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Shock valving and other shock questions.

ocean_jet

ocean_jet

NAXJA Forum User
Location
San Diego
What valving?
I have a 1997 that I have built mostly for rock crawling. I have RE 4.5” coils up front and Deavers in the back. I do drive the Jeep to trails, which can be 500+ miles of highway driving. I also drive in the desert, but not too often. Any help in the woops would be great.

I have acquired 4 used rebuildable shocks and all 4 need to be rebuilt.

For the front I have 12 inch Bilstien 7100 remote. For valving, I looked at this on the Bilstien website:
http://www.bilsteinus.com/uploads/tx_templavoila/OffRoadCat_07.pdf

For “rock-crawler / Jeep – Coil Spring”, they recommend 360/80 for front. For both “full size truck/SUV” and for “mini truck/SUV”, solid axle front, they recommend 255/70. What would you recommend? Will 360/80 be too stiff for highway driving?



For the back I have 10 inch Fox 2.0 remote. For these I cannot find any recommendation on valving anywhere. I run the JKS cross-over shock mount and raised axle side mounts. So my shocks tilt inward. Because of this, I assume I would want to go with a stiffer valving since the shock is less effective at an angle. What valving would you recommend?

The Fox shocks both have pits/nocks in the shafts:
Jeep006.jpg

Jeep011.jpg


I assume I need to replace both shafts... The shaft with the most nicks/pits is also quite a bit softer than the other with less pitting and the pitting isolated at the end of the shaft. I assume that those nicks/pits will damage the seal. If so, should I see oil coming out of the seal?

I know I can get parts for the Fox shocks onlin at Poly Performance. But, I cannot find any place that has Bilstien parts and rebiuld kits online.

Anyone know any place I can get Bilstien parts online?

One last question, can anyone recommend a place in San Diego area that I can get these shocks all charged with nitrogen?

Thanks.
 
i went from bilsteins 255/70 to some significantly stiffer foa's 2.0's (they dont use numbaz fo thier valving so i cant really help you)

the foa's are amazing in comparison. (assuming they don't blow out)
 
360/80 is what you want for the bilsteins. I'm not too good with fox valving as i dont have much experience with them in anything but a mountain bike, but i'd start around 60/40... i know the "stock" valve is their 20/90 crawl valving.
 
I'm running Bilstein 7100s with 360/80 valving up front, and I LOVE them. still flexes fine on the trail, ride is a little bit stiffer, but totally livable, but in the whoops, that is the biggest improvement I've seen. Before I got better bumpstops, they were stiff enough to actually stop 90% of the times I bottomed out. My only regret is not going stiffer on the rear shocks.
 
I'm on my second jeep and third pair of 7100's at 275/78 and am really happy. As much of your improvement will come from better coils as from the shocks - the RE 4.5's are really soft. Find some Skyjacker 8" coils and cut them down to fit, and then valve to match..
 
cal said:
then valve to match..
Click to expand...

Well... that is the trick isn't it.. :D

So, since I have relatively soft springs, do I set the shock valving soft to compliment, or do I set it firmer to compensate?



I clearly have a lot to learn...
 
i went with the same as cal, 275/78 and i am very happy with both highway ride and with some of the dunes stuff i have done. but that said i do have the DPG coils which are a stiffer coil. as far as parts, give bilstein a call directly, they are great to deal with
 
Thanks everyone for your advice.

I did want to give some positive feedback regarding Bilstien.

I stopped by their place in Poway, and they were very helpful. The guy who was working the will call area answered all my questions, and even took the time to get a tech involved to answer some things he didn't know. (I even got a small freebie!!!)

Unfortunately, Bilstien doesn't sell to the public... so...

ORW on the other hand... they want $24 for a valve stack... :eek:. I even saw he wrote down $12 when talking with the guy at Bilstien. I guess I shouldn't be surprised about their 100% mark-up....


Anyway... big props to the guys at Bilstien!
 
ocean_jet said:
Thanks everyone for your advice.

I did want to give some positive feedback regarding Bilstien.

