ProComp ES3000 shocks... Crap? Better/worse that Monroe?

Hey guys,

In the hopes of getting my RE 3.5" lift installed this weekend, I bought a set of ProComp ES3000 shocks for my 2001 XJ... From what I've read, they seem to be rough riding and generally crap. Anyone have any first-hand experience with them?

If they are crap, I'm going to return them and pick up some Monroes as a cheap hold-me-over til the Bilsteins arrive. Any tips or input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Campbell

I am running Monroe gas magnums right now. Love them. Very smooth riding and very good on the whoops. We have some 15mph speed bumps in the snob hill area. I take them comfortably at 30 mph daily. These shocks are very good at dampening the rebound and have progressive valving on both sides.

I've been running them for 3-4 years and they're not bad for the price. I want to upgrade but they have yet to give me a reason to do so. The first 2 years were mostly daily driving and some trail with 33's. These shocks control 33's just fine although I wouldn't run them with much bigger of a tire. My brother in law runs them on his F350 with 37" Toyo's (very heavy tire) with big rims and they don't have enough dampening, he needs more shock.

If you want to get the rig moving but don't have the coin for some $100 plus shocks these are a great value. Keep in mind if this a new suspension setup your going to be experimenting with different suspension components regularly until you work all the bugs out (spring rate, spring wrap, bump stops, brake lines, sway bars....). It might be a good idea, as it was in my case, to run some cheapy shocks until your happy with your suspension setup. This would also allow you to make a reliable determination on shock length once the whole suspension system is finalized.

IF you're like most people you wont be running that 3.5" kit for very long once the hook is set.

You sound like you've already made up your mind that you're going to Bilsteins. Ar we talking in the next couple months, or sometime in the future?
If it's going to be soon, toss the Pro-comps for a cheaper shock. Monroe, Gabriel, whatever is cheap at Autozone,... Why pay for "top-end" low line shocks when you're just going to be tossing them soon?
If you're going to be running them for a while, well, actually, if you're going to be running them for a while, return them and get OME shocks. (personal opinion)

My es3000 resi's were great on the street... but I blew em out the first time out in the dunes. They got so hot in one run from camp to Oldsmobile hill in glamis that I couldn't touch them, next trip out I got them so hot the seals on the bottom melted and bulged out around the shaft, the oil poured out, and by the time the weekend was over the shafts looked like a set of chrome headers, all discolored from heat. Granted I don't generally go easy on my jeep when I'm in the dirt, but I'll never buy another non-rebuildable shock.

my 2¢

If money is a problem i dont see how you can come out ahead buying one you dont like in the mean time, and extra trips to return them, and taking them off twice etc.

Why not just wait, or buy the bilsteins you want from the start.

Both the monroe and pro comp will ride ok on the road, i doubt there will be a big difference, and it doesnt matter if you are going to take them out, right.

Experience in me says buy what you want, and do it right one time, and save allot of grief, time, and money. Not that this is suuuper costly or suuuper time consuming as far as things go, but you are wasting $120 or more, and a hour or twos time, and maybe will get screwed returning them, and 50 cents a mile going to the store, and your hourly wage you waste doing things twice.

Thanks for the rational reinforcement guys... Money is not a concern in this case (to some extent) - I'm just an impatient bastard. I need a few other parts to do it once and do it right (new leaf spring plates and longer front brake lines, as well as possibly an SYE), so I'm gonna go ahead and take these back and wait patiently for the right parts.

Thanks again for being reasonable, lol

Well I'm planning on taking my ES3000s back during lunch today, but will be putting in an order for some Bilsteins. Two questions now:

1. Based on what I've read about Bilsteins in the XJ, I need to go with the 255/70 valving (as the others are too soft) - is this correct?
2. Would there be any advantage whatsoever to buying 5150s for the front? No racing in my plans, but I do tend to drive at a bit of a "brisk" pace on and off road. I'd like to go with 7100s since they're rebuildable but cannot justify over $700 on shocks, so I figured this would be a good half-way point.

Thanks in advance!

Went ahead and returned the ES3000s and ordered the 5100s spec'd for an XJ with 4" of lift. Valving should be 255/70 based on what I've found.

Thread's dead, Zed.