Jeep Wrangler Forum banner

Body Roll after Hardtop put on?

1K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  RRTRI 
#1 ·
Looking for some input from those in the know on these sorts of things.

We have two 2012 JKU's that are for the most part built identical other than the color and gearing (details in my sig). About 7 weeks ago we replaced the 2.5" dealer installed budget boost lifts that were on them with 3" Teraflex lifts (inc TF trackbar and Front LCA's) and Bilstein shocks.

The new set up dramatically improved the stiffness/ride/handling and we were very happy. Since having the new set up on I've added ACE rear bumpers. After the bumpers went on we didn't notice any difference in the ride/handling.

I picked up a used hardtop for the wife about a month ago and installed it on the red one yesterday. After the hardtop was on it we took it for a little spin and the ride seemed dramatically different. There was suddenly far more body roll making it feel top heavy and the stiffness it had is gone. When I look at the side profile the rear does seem to be sagging a bit compared to the green one.

I drove the green one (no hardtop) to compare to make sure I wasn't crazy and they have indeed gone from driving like the same vehicle to not feeling at all the same.

Anyone have any idea what the technical reason could be? Has the added weight of the hardtop caused just enough strain on the shocks or compressed them just enough to cause all that body roll? Could it be caused by the fact that is it now riding a bit low in the rear and that has unweighted the front causing the body roll feeling?

ACE was a bit slower with the front bumpers I ordered but they will be here tomorrow. I'm hoping that may pull the front down a bit and correct it all but I'm not really sure what to expect.

If adding the front bumper on doesn't correct it how would I go about fixing it? Stiffer springs? Surely the TF springs had the added weight of bumpers and a hardtop in mind?

Thanks for any help!
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Right after posting this I went out and measured the two rear bumpers. The green one measures 31 3/4 to the top of the bumper and the red one 31 1/2 to the top of the bumper.

So the red one has 1/4 of an inch more sag than the green one with the hardtop on. That doesn't lend much to my eye telling me that the red one is visibly riding that much lower than the green one.
 
#4 ·
GeckoJK said:
My personal opinion but the hard top only weighs about 120 lbs. I highly doubt it would make any real difference in handling or suspension performance.
Agreed. Seems like it wouldn't matter much but with the addition of it something changed. Not sure if it was the combo of the bumper & top together.
 
#6 ·
chim-chim7 said:
Its not a matter of how much it weighs, but more of how high the weight is placed. 100 pounds on the roof has more affect on roll than 200 pounds below the bumper.
Makes sense. Just amazed at the difference it made to the ride/handling.

Thx
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top