo bolt-on 2.0 King Coilovers with king bumps $5,500. No labor required to install. $50ish to burn on rear stops

Accutune weld-on 2.5 Fox DSC Coilovers with Fox Bumps. $6,200.00. $500ish in labor in a shop to burn on the brackets. Accutune handles tuning the shocks.

EVO DTD $7,600+. $2,500+ in labor to install in tune at AMW 4x4.

I hate doing things twice. I get the short comings of the rear mounted Coilovers but I have a hard time spending twice as much on the DTD. I’ve seen it wheel, I want it, but I have a hard time justifying it. I have a decent coil spring set up under the Jeep right now with king 2.5” adjustable shocks. I could just add the bumps for $1,200 and be happy. Thus the conundrum...


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler
Click to expand...
This is a nice overview. Thank you for writing that up.

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Ddays said:
That can't be the Evolever and DTD is it? Just the front DTD kit is $5k-ish. The complete system is $12k or so I believe.
Click to expand...

That was from AMW. The front kit on off-road evolution’s site is $3,500 and the rear is $4,900 on the site. So $8,400 in parts from them. I’m sure there’s more parts needed than that like the high clearance LA kit. But still 10-12 to install which is twice or more to install as compared to the Bolt-ons.


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler
 
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DTD isn't even on my radar as a possibility personally for various reasons, but one of them being cost. For the money I would rather outboard than go that route. I also get that adjustability of a rear CO is nice but honestly I have two loads I run....full gear and then no gear. I have never been unhappy with my ride with a basic shock and coil set-up. My intent is to honestly maximize travel. I want to push the limits of what I can. I just don't know if a "typical" rear CO really provides much more benefit due to the nature of the rear arms. If I could double triangulate then I get there is an absolute gain.

Would still love to hear more thoughts on the real benefit or limitation with going with a 2.0 or 2.5 too.
 
wjtstudios said:
That was from AMW. The front kit on off-road evolution’s site is $3,500 and the rear is $4,900 on the site. So $8,400 in parts from them. I’m sure there’s more parts needed than that like the high clearance LA kit. But still 10-12 to install which is twice or more to install as compared to the Bolt-ons.


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler
Click to expand...

What is AMW?
 
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