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shock problems

N

nickjc13

NAXJA Forum User
Location
los angeles, ca / mississippi
i installed the ford 8.8 rear axle in my 94 xj and i got the flush mount shock mounts. well i got bilstein 5150s with the 10" travel and if i try to install them they are all the way compressed. has anyone had a problem with this before? ive been told that there are not 5150s that will work with my application because i need shorter than what they offer. can anyone steer me in the right direction to go?
 
nickjc13 said:
i installed the ford 8.8 rear axle in my 94 xj and i got the flush mount shock mounts. well i got bilstein 5150s with the 10" travel and if i try to install them they are all the way compressed. has anyone had a problem with this before? ive been told that there are not 5150s that will work with my application because i need shorter than what they offer. can anyone steer me in the right direction to go?
Click to expand...
How much lift do you have?
 
Extend and compress suspension with shocks unbolted measure the lengths, that will tell yah. i think goat man with relocated shock mounts could only fit a 9" shock max. and he got major flex with them. lesson learned... dont purchase shock until after lift is installed and you have measured compression and droop front and rear.
 
i lifted this 2 years ago before i put the new axle in. these shocks were supposed to be shorter thats what the guy told me but they are the exactly the same size. and i paid 150 for the 4 bilsteins so it was cheap all i have to do is sell the others if i cant get anything to work. im just looking to be able to see what my options are. i have a 5.5" lift.
 
nickjc13 said:
i installed the ford 8.8 rear axle in my 94 xj and i got the flush mount shock mounts. well i got bilstein 5150s with the 10" travel and if i try to install them they are all the way compressed. has anyone had a problem with this before? ive been told that there are not 5150s that will work with my application because i need shorter than what they offer. can anyone steer me in the right direction to go?
Click to expand...

How much lift do you have and what kind of shock mounts are you using?

I am running Bilstien 5150, 10" shocks. I have about 7 inches of lift and using JKS shock mounts that put the shock eye at about even with the bottom of the axle tube. Probably the best thing you can do is lower your shock mounts untill you have about 4 inches of uptravel before they bottom out. Then modify your bumpstops so they make contact at 3 inches so you don't ruin your shocks.
 
your shock mounting/fitment is off, no matter what size lift!
you probably moved the lower mount up 4-5", thats a lot.

measure the distance between your mounts at ride height(RIDE LENGTH), if your running a 50/50 compression/droop ratio, your measuremant should be the extended length of the shock, minus 1/2 of the travel.
thats a ballpark figure of the size shock your gonna need.
 
the stock cherokee axle shock mounts are below the axle. i put in the ford 8.8 axle and i went with flush mount shock mounts wich are welded in the center of the axle instead of below the axle. the 8.8 they say sits higher than the 8.25 and the shock mounts are higher so those both add to why it doesnt fit. but i have been told that bilstein does not sell a shock that will be able to work with my application because it would be too long and they would bottom out. i think im just going to have to move the shock mounts below the axle
 
Better bring back an old thread than start a new one right?

I have the same problem as the OP...swapping in a Waggy 44 rear and the shock tabs that I bought for it would put the bottom of the shock at the axle instead of ~4 inches below like stock. My shocks are also too long to use as they will be compressed fully at ride height.

My question is, if I bought a set of shocks set for 2-3 inches of lift instead of 6 or more, it should work fine right? Or am I overlooking something again.
 
Quality offroad shocks are not "for a certain lift" - they are listed by length. Figure out how long your shocks are. See how much shorter you want them. Buy shocks that length.

Here's the link to the bilstien catolog. Look at the compressed length of each shock, and find one that works for you.

http://www.bilsteinus.com/uploads/tx_templavoila/Bil_OffRd_Cat2011_05.pdf
 
So it is simple, just in a different way.
 
Yes. People horribly over-complicate it.

1) Measure space shock goes in
2) Order shocks that length
3) Profit
 
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