What’s happening folks! After nearly 15 years I finally got my xj back (sold off my 1st). I found a real gem, that is 100% stock. I want to keep it that way for the most part, but want to make a couple updates.
The ride is a little rough, yes I know it’s a Jeep, but the shocks are shot. It’s going to be my daily driver, and I want a good smooth set of shocks. What do y’all recommend.

WELCOME!

So how about some specs on your XJ?
I've got a set of KYB Excel-G's on my wife's '96 Blazer. We live 1/2 mile off the state road and it can get fairly rough at times. She likes the way it handles both on and off road. I've been running KYB's on my vehicles since the early 80's.

https://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/GR2.cfm

https://www.shockwarehouse.com/index...cted_year=1997

At this time it is bone stock, I think it’s still oem shocks. I live outside of town but it’s all blacktop. Will be driving on the highway a fair amount

What year XJ is it?
I can only tell you we like how our Blazer handles on the highway. It's our main travel vehicle.

The main reason for the stiff ride is the rear leaf springs, but that's what makes it stable especially on the highway. It's never going to ride like a ZJ, so don't expect it to. In my opinion, I've had good luck with Monroe Sensatrac, reasonable price and close to OE quality in ride feel. My original shocks at 120K miles were also shot and when hitting pavement bumps at highway speed in a corner, it felt like it flew off them with a sideways twitch when it landed that scared me terribly. The Monroes took care of that for the most part unless the bump was large in size. As I said, the leaf springs don't react as quickly or smoothly as coil springs do, but the leafs do control body roll better. That's my 2 cents.

Monroe, for the price and ease, cant be beat.
Bought mine 15 years ago. They are lifetime warranty at autozone. They never thought id be on my 3rd set...

The Monroe's are not bad, but you can look into the KYB Gas-a-Just shocks too, they have worked well for me on vehicles over the years.

What is the condition of the stock springs, are they due to be replaced?

Are you going to stick with a stock suspension, or would you ever want to lift it? You can even duplicate the upcountry option for about 1 inch of lift, most everything stays the same as far as steering, etc.

You mentioned updates, just make sure of what you want to do before you order shocks, so that you don;t have to order parts twice.

What other updates are you considering?

Thanks Red1992XJ!
I am pretty sure the stock springs are in good shape, but I need to get it off the ground to really look. It only has 44k original miles, so I am assuming the original springs are still in good shape. I really do not have an intention at this time to lift it, as I want to keep it as close to stock as I can. Other updates I am considering is backup camera, drop hitch, back to the original OEM wheels.

I'd like to suggest a headlight harness upgrade so your headlights don't look like kerosene lanterns and burn out your headlight switch. It's a simple plug&play harness that has 2 relays to supply the lights directly from the battery instead of thru the headlight switch. That way the headlight switch only carries about 2 amps maximum, just enough current to pull in the relays, not the 30 amps or more the lights draw. The harness even has it's own fuse! Just Google it! Best investment I ever made for this jeep.

I never considered that upgrade. Just checked out the video on it, and that looks pretty slick. It did not say though, do you think I can still do that upgrade with an LED headlight?

Most LED headlight systems actually require it.

With 44k miles, you would probably be just fine with a set of 4 shocks. I figured you'd probably have like 144k or more on it. I don't know if you will be able to find a drop hitch for it, but there are plenty of hitches out there, and a backup camera should be somewhat easy.

The headlight harness is a really good idea, especially with LED lights. You also could look into a set of replacement battery cables, depending on the condition of yours. XJwonders on here makes a pretty good set. It's not urgent, but if you have to replace the cables at some point, might as well upgrade when you do it.

Post some pictures when you get a chance so we can all get a good look.

I have recently installed Monroe shocks all around because my OEMs were shot. I'll let you know how it rides after I can get my leafs on.

I bought new front lower control arms for my WJ from Monroe and the front bushings are designed to be self adjusting to smooth the ride. They didn't last, but the warranty covered replacement without question as long a you have the receipt.

x2 on the cables from XJwonders. Very nice cables at a fair price (they're worth it at regular price, but he routinely does discounts) and quality work.