Shocks are too short, What to do?

I recently replaced the rear shocks on my '91. Rear suspension is stock '87 springs and no sway bar. On the hoist with the suspension at full droop the left side shock was about half an inch too short. I assume the first time I flex the thing off-road it's going to either damage the shock or rip the mount off. I bought the shocks over a year ago so I can't take them back or anything. Any solutions? TIA,
Tony

Only solutions I see are getting longer shocks, or limiting droop.

Fully extended shocks shouldn't get damaged off-road. Over compression, that's a different story.

If you only want to gain a 1/2", maybe throw in a set of BPE's

tchase said:

I bought the shocks over a year ago so I can't take them back or anything.

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Try it. I'm sure the place won't give you your $$$ back, but they might issue a store credit or exchange the shocks you have for something else.

Here another write up on shocks I copied from this site. I'm pretty sure it was done by Eagle but I can't remember.

Front: Monroe 59xxx vs Rancho 5128. This one gets confusing because Monroe lists one number for '84-'90, and a different number for '91-'01. Rancho lists only one number for '84-'01.

The Monroe 59322 is the number for the XJ/MJ '84-'90.
Compressed length = 12.625"
Extended length = 20.125"
Travel = 7.500"


The Rancho 5128 is the number for all year XJ and MJ front. It is listed for 0" thru 3" of lift.
Compressed length = 12.750"
Extended length = 20.625"
Travel = 7.875"


Okay, here the Rancho is marginally longer and provides marginally more travel -- but so little that you'd hardly notice the difference. But wait, there's more

The Monroe 59331 is the number for XJ/MJ '91 and newer.
Compressed length = 14.375
Extended length = 22.50
Travel = 8.125


The Monroe stock replacement for the '91 and newer is actually longer than the Rancho by about 1.5" and provides more travel. Looks to me like the perfect shock for a budget boost.

Now let's look at the rear. Most of you have XJs, so to keep it simple I'll only address the XJ. Results are similar for the MJ.

The Monroe 59323 is the number for all years XJ.
Compressed length = 12.500"
Extended length = 20.375"
Travel = 7.875"


The Rancho 5129 is the number for all years XJ.
Compressed length = 12.750"
Extended length = 20.000
Travel = 7.250"


Here, the Rancho is longer when compressed, shorter when extended, and provides 5/8" less travel than the Monroe OEM replacement. The Rancho is listed in the catalog as for 0" thru 3" of lift.

Based on all this, it seems the Monroe "street" replacements are actually better suited for use with budget boosts than the Ranchos, and undoubtedly ride better as well since the Rancho 5000 series has a reputation for being much too stiff.

Again, that research isn't mine, so I'm not taking any credit for it.

ok, thanks for the info so far. I'm not to concerned about hurting these shocks ($30 cheapies), but is it likely that it will damage the upper mounts? I'm thinking about trying them as is for now but I'm a little wary of damaging the mounts.

As I understand it, shocks are designed to be the limiting factor on suspension droop. It won't hurt the shocks. In fact they need to be the limiting factor in order to prevent things like brake lines from being the limiting factor. On the other hand, make sure that you can't compress them all the way, as that will damage the shock. If its just droop, don't worry about it. If its compression, adjust your bumpstops accordingly. Here is a good page: Ed A. Stevens
B.

I cut my shock mounts off the bottom of the axle tube and mounted them on the middle of the axle tube. Pretty easy to do and it gets your shock mount out of the way when your wheelin.

Remember that you have a stock suspension. Perhaps you are expecting too much out of it. Before you decide that the cure for "too short" shocks is longer shocks, and you toss 'em in and damage something, get the model number and verify if they are the correct application for a stock Cherokee. If so -- leave well enough alone.