Knucklehead97 Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 I know this has been beaten to death, but I'm a little confused. I'm running about 4" of lift in the front and 3" in the back. The distance between the upper and lower shock mounts is 21 1/2" in the front and 23" in the rear. That means I should get a shock with 26" extended length for the front and 27 1/2" for the rear, correct? The shocks that Bilstein has listed for an XJ's 3.5-4" lift are only 24.61" extended. That would only give 3" of travel for the front. For the rear there was a set of Bilsteins recommended here for a 4" lift but they only have 24.35" extended length which would only give 1 1/2" of travel for the rear. Am I doing the math wrong or what? I know I should worry about collapsed length too but honestly I don't ever see myself flexing it nearly enough to worry about that, but I will bumpstop properly when I get the shocks I need. Considering I do plan to buy Bilsteins since there doesn't seem to be a less expensive quality option, I would like to make the correct purchase the first time. Thanks for any help!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeep Driver Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Try this on- https://www.4wheelparts.com/Suspension/Bilstein-5165-Series-Reservoir-Shock-Absorber-25-187717.aspx?t_c=1&t_s=90&t_pt=3306&t_pn=BIL25-187717&utm_source=google%2cgoogle&utm_medium=cpc%2ccpc&utm_campaign=shopping&emlprox=out&ppcfon=1&gp=1&tf=1&scid=scplpBIL25-187717&sc_intid=BIL25-187717&gclid=CjwKCAjwmufZBRBJEiwAPJ3LpgMHI_8NTl8Yrbl8-xwml6YbL85yvd_jyIX5GYhm7Pymif7XnOru9hoC5VgQAvD_BwE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead97 Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 I should have been more specific on the Bilsteins part. I've been looking at the non-reservoir 5100's due to them being within my budget of 100$ a shock. Sadly not sure if any 5100's without the reservoir are going to be long enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertRat1991 Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Select shocks, based on their extended and compressed lengths, to give yourself the appropriate amount of travel for your intended use. Guys who do a lot of high speed off-roading may want a lot more up travel than down travel. Guys who do a lot of low speed crawling over seriously uneven terrain may desire significantly more down travel than up travel. For mostly on-road and light off-road use a 50/50 or 40/60 disposition between up travel and down travel would work great. So, you have your static ride height measurements @ 21 1/2" in the front and 23" in the rear. Select shocks from the Bilstein chart below that will give you appropriate travel based on their specified extended and compressed lengths. Then, modify your bump stops accordingly. You will want Eye/Eye shocks for the rear and Stem/Eye shocks for the front (unless you intended to run Stem-Eye conversion brackets in the front). Based on your measurements, it looks like either 33-104652 or 33-185569 would work well in the rear. And 33-230351 or 33-230375 would be good options for the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Nice table - hadn't seen that one before. And if you don't like Bilsteins (I don't), you can use the Bilstein part number to find a compatible shock from another manufacturer's cross-reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead97 Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 7 hours ago, DesertRat1991 said: Select shocks, based on their extended and compressed lengths, to give yourself the appropriate amount of travel for your intended use. Guys who do a lot of high speed off-roading may want a lot more up travel than down travel. Guys who do a lot of low speed crawling over seriously uneven terrain may desire significantly more down travel than up travel. For mostly on-road and light off-road use a 50/50 or 40/60 disposition between up travel and down travel would work great. So, you have your static ride height measurements @ 21 1/2" in the front and 23" in the rear. Select shocks from the Bilstein chart below that will give you appropriate travel based on their specified extended and compressed lengths. Then, modify your bump stops accordingly. You will want Eye/Eye shocks for the rear and Stem/Eye shocks for the front (unless you intended to run Stem-Eye conversion brackets in the front). Based on your measurements, it looks like either 33-104652 or 33-185569 would work well in the rear. And 33-230351 or 33-230375 would be good options for the front. Perfect. I think I see the ones I need. 2 questions though. I have been looking at Monroe coil-over load leveling shocks for the rear. But would those be overkill paired with my metric ton springs? Secondly, do the Stem/eye Bilsteins not have a bar pin? I ordered eliminators either way to save some trouble, just was curious. Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertRat1991 Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 12 hours ago, Knucklehead97 said: Perfect. I think I see the ones I need. 2 questions though. I have been looking at Monroe coil-over load leveling shocks for the rear. But would those be overkill paired with my metric ton springs? Secondly, do the Stem/eye Bilsteins not have a bar pin? I ordered eliminators either way to save some trouble, just was curious. Thanks guys! The helper springs on the coil overs will do what they are designed to do -- reduce leaf spring squat by helping to support some of the load over the rear end. They don't "add" any payload capacity or magically permit you to exceed the GVWR of your frame and drive train. Who needs load leveling shocks? 1) Vehicles with tired leaf packs that squat excessively when carrying a load within their rated capacity. 2) Guys who dicked up the rake on their factory suspension for cosmetic sake and now need to keep their @$$ from dragging when pulling a trailer. You probably don't need the load leveling shocks unless you really intend to put your leaf packs to work. They may also extend the break-in/settling period for your leafs since they are helping to support some of the load. The Stem/Eye shocks would need a bar pin for our front shock application. They do not ship with bar pins, so good thing you ordered the BPEs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead97 Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 I ordered the 33-104652 for the rear and the 33-230351 for the front. The rears showed up and fit PERFECTLY but I'm going to send the fronts back as soon as they come in because I realized my BPE's add 1.25" of length so the fronts that I ordered would only have about 2 or 3" of up travel before they bottomed out. I ordered the 33-230337's and they should be perfect with the eliminators. Going Thursday to pick up Rusty's Off-road sway bar disconnects because Rusty's Off-road is 20 minutes from my house and the disconnects have really good reviews. I got Moog k80036's but they're about 3" too short so I said screw it and am going to get beefy adjustable ones. I went all out with the rest of the suspension so I might as well go beefy on the last few bits! Once the front shocks get here I will begin adjusting everything and getting it all bolted down. Now I'm just trying to decided whether I want to run 32/1150's or 31/1050's. Just not sure if I could fit the 32's easily. Also if anyone needs bolts for cheap, check out Bolt Depot.com. I got m10-1.5/90mm metric 10.9 flange bolts and flange lock nuts for the axle side of my UCA's and it only cost 10$ shipped. Fastenal wanted 25$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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