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Problem sizing Bilstien shocks

fallacist

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Durango
In a little over 2 years, I've blown seals on a pair of rear 5100 bilstien shocks. My jeep has roughly 4-4.5" of lift. As it sits, eye to eye on the rear shocks is 21", and with the rear end fully jacked up w/ tires off ground, eye to eye is 25".

Here's the problem: The shocks I ordered- and what the vendor AND bilstien both recommended I purchase- are the shocks for 5-6" of lift. The other option was shocks that were for 3-4" of lift. After numerous discussions with Bilstien last week, they've decided that the current 5-6" shocks should be replaced with the same 5-6" shocks because they don't make a 5100 in the 4-5" range. They said the closest 5160 to my height would still be ~.5" too short They'll test out my current ones to see if it was user or manufacturer error, and refund or charge appropriately.

Would I be better off getting the 3-4" shocks, and throwing in a pair of BPEs to make them 4-5"? Would I loose any travel?

I do plan on adding shackle relocation brackets sometime in the nearer future, which should put me pretty dang close to 5".

My rear suspension is a pair of 3" RC leaf packs that gave me more than the advertised 3"(yes, they're broken in), and a pair of zone boomerang shackles that were good for another inch.
 
you need proper bumpstoping, maybe your shocks bottom out before you bumpstop is hitting causing your premature failure. The longer the shock the longer the droop which is ideal for crawling.
 
Take a shock out. Compress the suspension on that side. Bumps top until your tire doesn't rub then measure the compressed distance between shock mounting points. Fit the shock with the longest compressed length you can and be sure to account for bumpstop compression. Bilstein lists compressed an extended shock lengths so you can order by part number and not a "universal" lift height application chart.
 
Thanks for the responses guys, I'll look into appropriate bumpstops.

Fred, your site isn't loading up for somereason, I'll try on another computer when I get home.
 
It's Frank.


And yeah, you need bumpstops and possibly limit straps to stop the shocks just a bit short of their travel.
 
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