trying to decide on what shocks to buy...

[Goatman]

Relatively soft rear springs work well for both rock crawling and going fast, so no real compromise there. We've also found that shock valving makes little to no difference for crawling, valve the shocks for going fast and they work just fine for the slow speeds of crawling. Stiffer front springs also work fine for crawling, but they can make normal trails a little more bouncy and not quite so comfortable. You don't need to worry about articulation, as long as there's enough flex, beyond that the lockers do the work and a little stiffer suspension generally makes the rig more stable which at some point also makes it perform better on the trail. We've learned that if you can fully compress the suspension (to the bumps) when articulating on the trail then it's way to soft for the fast stuff getting to the trail. If you set the whole thing up for the fast stuff and have lockers it still works great on the trail, with very minor compromises.

 

[tcm glx]

Relatively soft rear springs work well for both rock crawling and going fast, so no real compromise there. We've also found that shock valving makes little to no difference for crawling, valve the shocks for going fast and they work just fine for the slow speeds of crawling. Stiffer front springs also work fine for crawling, but they can make normal trails a little more bouncy and not quite so comfortable. You don't need to worry about articulation, as long as there's enough flex, beyond that the lockers do the work and a little stiffer suspension generally makes the rig more stable which at some point also makes it perform better on the trail. We've learned that if you can fully compress the suspension (to the bumps) when articulating on the trail then it's way to soft for the fast stuff getting to the trail. If you set the whole thing up for the fast stuff and have lockers it still works great on the trail, with very minor compromises.

WELL SAID!! Geesh, who what have ever thought, valve and set up for speed, and you will be good in the rocks too!!
arty:arty:

 

[MaxxXJ]

im actually looking for a set of front shocks for my 4" lifted xj, i have RE coils up front and a bastard pack in the rear, currently im running a set of 3" lift procomp's es 3000's f/r cuz they were cheap and my old ones limited flex at the time i was running a 2 inch lift. but becasue now im running a 4" lift im in my same delimma i was in last time.

my plans as of now are to relocate my rear shock axle mounts to bring them up to the center of the axle so i wont need longer shocks in the rear but the fronts i will. i havent priced the bilstein 7100's but i plan on running a 4" lift for a while and im not sure if i wanna run 10" coilovers or 10" shocks. but i want what everyone wants... i wanna go fast and have unlimited flex . is there a model number i'd be looking for and do i need to mod the upper mount or can i still use the stock style hole?

 

[md11fan]

im actually looking for a set of front shocks for my 4" lifted xj, i have RE coils up front and a bastard pack in the rear, currently im running a set of 3" lift procomp's es 3000's. I havent priced the bilstein 7100's but i plan on running a 4" lift for a while and im not sure if i wanna run 10" coilovers or 10" shocks. Is there a model number i'd be looking for and do i need to mod the upper mount or can i still use the stock style hole?

I ran the same setup with 5", RE coils and ES300's, but in a very short time i really hated my ES3000 the fronts way to stiff and it rode like a brick it was alright wheeling on the trail, but on the fast stuff it was scary! I wanted the 7100, but instead i made a compromise on Bilstein 5150 and i am really glad i did so, the ride is night and day. they are way more controlled, ride was alot smoother and for the trail they are great! on the fast stuff there ok they get hot after 30mins and start to fad but for the price i have only good things to say. I have 10" in the front on my 5.5" and they are perfect length. 8" in the back and they are perfect length as well. I had to buy a adapter for the front shocks, you can get an adapter or weld in a whole new bracket like pictured above. In the back i had BPE and i had to do no modding for the those.In another year when i upgrade to Deaver 5.5 coils i will go ahead and get me a nice pair of resi's for the front. If you got the $$ do the 7100 or something comparable, the remote resi will be well worth it. Just my 2cents

 

[tcm glx]

Here is a great deal on some 5100s!! If they are for a 3" lifted TJ, they will bolt right in to a xj

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/pts/1497780238.html

 

[AJTorris]

I ran the same setup with 5", RE coils and ES300's, but in a very short time i really hated my ES3000 the fronts way to stiff and it rode like a brick it was alright wheeling on the trail, but on the fast stuff it was scary! I wanted the 7100, but instead i made a compromise on Bilstein 5150 and i am really glad i did so, the ride is night and day. they are way more controlled, ride was alot smoother and for the trail they are great! on the fast stuff there ok they get hot after 30mins and start to fad but for the price i have only good things to say. I have 10" in the front on my 5.5" and they are perfect length. 8" in the back and they are perfect length as well. I had to buy a adapter for the front shocks, you can get an adapter or weld in a whole new bracket like pictured above. In the back i had BPE and i had to do no modding for the those.In another year when i upgrade to Deaver 5.5 coils i will go ahead and get me a nice pair of resi's for the front. If you got the $$ do the 7100 or something comparable, the remote resi will be well worth it. Just my 2cents

Ok since you had or have Bilsteins how long have you had them? I have had my Ranchos for a little less than a year and they are all shot. But then again my bump stops are a tad too short for my rear shocks. I was looking into the Blisteins but wanted some feedback on them. Are the Bilsteins rebuildable?

