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Blown 5100's, need new shocks.

M

muddeprived

NAXJA Forum User
Location
PA
My 5100's decided to crap themselves and not work anymore. Kinda sad considering they are such a great shock and were not abused much at all.

I'm in the market for new shocks and need suggestions. I don't have 400-500 to spend on shocks so I'm hoping for something good but doesn't kill my wallet.

I'm not interested in any white tube crap shock like RC, Rusty's, Skyjacker, etc.

Any recommendations?

I need a shock that's is around 26-28" up front and 24-26" out back.


Does anyone know which DT8000's are valved for the xj? Their website lists a bunch of shocks and their lengths but not what vehicle they are valved for. I don't want to end up getting one for a ford bronco or something.
 
What kind of driving/wheeling do you do?, are you bumpstopped correctly? If so them you need a better bilstein, checkout eshock.com
 
clean4drxj said:
What kind of driving/wheeling do you do?, are you bumpstopped correctly? If so them you need a better bilstein, checkout eshock.com
Click to expand...

They are tough shocks, I trashed one when I had a brake line rupture & it sprayed brake fluid onto it, The brake fluid ate through the cover & destroyed the O ring seal.
To answer the Ops question, if you trashed a bilstein maybe you need to go to a dual shock setup & mount 2 bilsteins!
 
There should never been a need for dual shocks, if he needs more shock he will have to step it up to a better shock with stiffer valving.
 
clean4drxj said:
What kind of driving/wheeling do you do?, are you bumpstopped correctly? If so them you need a better bilstein, checkout eshock.com
Click to expand...

Mostly mud and forest trails but these days I barely have time to beat on it. I wheeled once or twice the past 5 years. I am bumpstopped for the current shocks so I have about an inch of uptravel left on the shock.

I do not need dual shocks.
 
There aren't really any options between white bodies and Bilsteins. I just went through this on my XJ and lucked out on some barely used Bilsteins for a great price. I was leaning on biting the bullet and going Bilstein anyway.

I have DT8000s now, and they work, but I'm looking forward to seeing how the Bilsteins perform. Front P/N was 8386 FWIW. I still have the 8000s in the rear.
 
I ended up sticking with Bilsteins. This time I'm keeping the receipt and I know the place I bought em from will actually answer warranty-related emails, if it ever comes to that.

I'm never buying from e-shocks.com again since their customer service is non-existent.
 
I decided to check out the rear shocks and also zip tie the shaft to verify that my bumpstops are working and they are not over-compressing. I found that the rear shock boots were filled with oil (can-up) but the fronts were not leaking at all.

I gave the keys to the lady and told her to beat on it hard. I hope it comes back in one piece and then we'll see how much shock shaft is actually used. I'm pretty sure I bumped it correctly since there's dirt on the top inch of the shafts.
 
muddeprived said:
I decided to check out the rear shocks and also zip tie the shaft to verify that my bumpstops are working and they are not over-compressing.
Click to expand...
Every shock should have o-ring or small zip tie, placed on its shaft, for checking maximum travel. More expensive Bilsteins come with o-rings.
I like having at least 1/2" of unused uptravel, so when hitting something extremely hard, and everything flexes (yes, metal bends), the shock doesn't take a major hit.
Let's your shocks last a lot longer.
 
lazyxj said:
Every shock should have o-ring or small zip tie, placed on its shaft, for checking maximum travel. More expensive Bilsteins come with o-rings.
I like having at least 1/2" of unused uptravel, so when hitting something extremely hard, and everything flexes (yes, metal bends), the shock doesn't take a major hit.
Let's your shocks last a lot longer.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have 1" of unused travel. That's 4" worth of bumpstop extensions (uncut factory xj flares with 31's). I have to keep fenders due to PA law so we bumpstop like hell to keep em.

Does it matter which direction the 5100's are mounted?
 
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