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To all those running Bilstein 7100's

Uglygreenxj

Uglygreenxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Circle City, AZ
I am getting ready to order up a set of Bilstein 7100 short bodies with resevoirs for the front of my XJ. My question is this, after installing the shock adaptors up top, is there room for the hose that runs to the resevoir? And how have you guys mounted the resevoirs, to the shock body? Or will I have to order them special with 90 degree fittings (if possible). I have searched but can't seem to find any photos or info. on this exact topic.
I really want to run these shocks, but I want to get all my ducks in row before I order them.
 
I mounted mine with the reservoir attached to the shock body. A 90 degree fitting is unecessary.
 
i found this in Jes's pictures:

standard
 
Where can I find those fancy billet brackets to mount the resevoirs to the shock body? Those make for a very clean installation!
 
I got Jes's and mine from Off-Road Unlimited.

CRASH
 
depending on what shock conversion you use up top depends on if you need the 90. Im running the T&J's and running a 90 on both the shock and resivor. You can get them custom built, it just takes about 2-3 weeks. sometimes longer if its in the middle of desert season. You can get what ever fittigns on the shock, there are some unadvertised valvings they can install, and you can get a 15mm heim on the shock shaft. What length travel are you getting?
 
I just finished building my own crossmember to move the long arm mounting points up and inboard, I cut down some Rubicon Express TJ arms to 34".I've got Acos spacers and 4.5" ZJ coils with one coil removed. I still have to flex it up and take some measurements but I'm thinking 12" travel? I don't think I want to run heims on the bottom because that would require bar pin eliminators which would move the mounting point up.
 
I dont think 12" SB will be long enough, plus all 7100's come with heims on the lower mount 1/2" heim is standard with a 15mm being optional. Im running the 12" SB mounted to the lower control arm bolt on RE4.5" zj springs and the shocks arent long enough. They might fit good with stock shock mounting locations.
 
The hiem will come right out. Then you can push in a bushing and use the Bar
pin for max distance between mounting points. I have the 14" up front and if you don't have the lower mount down by the arm they will be very hard to fit.
A 14" short body is 19.61" eye to eye closed.
 
Looks like from static ride height a 14" travel would only leave me with about 3" of up travel and yeild around 10.5" of down travel. (using the stock mounting points). I don't think 3" will cut it, and I'd have to run some major bumpstops to protect the shocks. Perhaps I'm missing something. I guess I could cut my stock lower shock mounts off and fab up something different a little lower.

A 12" travel would give me 6.5" of up travel, and 5.5" of down travel. I wheel in the rocks, but I like to go fast in the sand too.

:dunno:
 
I run 12" short bodies and love them. My shock mounts are most definately not in the stock location, though.

I have 7" down and 5" up.

CRASH
 
7" down and 5" up sounds just right. Which mounts are modified, upper, lower, or both? Got any pics?
 
David Tucker said:
7" down and 5" up sounds just right. Which mounts are modified, upper, lower, or both? Got any pics?
Click to expand...


The uppers just use a home brew mount similar to a shock conversion. See Je's pic.

The bottom is mounted to my LCA mount, which is raised up such that the crossbolt for the shock is about centered vertically on the axle tube.

CRASH
 
Thank you for all of your input so far! I'm really thinking that the 12's are the way to go. Perhaps make new lower mounts, & I'm planning on running limiting straps too. My jeep hasn't left it's spot in the driveway in two months and I'm dying to drive it now. It's going to the driveshaft shop tomorrow (new front and CV rear) and then all that's left is new shocks.
 
In speaking of wheel travel, how is it you guys are running like 5" uptravel and 7" down?? Am I measuring wrong? or at the wrong place? From static ride height I've got about 8-10" of uptravel, and about the same or a bit more for down travel. At least by MY tape measure. Am I screwing something up here?? SJ 8" coils, 2" pucks, and RE LA's were what I was measuring with. That suspension has come and gone now, but I'm still curious.
 
Curious, where you are buying 20" travel shocks?

CRASH
 
The same place I get my flux capacitors. :twak:

Before we get comical though, I dont mount my shocks to my wheels. Do you?? Maybe I'm strange, but mine are mounted to brackets on my axle tubes. Inboard of the knuckle's/C's. :D Which, by my scientific pathagorean theorum analysis, would mean the wheel travel would be a larger measurement than would the shock travel.

Unless when you all are talking about your up/down travel, you are referring to your shocks only, and not overall wheel travel. Perhaps?
 
Alrighty. Thats the only thing I was inquiring about. Whether or not they were referring strictly to the shock travel, or the wheel travel that the shock was allowing. 10" of lift is excessive, yes. Completely. But only mildly so when you need to clear 40's. But I figured there are a ton of other people out there running the 8" SJ's, and yet I never hear of anyone within the NAXJA community mentioning travel to the tune of 20" plus.

Not saying that a 12" shock isnt sufficient, Im sure it is. It all depends on shock mounting locations though. A 12" travel shock might work for me, If i was running the shocks at some crazy distance from the knuckles, or way back on the control arms. Then again, If I wanted for some reason to mount shocks to the C's themselves, then even 20" travel shocks (if I could find some) might not be fully sufficient.
 
Last edited:
ArcticXJ said:
Alrighty. Thats the only thing I was inquiring about. Whether or not they were referring strictly to the shock travel, or the wheel travel that the shock was allowing. 10" of lift is excessive, yes. Completely. But only mildly so when you need to clear 40's. But I figured there are a ton of other people out there running the 8" SJ's, and yet I never hear of anyone within the NAXJA community mentioning travel to the tune of 20" plus.

Not saying that a 12" shock isnt sufficient, Im sure it is. It all depends on shock mounting locations though. A 12" travel shock might work for me, If i was running the shocks at some crazy distance from the knuckles, or way back on the control arms. Then again, If I wanted for some reason to mount shocks to the C's themselves, then even 20" travel shocks (if I could find some) might not be fully sufficient.
Click to expand...


I don't understand why you would measure travel at the tire, but OK. Shock travel directly relates to wheel travel only when measured vertically, as you know.

You are measuring articulation. I also have far more than 12" of articulation.

This thread is about measuring shock travel, not articulation. :wave:
 
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