Klutch

Put some new shocks on XJ today. Wow, what a difference! It now rides like a Jeep instead of a lumber truck. Whenever Mrs. Klutch rode in my Cherokee she would say, "Your Jeep is wobbly". She was right. It was wobbly. And, lucky me, no seized bolts. Everything came apart easy-peasy.

And it's no wonder it was wobbly. My Cherokee has 113,000 miles and it had the factory shocks! Sheesh, don't people do any maintenance?

Monroe has a rebate going through April. Buy four shocks and get $30.00 back. I also had a $15.00 rewards coupon for O'Reilly since I've spent so much flippin' money there over the past month. That's like $45.00 off! So, I went with the Sensatrac shocks. I had heard those work well for a Cherokee that's mostly a street vehicle and occasionally goes off-road. I really like the ride and highly recommend them. I'm sure they're not as good as the high-end shocks from Bilstein, but for my purposes, they'll do.

cbs_24

Nice! I have a set of Bilstein 5100's waiting to be installed with the rest of my lift. I can't wait to get them on there.

BrawnyDog

That's good to hear, I think that's why mine wobbles. Not death wobble, just moves too much over bumps.

Klutch

Be sure to shoot all the bolts with PB-Blaster, just to help things along. I had to remove the air filter box to get to the left front shock bolts. But that's all I removed. I even left the wheels on and left them on the ground.

Klutch

Sounds like the shocks are likely shot. Look into the Monroe rebate. The cheapest price I found was at Summit Racing. Rock Auto carried only the Sensatrac shocks with helper springs. I didn't want those.

BrawnyDog

Found the rebate, thanks. Are the helper springs no good? I know nothing about shocks.

Klutch

The helper springs are for carrying heavy loads or for towing a heavy trailer. I don't know about the Cherokees, but I know the helper spring shocks aren't a good idea on classic Mustangs. (I have a 1970 Mach 1.) Back in the 70s and 80s, a lot of people installed them to "jack up the rear" for bigger tires. (They used air shocks as well.) Unfortunately, the upper rear shock mount area can't handle the extra stress and can blow out.


Either way, the helper spring shocks would likely give you a rougher ride. No point in paying extra and installing them if you don't really need them.

BrawnyDog

Thanks bro, I told myself to stop buying stuff for my jeep until I payed off my debt but this is no locker or header, plus it's a good deal.

Klutch

Yeah buddy. Shocks are important for safety. With the old shocks, my XJ would nosedive when I came to a stop. But not anymore. Shocks also help with emergency maneuvering. Since Cherokees don't exactly excel at this, it's especially important to have good shocks, brakes and tires.

samhain

Thinking about buying these soon. By any chance did they raise the height of the Jeep or did it retain the same height?

RAOK67

I purchased the Monroe load adjusting shocks for the rear of my XJ (they have springs on the outside) - they are amazing! - and as a bonus, they raised the rear end back to level or better, so I've been able to delay replacing my sagged out rear springs. Highly recommended!

jld66

if your talking about shocks. no it will not raise it any. i put on 4 of the good napa lifetime warranty ones on mine. be careful of the 2 top bolts on the rears though. i needed to use heat to get them out. i broke the first one. i had to weld a nut and bolt set up in place of it.

Klutch

Same height. The Sensatrac shocks are gas charged, but not enough to raise the vehicle.