I have all the parts for my 3" RTE lift (springs, radius arms, pan hard) and am finally about to install them. I have OME Nitrocharger Sport shocks from my 2" lift. Can I get away with running these on my 3" lift, will they perform decently or will I get essentially no travel? I would like to upgrade to Fox or Bilstein long-travel shocks in the next few months (I've already installed extended brake and ABS lines in preparation) but can't right now. I'm hoping so, I found many threads with varying answers.

Jacob

 

You can use them. The lift height has nothing to do with what shocks you can use, unless you went really high of course or you modified where the shock mounts attached to the frame or axle. You can increase your range of travel downward by purchasing extended shocks but if you do that you really need to get extended bump stops for both axles so you don’t compress the shocks and crush them.

 

Cool, I figured they may be far too short for a 3" lift. I found an old thread where Disco Mike said the only shocks that will work with an RTE 3" lift are Bilsteins (or obviously any other shock with similar travel).

 

That thread is outdated. TF makes a shock that works well with RTE 3" coils, that's what I'm running now and it's a fantastic ride. The 2" OME will be okay for road travel but I'd be careful about articulating it too much without testing the limits in a controlled environment. You can cycle the suspension with a floor jack before you hit the ground running. I need to spend some time dialing my set up in still but short body 7100s are probably due in the future depending on what I change to try and squeeze out a little more travel. I have fox on my other disco and that truck with no bumpers or armor has a stiff ride.

 

@jacobmstein Do you have the OME shocks that came as a kit with the coil springs or do you have the extended length OME shocks with the “L” at the end of the model number? The standard OME shocks are the same length as the OEM shocks. The L version are 2” longer in travel.

 

I believe I don't have the long travel versions, I have whatever Rovers North sells in the kit. They're definitely not permanent though so it's not a huge issue.

 

Another related question, with OME Nitrocharger shocks is there no articulation to be gained from removing the sway bars?

 

removing sway bars will increase articulation every time. Issues arise if you don't have enough suspension travel to account for it, could be shocks, brake lines, abs lines, driveshaft, cross member, etc....that could restrict travel or cause things to break. I don't know enough about OME product line to know if they will be big enough. So in short you could be risking ripping the shock apart with the added articulation freed up by removing the sway bar.