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OME or Bilstein Shocks?

98xjclassicmc

NAXJA Forum User
Location
AZ
Have a stock 98 XJ and looking for a more smoother ride on city roads.i know it's never going to be perfect but I dont want to feel every bump in the road. I have OEM monroe shocks on now but debating between Bilstein 4600s or Old Man Emu. Again this is for a stock ride. Thanks!
 
I would go OME before Bilstein.


First off, Bilsteins are generally regarded as a stiff shock.



Secondly, my own experiences with customer service at Bilstein were less than pleasant, and that was with them being local to me and me being able to walk in and talk with them eye to eye.
 
I would pick Bilstein over OME, but only because that's my preference/bias as a Bilstein customer. Over the years I have known many people that have bought OME shocks mostly for 2" lift kits and been very happy with their shocks and their springs.
 
First off, Bilsteins are generally regarded as a stiff shock.
I agree, the Bilsteins give a firmer ride.

I'm British, I prefer the Bilsteins because I think they suit the type of roads we have over here better.
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I certainly don't find the bilstein 4600 stiff....but I have not tried OME. I just put bilstein 4600 on my 96 stocker, and it rides great. I'd do it again.

I'd like to hear about your CS experience.
 
Narrow but smooth?


Think more twisty, uneven, frequent camber changes and pot holes. I guess my own Jeeps are disadvantaged for road driving by not having rear swaybars to reduce body roll. The Edelbrock IAS I had previously on the 2001 were very comfortable on the road and probably my favourite but they didn't last as long as I hoped which is why I switched to Bilstein.
 
I certainly don't find the bilstein 4600 stiff....but I have not tried OME. I just put bilstein 4600 on my 96 stocker, and it rides great. I'd do it again.

I'd like to hear about your CS experience.


Took me a while to find the actual details. It has been a couple of years.


I installed a pair of Bilstein 25-193145 5160 series shocks on the rear of my '96 when I did my D44 swap. This included custom shock mounts, designed around these particular shocks. One of the shocks blew out all its oil on the first trip out (President's Day weekend, 2018).


I don't have the exact date I took the shock into Bilstein, but it was within a couple weeks of that trip. They refused to warrant the shock, claiming that I must have meddled with the screws for the remote reservoir line, which I had not done. It is always best to blame the customer for their problem and call them a liar to their face. BTW, the guy who did that also refused to give me his last name. Said "Mike" was all that was needed. One of his coworkers slipped later on however. "Mike Ritchie" was his name.


Since I had designed my shock mounts around these shocks I agreed to pay the price to have the shock rebuilt and also upgraded so that it could be serviced, left it with them with instructions to call me to pick it up when ready and to include along with the rebuilt shock a pair of the magic washers which are required for the remote reservoir line and the correct torque setting for installing said magic washers.


It took them until April 5 of 2018 to get back to me with an expected date for rebuilding the shock. At that point "Junior" said it would be 10-12 weeks.



On May 9 I got back into town from a trip to find a message on my answering machine that the shock was ready for me to pick up. Huh? 10-12 weeks? And then discovered it had been shipped. And I received it without the washers/torque spec. I still insisted on getting those and they mailed those to me. And I got a credit back out of them for shipping the shocks when they had written instructions for me to pick them up.


In short, no warranty and customer service on a par with the DMV.


I wish them and the horse they rode in on all the gratification they can achieve together.
 
Bilstein makes their shocks. OME doesn't. I'd stick with Bilsteins all day. Great shock, stiffer ride.

2001 XJ sport (mine), 1999 XJ Sport (sons)
 
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