WantACherokee

Hey all, my '87 XJ has shocks that appear to be pretty old, I noticed the upper bushings that mount the front are deteriorating, and the Jeep hits bumps a bit harder than I think it should. Think it's time to replace these. What bwould you guys recommend for a good riding, long lasting shock? I figure Bilsteins are the best, I would love to get those but I think they will be over budget. What would you recommend for less money?

Should I add BPE's when I replace the shocks? And are these needed for front and rear, or just the rear? Again, suggestions? Are the Zone or IRO ones decent 9I see they are cheaper than JKS)?

Finally any tips I need to know before replacing the shocks? I hear the rears are usually a PITA and it looks like mine have been on there for quite a while.

If it matters, I will be lifting the Jeep 2-3", of course I will finalize plans before I get the shocks...

wildbill1

I put Monroe Reflex shocks along with new springs on my '99 and am happy with them.

As far as the upper bolts on the rears, if they break, it's not a big deal. Use a tapered punch and a hammer to remove whats left from the weld nuts, fish new bolts in with a fine piece of wire and put the nuts on from the bottom. I had to do this with my rust belt XJ...

kskate86

just wait on the shocks until after your lift so you can get the appropriate size.

MrBuick

Bilstiens are incredible. They just refuse to wear out, ride and handle great. I actually have a set of Bilstiens for my Jeep I was going to put for sale. I need to get my Buicks going, and the Jeep needs to much money to make it road worthy.

mdcmn7

When I did my rear shocks I made home brew BPE's from the rear sway bar. It worked great and was free.

The reason I did mine was because I broke a few of the rear shock bolts, and when the shocks need doing again later it will be easier to remove the one bolt from the BPE than to try and get the fished bolts out of the shock mount

WantACherokee

I have Bilsteins on my Mustang and agreed they are awesome shocks. They ride and handle awesome even with very stiff springs on that car. I may be interested in that set you have if you want to sell them MrBuick...

Irongrave

i did the same thing the sway bar BPE is free providing you have a dana 35 rear if you have a 44 or 8.25 you need to drill the sway bar mount a little to line everything up

xj_maniac_newb

I'm putting jk shocks on mine this weekend to go with my 3 inches lift, I'll tell you how they ride once I get them on

WantACherokee

Awesome, let me know how you like them. Those definitely look like a good way to go based on how cheap I should be able to pick up a set...

xj_maniac_newb

Will do, they came in the mail today and I'm putting them on tomorrow

WantACherokee

Hey, did you get those shocks installed yet? Which ones did you get?

I found a set of the black JK shocks for $20 locally. The red ones are the ones I want but for that price I think I'll grab them anyway just in case it takes a while to find the Rubi shocks...