Bypass shocks OR Coilovers?

[shortylux]

Im (slowly) building a winch challenge truck that should get used for some class 6 off road racing as well. Speed is more of a focus than articulation.

Looking for some advice/opinions on which would be more beneficial out of bypass shocks or coil overs. I cant afford both. It is a safari chassis with standard suspension. I will be running about 4" of spring lift and drop boxes.

The way I see it the advantages of a coil over would be that I could adjust my ride height for different applications, and that I would be able to tune my spring rate more accurately by buying different springs.

The advantages of a bypass shock would be that I could easily (externally) tune the dampening of my shocks, and also run a progressive feel in the dampening.

Any input appreciated, especially that from people who run one or both types of shock.

So, what do you reckon?

[QUADRACER]

By pass shocks are easy to adjust, rebound and compression.

[4WDbits]

Go with the coil overs.

Articulation and off road racing are almost at opposite ends of the setup scale for springs. Articulation = soft, off road racing = firm to hard.

Shocks can be setup pretty firm for off road racing, and firm shocks it won't make that much difference when going relatively slow at a winch challenge.

There is almost an infinite number of combinations of springs for ride height and spring rate with a coil over. There is usually only a few choices for stock replacement springs.

Go with the coil overs.

[shortylux]

Yeah that makes a bit of sense Warren. And I guess it's easier to add bypass if I already have coil overs, where it would be harder to add coilovers if I had it set up with bypass and standard springs.

[DEATH_INC]

Go with the coil overs.

Articulation and off road racing are almost at opposite ends of the setup scale for springs. Articulation = soft, off road racing = firm to hard.

Shocks can be setup pretty firm for off road racing, and firm shocks it won't make that much difference when going relatively slow at a winch challenge.
Go with the coil overs.

The thing they do have in common is you want lotsa travel. This'll be much easier to achieve with stacked springs on coilovers.
I'd run a stiffish shock like 4wd bits sez, and a soft and a hard spring (dual rate) to give a good rate on landing from jumps, and allow plenty of extension/sag, which gives both grip on the track and articulation when you're crawling without too much dive. Hopefully.