I stopped by their place in Poway, and they were very helpful. The guy who was working the will call area answered all my questions, and even took the time to get a tech involved to answer some things he didn't know. (I even got a small freebie!!!)

Unfortunately, Bilstien doesn't sell to the public... so...

ORW on the other hand... they want $24 for a valve stack... :eek:. I even saw he wrote down $12 when talking with the guy at Bilstien. I guess I shouldn't be surprised about their 100% mark-up....


Anyway... big props to the guys at Bilstien!
Click to expand...
I think it's Random Thought Racing or something like on here, but Joel is a Bilstein rep and could probably help you out.
 
Darky said:
I think it's Random Thought Racing or something like on here, but Joel is a Bilstein rep and could probably help you out.
Click to expand...


Yep. I got in touch with Joel. I understand they're pretty busy over there right now, so he didn't have much time it seems.

Pretty sure I got everything I need on the way now (for the fronts). Next I'll work on the parts for the back, but those should be easier to get.

Thanks.
 
ocean_jet said:
Yep. I got in touch with Joel. I understand they're pretty busy over there right now, so he didn't have much time it seems.

Pretty sure I got everything I need on the way now (for the fronts). Next I'll work on the parts for the back, but those should be easier to get.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Sorry I missed you but glad to hear you were taken care of. Next time you are stopping by give me a heads up and I will give you the dime tour. I run the motorsports end of the shop so if you were asking about 7100's one of the techs from the production department would have been called. -Joel @ Bilstein
 
Instead of starting a new thread, decided to bring this one back up.


Bought some 7100 shocks and Poly sent the wrong valving. My Jeep is mainly used on the road and for low speed crawling, not too much high speed stuff around the mid-atlantic. I do like to go fast on the fire roads and whenever I can on the beach, but its not too much.

Springs are RE 4.5" with a 1" spacer. I've heard these are soft springs, but heard different answers as to what valving shocks I should run. Some people are saying to get 360/80 to counteract the soft springs. Others say to get 255/70 to match up with them. Any insight here? I need to figure out whether to run these shocks or send em back.

Oh, and I'm pretty used to stiff suspension, so that shouldn't be an issue. I've lowered every car I've had for better handling. Not running a sway bar on the Jeep either, so I was thinking the stiffer shocks would help with body roll.
 
what valving did they send you? (maybe that was in your post but i couldnt find it) with my swaybars discod and 275/78 valving its super stable as long as i only have 2 people and not much gear. with it loaded it sways some, but still nothing near as bad as it was before the bilsteins... i have been very impressed with their addition to stability.
 
dgrigorenko said:
what valving did they send you? (maybe that was in your post but i couldnt find it) with my swaybars discod and 275/78 valving its super stable as long as i only have 2 people and not much gear. with it loaded it sways some, but still nothing near as bad as it was before the bilsteins... i have been very impressed with their addition to stability.
Click to expand...

I ordered the 360/80 valving because I figured the stiff shocks would make up for the soft springs. The shocks they sent me are 255/70, so way softer than I wanted. Guy at Poly said it might just be the body labeled with the stiffer valving, but I'm not sure I believe that.

With your valving, were you able to compress the shock by hand? I can easily do that with my current OME shocks, but its quite a bit harder with these.
 
Given how you intend to use your jeep, 255/70 should work really well.
 
Welp, guess I'll bolt em up and see how they perform. I'm leaving sunday for a 6 hr road trip to the outer banks where I'll be bumping around on the beach for a week. I'll know by next week how much I like them haha.
 
sunburned said:
I ordered the 360/80 valving because I figured the stiff shocks would make up for the soft springs. The shocks they sent me are 255/70, so way softer than I wanted. Guy at Poly said it might just be the body labeled with the stiffer valving, but I'm not sure I believe that.

With your valving, were you able to compress the shock by hand? I can easily do that with my current OME shocks, but its quite a bit harder with these.
Click to expand...

no mine were not easy to compress, any nitro charged shock will be stiffer than a hydro. what is poly willing to do about it? they should take them back and send the right ones IMO
 
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