 

[xcm]

7100's + are rebuildable.

 

[MaxxXJ]

7100's + are rebuildable.

for 300 dollars you can have a pair of them

i think im going to save and buy that barnett shock conversion first and formost and the iron rock BPE's front and rear those are the best designs i've seen so far for BPE's
http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merc...en=PROD&Store_Code=IROR&Product_Code=IR-SBPEK

mod's im not trying to spam anything, just a good product that i've found

 

[AJTorris]

7100's + are rebuildable.

Awesome gonna order them at the beginning of the year

 

[4ejsmith]

http://www.raceshock.com/specials.htm

special on 12s 95 buks damb

 

[MaxxXJ]

http://www.raceshock.com/specials.htm

special on 12s 95 buks damb

wish i had less will power lol and bought these parts with my credit card!

first things first... bar pin eliminators top bottom and rear's, then i'll buy the shocks!

imma get more flex just with bpe's :yelclap: about 1 inch seein how they move the shock location about that much... im excited kinda

 

[md11fan]

Ok since you had or have Bilsteins how long have you had them? I have had my Ranchos for a little less than a year and they are all shot. But then again my bump stops are a tad too short for my rear shocks. I was looking into the Blisteins but wanted some feedback on them. Are the Bilsteins rebuildable?

I have had my bisteins for a year and half, the fronts have also been used as bumpstops until not to long ago, i have not found them to be any much different from the day i installed them. Im not positive if 5150 can be rebuilt, i have heard some people say yes, but im going to go with no. The 6100,7100, and 9000's are all rebuildable, everything below 5100, 5150 etc.... are not. There are a TON of rigs out there that have 7100 so im sure you will get alot of feedback. Haven't heard many bad things about bilstein, so when i upgrade i will stick with the 7100's.

Oh and i think you might want to look into the 12 inch short body 7100 (12 inch shaft in a 10 inch housing) and about 5" is about the sweet spot for that particular shock.

 

[AJTorris]

http://www.raceshock.com/specials.htm

special on 12s 95 buks damb

Awesome deal... wish i had the money right now LOL

 

[Oil Town XJ]

Since my shocks are pretty much toast its time to get something new! I've found 2 pretty good deals on a couple pairs of shocks. The first pair is a set of 2.5 12" FOA's with med/hard compression with med rebound. http://f-o-a.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_26&products_id=2
The second pair is a set of 12" Bilstein 7100 remote res shocks; he thinks the valveing is 255/70
And the last pair is a set of 10" Fox 2.0 Emulsion Shocks

These will be going in my daily driver and I'm looking to get a little bit more highspeed performance out of it. The specs are 6.5" BDS long arm suspension, Dana 44's front and rear, 35" km2's and I just picked up a bender to start making a cage. Out of these, what would you guys recommend for the front and rear? I'm an idiot when comes to shocks!

 

[Baja_XJ]

FOAs or the 7100s, the Foxs would be best choice but if you are going to very rough on them then you definatly dont want a 2.0 with no res. Id say go with the FOAs... but go with firm on comp and the light/med on rebound if front and rear go with medium on comp and rebound for rear just for weight transfer and firmly planting the rear tires for traction. If you just have stock mounting locations you wont be able to fit in 12s though..in the highspeed you definatly will need uptravel. about 5-6 inch min. actually. Stock mounts Id go with 8's front and back..If you do crossover rear and relocate your front lower to the arm mount you could go with 10s all around but you wont really fit 12s anywhere without doing through floor rear in which case you would want more like 16s. Since those 7100s are 200 each you might as well go ahead and get the res and high temp kit in the FOAs and pay the extra 40 each on them. Either way its still cheaper than 7100s and you can play alot longer before they fade out on ya. Just my .02, Im sure someone will oppose it though since alot of people dont much care for FOAs

 

[Oil Town XJ]

I was going to build different mounts for the shocks, I was planning on a rear shock hoop the would allow me to us the stock mounts on my axle. I've measured it out and it looks like 12" shock will fit

 

[Baja_XJ]

If you are doing a hoop through the floor you might as well run the longest you can fit, most run 16s when they go through floor just for the extra oil capacity

 

[Oil Town XJ]

thanks what are the reason's most people are against the FOA's?

 

[Baja_XJ]

thanks what are the reason's most people are against the FOA's?

Some components on them such as the caps for example are cast, but you can upgrade to billet..Cast parts are one reason they are so much cheaper than the competiton..Also, people have trouble with seals on them. But from what I hear the Customer Service there is excellence and usually replace leaky seals no questions asked as long as you havent abused them..but sometimes new seals dont even cut out the leak completely

 

[Oil Town XJ]

How hard is it to re-valve 7100's? it looks like I will be going with those for the front, but the guy has no idea what the valving is