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Good cheap 235s? Shocks?

N8N_99xj

NAXJA Forum User
Are there any?

Going back and forth on whether or not to move the tires from my old Heep to my new one. They're Falken ATs about half worn. Or are there any good AT tires in 235/75R15 that would make it not worth it to dismount/mount/balance 8 tires? (old Heep has ugly steel wheels, new one has nice alloys with bald BFGs on it)

Also, are there any budget priced shocks that are good for a stock XJ? I'd like to lift/upgrade at some point in the future, but right now RR is pretty dead and I need to tame it down some.
 
I ended up getting some econo monroes from Rockauto for around 20 bux. Same deal as you just needed something to make it through the winter as I plan to redo the suspension this summer.
 
The Goodyear Wranglers at Walmart, grip amazingly well on ice and packed snow.
 
Grabber AT2s are amazing. 2 sets on my rig so far and have not let me down. good pricing, ride nicely, and I've easily topped 60k with both sets.

Shock wise, I really like the ride of KYB and Bilstein. KYB are available on Rockauto and are nicely priced.
 
What KYBs are you using? Do they last? Years ago landlady had just put KYBs on her Nissan pickup and I borrowed it, didn't know she'd got new shocks, I came home and said "hey, I think you might need new shocks" whups
 
I run Excel-G on my 87 Ranger and had them on my 00 before I put the lift on. I had no issues. My Ranger rides nice and comfy, and the XJ was smooth.
 
Ah, that may be the difference. The ones I'm remembering were Gas-A-Just or GR-2 (don't remember, this was about 10 years ago) and they just felt way too underdamped, felt like stock shocks with about 200K on them. I'm guessing Excel-G is a higher end line?
 
Monroe eco shocks are plenty good and low cost. Monroe is my go-to brand for stocks for stock height vehicles, including XJ.

I've heard good things about the Monroe OE Spectrum Shocks for people who want a little bit firmer ride.

My cousin and I both really like Monroe Sensa Trac shocks for comfortable ride and good handling stock height vehicles. They aren't made anymore, but can probably still be purchased on eBay or Amazon or somewhere else online.

I've heard good things about Doetchtec shocks, but haven't tried them.

HerculesTerra Trac AT2 and Wild Country XTX Sport have excellent reputations for good performance and their prices are low. I would probably prefer the Hercules AT2 the most. Another good choice is Falken AT3W or General Grabber AT2.
 
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The Goodyear Wranglers at Walmart, grip amazingly well on ice and packed snow.

+1

At Wally they are cheap, the cheapest I've seen @ ~ $75.00 per tire but they will not install them because they are not the recommended size of 225x75 R15. Buy them and take them to a one of those cheapo roadside used tire places. They will install them cheap. Costco will not install them either, same reason. Probably a liability thing.
 
My cousin and I both really like Monroe Sensa Trac shocks for comfortable ride and good handling stock height vehicles. They aren't made anymore

That's interesting! It looks like they may have renamed them to OESpectrum series???

I have been using them on one of my rigs for around 10 years.

After having the yellow tube ones blow out in around 20,000 miles, Advance took them in on warranty and let me upgrade to the Sensa Trac.

I've found that if the tires you're running have stiff sidewalls (like BFG A/T) the ride with them is a bit hard. With softer sidewall tires (like Goodyear Wrangler) it is better.
 
I don't know. The ones on the Walmart web site say "Load Index 105."

They're probably about a C load range. Goodyear's website says they have a load index of 2,039 pounds. But a similar tire with the same size (looking at the specs of a BFGoodrich T/A KO on Summit Racing's website) has a load range of C/104/1,985 pounds.

For what it's worth, I did the same thing. Bought those Goodyears at Wally World, loaded them in the back, and took them to my nearest Discount Tire (because I don't trust Wally World.) Discount Tire mounted, balanced, and installed them with no fuss. They even gave me a warranty on them because they were brand new tires that they also sold. Think it cost me a whole whopping $89 for 4 installed, warrantied tires.
 
Thanks guys. Wranglers are $73 at wally world and I can use my buddy's equipment to mount/balance them so I guess I will see if they have them near his shop. Monroes or KYBs? I'm going super cheap here. VA just cut off what's her face's disability benefits due to a bureaucratic SNAFU so I'm really going super low budget here. Pretty much why I bought another XJ, that way I can use parts off the red beast for the new one whenever I can, at least for a few weeks.
 
Also: the Monroe "Police Package" shocks are not much more than the regular ones on RockAuto, would those be worth it?

Maybe... I thought the police package XJ's sat higher because they used the UpCountry springs...

Yep, allpar confirms- "Front and rear springs and shock absorbers were from the Up-Country package; the front and rear sway bars were heavy duty items from the towing package. The cooling system and power steering pump were from the Laredo towing package with air conditioning, and a transmission cooler was standard. The MJ metric-ton Dana 44 rear axle was retained for years, providing the police Cherokees with heavier-duty axles than civilian models, until the late 1990s when Chrysler axles replaced the Dana 44 in both civilian and fleet Jeeps. "
 
Well damn. Looks like I do have up country suspension, so that answers that, police shocks it is.

Also I need to take another look at my wheels, by the build sheet this one might have 16" wheels and I honestly wasn't paying attention?

Edit: after reading the whole build sheet at looking up pictures, I do have the 16x7" "Icon" wheels.

So I'll get the Monroe police shocks but:

a) stock tire size was 225/70R16; tires on it are 235/something (I honestly didn't look too close; I didn't realize that some XJs came stock with 16" wheels), what size would you run?

b) what tires? Looks like the awesome super cheap Wranglers aren't available in either 235/75 or 235/70.

So this whole discussion explains why I couldn't figure out why the new one looked so much more aggressive than the old one, if tires are 235/75R16 it could be sitting a whole two inches higher than the old one... now that you've reminded me about the Up Country package that added about 1.5" yes?

Looks like I've won, I might not really have to modify this any at all for my use; looks like I also have a LSD in the rear (8.25) is it actually useful, or kind of weak?

Damn, now more questions, what gear oil for rear LSD? I have been using Redline Heavy Shockproof but my old one didn't have LSD (Dana 35)
 
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75w140 full syn gear oil. And lsd additive. The motorcraft XL3 s good and inexpensive for that. You will probably pay double at the parts store for additive.
Clutches in LSD do wear out at some point. May need a rebuild. Kits are inexpensive.
 
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