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Bilstein Shock Part Numbers


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My OME shocks are starting to clunk and am thinking about replacing them with Bilstein 5100s or similar. Can anyone provide the Bilstein model and part numbers for a nice riding set of front and rear street shocks? Any mounting problems? I have zero experience with Bilsteins. Thanks all.

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Thanks for the replies. I found a set of 5100s for the front and rear. The front was easy since it's the same as a lifted XJ. The rear was a bit more difficult because of the upper and lower eye mounts, but found an early 90s lifted Toyota T100 5100 shock that's the right length and a direct bolt-on for my application. Didn't want to mess with pressing out the bar pins or sleeves.

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Got the Bilsteins on and I had forgotten the all the joys of installing new shocks w/o a lift. Those Bilsteins are hard to compress, much harder than the OMEs. The only way I could do it was to compress them on the bench first to the "at rest" distance between the mounts and tie them there with a couple of looped long tie wraps. Worked well.

 

Anyhow, I been touting OME shocks for years, but have to say I really prefer the Bilsteins over the OMEs. Just a bit stiffer ride, but in a good way, nowhere near harsh. I love 'em.

 

I used p/n 24-188197 (5100 series) on the front, and p/n 33-185606 (5125 series) on the rear. The travel with these is perfect for my 3" lift and I have about 1-1/2" more of down travel than the OMEs did. Also the rears came with the MJ-correct eye on each end; no need to remove sleeves or bar pins to install.

 

And the previous clunking I had heard turned out to be a worn out rubber exhaust hanger, not the original OME shocks. Oh well, love the Bilsteins.

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Yeah I knew you'd like them.

 

When I get the extra change I'll have them on mine too. I'll go with the HDs though as I have no lift. Same as I had on my Ranger.

Yep. Had many high mileage Benz's back in the 80's and early 90's while overseas, and about the only non-problems I had with them were the OEM Bilsteins. I had no previous experience with them on other vehicles. Mounting the rears with the rubber gaiter / shaft down as Bilstein mandates was also unique for me.

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Got the Bilsteins on and I had forgotten the all the joys of installing new shocks w/o a lift. Those Bilsteins are hard to compress, much harder than the OMEs. The only way I could do it was to compress them on the bench first to the "at rest" distance between the mounts and tie them there with a couple of looped long tie wraps. Worked well.

 

Anyhow, I been touting OME shocks for years, but have to say I really prefer the Bilsteins over the OMEs. Just a bit stiffer ride, but in a good way, nowhere near harsh. I love 'em.

 

I used p/n 24-188197 (5100 series) on the front, and p/n 33-185606 (5125 series) on the rear. The travel with these is perfect for my 3" lift and I have about 1-1/2" more of down travel than the OMEs did. Also the rears came with the MJ-correct eye on each end; no need to remove sleeves or bar pins to install.

Don,

The fact that the only OME option we have now for 3 inches of lift on an MJ is the lifted XJ shock with less travel, I can tell you that my new OME XJ rears are more harsh than the old N40L ZJ shock. When it comes time to replace all four shocks I will also move to the Bilstein. :bowdown:

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  • 2 years later...

Hey, joined the site a little while back but this is the first time posting. I'm in the market for rear shocks for a 3" lift on my Comanche and have been doing some research and came across this thread. Any way, reading through here had me looking at the bilstein 5125 series with p/n 33-185606 with extended/compressed measurements of 22.5/14.06 like you said you had bought, but upon more reading, and some measuring of my old stock shocks, it seems I'd want something more in the 15-25" range. Would the bilsteins with p/n 33-104645 or 33-185552 with rough measurements of 15-25" be a better choice? thanks for any input, its much appreciated. Also I'm not real familiar with shock valving but the 104645 is 170/60 and the 185552 is 255/70. Would one be too heavy or too light for an mj?

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Get the 255/70 valving.

 

As for travel range, it depends on whether you want more up travel or down travel.  Adjust your bump stops accordingly.

 

For the lengths you want, the 33-186542 might fit the bill.

 

Eshocks.com tends to have some pretty good prices and free shipping.

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Bilstein shocks came standard on ZJs with the Up Country package in the 90's. They are usually blue with a black boot and are easy to spot because they mount "upside down". The fronts are a direct bolt in but I'm not sure about the rear ones. I've bought a couple of sets and used them on regular ZJs and prefer them over the Edelbrock Performers I have on my other ZJ. The front coils may also work well on an MJ and should give around 1" - 2" of lift and along with a firmer ride.  

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  • 2 months later...

Get the 255/70 valving.

 

As for travel range, it depends on whether you want more up travel or down travel.  Adjust your bump stops accordingly.

 

For the lengths you want, the 33-186542 might fit the bill.

 

Eshocks.com tends to have some pretty good prices and free shipping.

 

I have a MJ with a 3" lift in the rear as well.

 

Is the 33-185552 Bilstein a drop-in replacement?

 

If not, what PN from Bilstein is?

 

Thanks!

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  • 1 year later...

Sorry for dragging up an old thread here, but I'm sorta looking into getting these. Before I get caught in all the irrelevant details, my question is will the 24-188197 (front) and 33-185606 (rear) work at stock height? They have about 2" less compression than the stockers, which is why I'm concerned.

Right now I'm at stock height, and (slowly... really slowly...) piecing together ~3" lift, and after research was thinking of going with Hornbrod's suggested. I just bought a new transmission for the Lada, so I figured I should treat the MJ before it gets jealous. (yes I know, don't mind me...). But it'll be quite a while before the lift is ready to go in, as I'm looking at pretty much complete suspension replacement, new links, springs, tires, axles/regear, everything, on a budget. But the MJ needs new shocks, so I was thinking of getting those now.

But the stock shocks have a compressed length of ~13", and these new ones are ~15". Will the two inches less compression cause problems? I'd rather not mess around with bumpstops if I don't have to. The existing shocks aren't completely shot yet, so if these will be an issue, I think I'll just leave them alone until they're ready to get replaced along with everything else... I just found them at a small discount.

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Old thread Gog. The Bilsteins started out fine, but got progressively stiffer the more I drove it. I junked the Bilsteins after about a year and a half and went back to OMEs. No more Bilsteins on my MJ for moi.

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Well I guess that settles it then, I'll hold off on the shocks. :thumbsup:

But I'm still curious as to whether or not it would be wise to run 15" compressed length shocks on an otherwise stock setup without figuring out bumpstops.

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  • 2 years later...
On 8/11/2012 at 9:48 PM, Jeep Driver said:

B46-2126-H1 5100s with 1-2" lift rear

 

BE3-6422-H0 standard height HD rear

 

B46-1798-H1 standard height HD front

 

 

Don't see a listing for 5100 non lift.

Reviving this old thread yet again. I need stock length rear shocks, I've looked these part numbers up and can't for the life of me find actual extended and compressed dimensions. Is there a bilstein shock for stock rears in our MJs?

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