Shock upgrade question

Looks like I'll be holding onto my jeep for the time being and am wondering about shocks. I have a 2" Teraflex spacer up front and a XJ/XJ bastard pack that I built in the rear. Probably getting me around 1.5-2.0" lift.

Honestly I'm very happy with this setup. Tows and DD's GREAT, carries my family of 5 excellently and has the super-stock look I prefer. I have no rear swaybar and the front will probably have disco's soon. Shocks are factory stock, I'm sure, and probably worn out.

Oh, BTW it's a 1992, 4.0L auto, 4door with a Logans metal winch bumper and nothing as far as rear armor or a swing-away in the rear.

If I've got a budget of around $200-300.00 for shocks, what would be my best option? I'm thinking maybe Bilstein 5100's might be an ok option. Do they sell specific shocks for certain lift heights?

This is a daily-driven overland rig that we take camping and exploring, I don't rock-crawl at all, but I'd love to throw some loving, damping goodness at it. Definitely hoping it'll take some of the firmness out of the ride when going over voids in the asphalt and connection joints on the highway

I'm also considering using something like the Teraflex BPE kit on the upper rears, but I really like the ones detours makes too, that allows you to keep the barpins but avoid ever having to use the body mounted bolts:

http://detoursusa.com/xjstm.php

Another option is to go with Monroe sensatrac's like the Rocklizard budget boost write-up specifies. If that's all I need to have a nice, cush ride, I'm fine with that, too.

love my bilstien 5100's, and they do make specific ones for different lifts. offroad warehouse is probably the cheapest in the area for you.

Vanimal said:

love my bilstien 5100's, and they do make specific ones for different lifts. offroad warehouse is probably the cheapest in the area for you.

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Ok, great, maybe I'll stop by on my way home from work and see what they can do for me.

'Nother question: The 5 series are the non-rebuildables, right? With the 7 series being able to be rebuilt?

SanDiegoOverland said:

I'm also considering using something like the Teraflex BPE kit on the upper rears, but I really like the ones detours makes too, that allows you to keep the barpins but avoid ever having to use the body mounted bolts:

http://detoursusa.com/xjstm.php

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Keep in mind that with the Bilsteins the bar pins are molded into the bushings so BPE's are not needed nearly as much. Oh, and I would avoid the Teraflex BPE's. I had them, and having the joint rotated 90* destroyed my bushings.

The OME Nitros are about the same price as the 5100s, either or would work. A set of JK take offs would work great at a lower price too.
If you want the 7100s and do not have the budget, get a pair for the front, and maybe some power priced in the rear.

SolarBell said:

Keep in mind that with the Bilsteins the bar pins are molded into the bushings so BPE's are not needed nearly as much. Oh, and I would avoid the Teraflex BPE's. I had them, and having the joint rotated 90* destroyed my bushings.

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OK, that jives with what I have been reading: that the bar pin on a bilstein shock is actually a very high quality design, and also that the rotation is somewhat problematic on those teraflex BPE's. (same problems encountered with using rear sway bar mounts as cheap BPE's, if I remember correctly)

I'm thinking those detours parts are the best way to go, then, because they retain the use of the bar pin style upper mount...they just make it so you don't have to deal with those breakage prone bolts on the body, by mounting the bar pin 1-3" away from the body itself with new bolt/nut hardware.

Cool beans.

Johnnie Walker said:

The OME Nitros are about the same price as the 5100s, either or would work. A set of JK take offs would work great at a lower price too.
If you want the 7100s and do not have the budget, get a pair for the front, and maybe some power priced in the rear.

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That's a good idea, how much is it to rebuild one of those shocks when it's time? Cost effective if I do it myself?

Oh, and what's the best/going price for 7100's? I think I remember seeing around $125.00-150.00 in a different thread I was reading.

I could ask about those, too @ my local shop today.

My DD XJ is setup similar to yours, roughly 2-2.5" of lift. I'm running stock size shocks. Lower rear mounts were cutoff and moved up, this gave me better clearance without them hanging down anymore and allows the use of stock length shocks. For my fronts, I added in a piece of 2x2 square tubing under the lower mount to space the shock up 2". If I was you, I'd buy some stock size 5100's and do something similar. Thats what I plan to do someday, for now I have new stock ones out back and some random Edelbrock IAS's for a ZJ up front. They work but I'd much rather have some nice Bilsteins. If you go to 7100's, which I think would be very overkill for you, expect to budget out around $200 per shock.

SanDiegoOverland said:

That's a good idea, how much is it to rebuild one of those shocks when it's time? Cost effective if I do it myself?

Oh, and what's the best/going price for 7100's? I think I remember seeing around $125.00-150.00 in a different thread I was reading.

I could ask about those, too @ my local shop today.

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From what I have read, the best thing to do is contact Joel @ Bilstein in Socal for more info. But I am pretty sure the price is reasonable to rebuild. Would save you some coin in the long run if you ever want stiffer/softer valving.
Raised rear mounts will give you more clearance, and you can run a stock height shock. When I raised my mounts I found some stock height ensa-trac's on ebay for cheap. Ride is better than with the POS RC 8000s I had.

SanDiegoOverland said:

That's a good idea, how much is it to rebuild one of those shocks when it's time? Cost effective if I do it myself?

Oh, and what's the best/going price for 7100's? I think I remember seeing around $125.00-150.00 in a different thread I was reading.

I could ask about those, too @ my local shop today.

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$65 for factory service on the 7100. Depending on what oil you select oil and seal kit can put you in the $40-45 range so you can save a bit. Makes more sense if you are going to do more than one shock or you want to play with the valving.