Bumpstops are a very important, and often over looked, part of a properly tuned suspension setup.  Bumpstops allow you to maintain control of where the upward travel of your suspension stops and prevents over compression and premature wear to your springs.  As you add more lift to your jeep, you need to add more length to your bumpstops.  I have found that in most cases, the added length of your bumpstops should equal that of your lift height.  For example, if you add 4" of lift, you should add 4" of bumpstop.  Now this isn't always the case, but it gets you in the right ball park.  The length of your bumpstops is actually a part of an equation consisting of lift height, compressed shock length, tire size, wheel size and backspacing, and amount of trimming on the jeep.  

The best way to figure bumpstop length is to just get everything together and flex your jeep.  Do not figure your bumpstops when your flex has maxed out and tires are rubbing fenders, wheel wells, suspension components, etc.  The point of adding bumpstops is to control flex.  You want your suspension to stop when you want it to.  

So we've discussed the importance of having front bumpstops, now the question is where to get them? Many retailers offer front bumpstops, some fixed and than also some that are adjustable. The problem with these is simply the cost. They are very nicely engineered; however the cost is something that is left to be desired. I've used a cheap alternative; hockey pucks. Hockey Pucks are nice, because they are the perfect dimensions to fit inside the coil spring, and are 1" thick, making it easy to figure out how many you need to purchase to get the desired bumpstop settings.  The best thing about rubber hockey pucks is the price!

So once you've determined how much bumpstoping you need you can determine how many hockey pucks you need for each side. Remember that the hockey pucks are 1" thick, so if you measured 3.5" you'll need to go to 4" (aka 4 hockey pucks).



The next step is to get the hardware needed. Go to your local hardware store and get a bolt that is .5" longer than the amount of bumpstops youre adding. So if youre adding 4 hockey pucks (aka 4" of bumpstops), you'll want to get a bolt that is 4.5" long. It's also recommended to get STAINLESS bolts/nuts/washers to prevent them for rusting. Along with the bolts/nuts I also got 2 washers. For the top of them I get whats called a "fender washer" as they are a lot wider.



The next step is to drill the hockey pucks in the center to allow the bolt to pass threw them. You'll want to drill the hole just a tad larger than the bolt size to make it easy for the bolt to pass threw them. You need to do this for every hockey puck you'll be adding.



Once you have all the holes drilled you can test the bolt threw the holes with the washers and the nut to see how they will work.



Now it's time to install your newly made bumpstops in your Jeep. You have a few options to do this. You can remove the springs, or as I did you can install them without removing the springs. If you take your bumpstops apart you will be able to slide the hockey pucks and bolt threw the spring just fine. However first you need to modify your coil buckets.

If you look at your coil buckets (the part of the axle that the spring sits on) you'll notice a "dimple" in the center of the bucket. You need to drill this dimple out so that your bolt will fit threw it. Now this is definitely easier to do with the coil out as the "dimple" points down. However with some patience you can drill the hole from underneath. The passenger's side is a bit more difficult as you do have the tracbar mount in the way; so make sure you get a long drill bit to accomplish this task.

Once the holes are drilled and you're bolt will fit threw them slide your hockey pucks in place threw the spring and put your bolt with the fender washer on the top threw the them. Now fit the bolt threw the hole you drilled in the coil bucket and put the smaller washer and nut on it. You can now slide a wrench in threw the coil and a socket on the bottom nut and tighten everything down.



The nice thing is that these are adjustable, so if you need to add another 1" to your bumpstops you can simply just add another hockey puck and a longer bolt. Same for if you need to take away a hockey puck to gain another 1". It is much easier now to adjust your bumpstops if you change tires, go higher with your lift etc.

Total cost was about $20 to do the fronts. The majority of this cost was in the stainless hardware.