Shock suggestions

I have a 95 XJ with about 5" of lift. I just swapped in a new 8.8 and a trussed Dana 30, all regeared and lockers in both. I'm running 33x12.5 coopers. I also went with the RC long arm upgrade and extended brake lines. At ride height up front, from mount to mount is 22". Had originally ordered shocks that were just short of 18" compressed and like 29.5 extended and were recommended for a 6" lift. The next size down was 15.5 compressed and 26.5 extended. I guess my question is which is more important, up or down travel? Its not a DD, but I do enjoy just driving it, but I want it to be a more than capable trail rig as well. I also need to figure out my bump stops too, so I don't destroy my oil pan with the truss.

What kind of a budget / price range are you looking at?

Pretty low budget

I have Bilstiens. I love em. I've done the Rancho. I've done the so called shocks from the lift kit manufacturers. There Tenaco which makes shocks just about everybody with some exceptions.


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Depends on your terrain. What do you drive? If it was a crawler, I'd go for more droop with less uptravel. If you were doing go fast I'd probably go more 50/50

Definitely more trails, lots of mud and rocks

shocks dont like to be used as limit straps. shocks really dont like to be used as bump stops.

what you are going to want to do is limit your up travel. that bump measurement sets the clearance of everything when the tire stuffs, so it is regardless of how much lift you have. for 33s, your looking at adding 2-4 inches of (solid) bump depenpending on how much trimming you are willing to do. use this bump measurement to find a shock that fits. itll also be good to know at what point things begin to bind on droop. limit strap the suspension if you can.

with a relatively bolt in suspension lift, your guaranteed to have more droop than compression. which is fine, as (for what youll be shopping) shock performance is based on shaft velocity, not shaft position.

bds makes a good, cheap shock. i bilstien 5100 are a step better. from there you are looking into spending big money.

I just got a set of bilsteins 5100's for about $270 shipped from a jeep forum.com vendor. Definitely one of the better prices I've seen around.

cbs_24 said:

I just got a set of bilsteins 5100's for about $270 shipped from a jeep forum.com vendor. Definitely one of the better prices I've seen around.

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That is a good price.

I like my doestech shocks. $180 a set, lil longer than the other shocks and super beefy. they are a tad on the stiff side, but not horribly so. for being on 4.5" lift 33s and adj control arms, ive never extended them fully, and these were made for a 3" lift