Quick shock question

Hey all, a little about my jeep to start off with. It is a 95 Cherokee 2 door with a Rusty's 3" spring pack lift. The lift has been on for a little while now, and the shocks that came with it are my only real complaints. Of course, I can complain loudly about them since they SUCK so bad!!! lol I had one go out (leaked all the oil out of it all over the shock) on the front, so now it handles like $%*& on the highway. I do go offroad some (not nearly enough, but I hope to change that), but most of my driving is done on the highway. I am going to have to start taking some trips in my jeep back and forth from Memphis to Greenville, Baton Rouge, and Houston soon, so I am looking for a good all around shock. I have found a couple of deals, and want to get your input on it. I am looking at a set of 4 Rough Country 8000 series for 137 shipped, or a set of 4 Skyjacker Hydro 7000 for 144 shipped. Both of these are the hydraulic shocks because I have ruled out paying a little extra for the nitrogen shocks since they are described as being for the "extreme offroad enthusiast" or someone who hauls alot of extra weight. Is one shock better than the other, and do the prices sound right? Help if ya can. Sorry this is so long, just trying to give enough information out the first time. Tks all!

i dont think your going to see much of a difference between the 2 shocks your looking at and rustys. rc are known o be a stiff ride. not much of a difference in shocks that cost $30-$35. if thats your price range, i would look into monroe shocks a pep boys/autozone. i ordered bilstein 5100 locally but have to wait a couple weeks. im looking forward to getting those on.

89xj said:

i would look into monroe shocks a pep boys/autozone.

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I tried checking into autozone. That, Napa, and an Oriellys is all we have here close by. They had no clues about a lifted vehicle, so I took one of my old ones off from Rusty's and took it up there. They had no clue how to match it up to another one, and there were no numbers cast into the cheap Rusty's to cross reference to a new one. Any ideas on a part number for the monroe's with a 3" lift on a 95 Cherokee, or where I could look. I'll check their website out, but I'm pretty sure I did last time I went to autozone trying to get it figured out. Tks for the help.

Either buy bilstien 5100/5150 or better shocks, or stick with your Rusty's. You can have a cheap shock, or you can have a good shock.

Can't stick with the Rusty's. The front have to be replaced since they are dead. I did look at his website to get a cheap replacement to get me by till I could get good shocks, but they have changed their shocks now. I would have to buy 2 shocks at 30 dollars a piece, and then 2 adapters to make the shocks fit for another 30 dollars. Since I'm gonna be out 90 dollars plus shipping anyways, might as well go ahead and spend the 140 or so to get a different brand and replace all 4. I just need to get this patched up, and then work on saving my money for the good ones next time.

chrisja77 said:

Can't stick with the Rusty's. The front have to be replaced since they are dead. I did look at his website to get a cheap replacement to get me by till I could get good shocks, but they have changed their shocks now. I would have to buy 2 shocks at 30 dollars a piece, and then 2 adapters to make the shocks fit for another 30 dollars. Since I'm gonna be out 90 dollars plus shipping anyways, might as well go ahead and spend the 140 or so to get a different brand and replace all 4. I just need to get this patched up, and then work on saving my money for the good ones next time.

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FWIW anything in the 150 range will be the same so pretty much pick your poison.

Its not until you surpass the 200$ range that you really start seeing some differences.

-Kyle

chrisja77 said:

Since I'm gonna be out 90 dollars plus shipping anyways, might as well go ahead and spend the 140 or so to get a different brand and replace all 4. I just need to get this patched up, and then work on saving my money for the good ones next time.

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You're going to be back where you are now, then.

You can buy good shocks, or you can buy not good shocks, there is no in between. Baseline good shock for an offroad rig is a bilstien 5100/5150, and they go up and get expensive from there.

I'd buy 5150's for your front end, and then in a couple months buy two more for the rear end. If you're mostly street, some offroad, buy a softer vavling (170/50) vs a more offroady one (255/70).

Tks for the info cal. I will deffinitely look into the bilstien with the 170/50 valving for the front. The rear on my jeep do suck majorly, but they aren't dead yet. I think I might go ahead and sink the money for some good front ones.

Just to make sure we are totally clear, *I* think 170 is too soft even for a street only rig (I'd use them on the back of a MJ that never saw load, maybe), I'm going off of how you seem to want your rig to ride.

If i were you, I'd find a local with bilstiens and see if you can go around the block with him.

I run 255/70 on the rear of my rig and 275/78 (not available in the 51xx series) on the front.