Whats a good shock replacement for my completely stock 96 XJ??

 

Here's a good list of available shocks. Price wise they vary alot. I've got KYB Monomax on my '96 XJ and Excel-G's on my wife's '96 Blazer. I'm sure others will reply as to which shocks they have experience with.

http://www.shockwarehouse.com/index....cted_year=1996

 

If you're just looking for direct stock-equivelent replacements Monroe-Matic-Plus shocks will give you a ride virtually identical to stock (when the stock shocks were new), hold up well and are really cheap $15-20 ea. on RockAuto.

The Monroe Sensa-Tracks (the next step up from the basic "Matics") may give you a slightly better ride and still aren't too pricy (~$30 ea. on RockAuto), KYB Excel-Gs are also similar for a similar price.

If you are shooting for the best possible ride/handling (at least as much of an improvement as shocks can get you) Billstine or OME (Old-Man-Emu, ARBs suspension division) are excelent options but are pricy ($80-200 ea.).

 

Do you know how well the OME or Billstine's hold up compared to say the Monroe's? About the same?

 

I put air shocks on my 96 for under $100. I think they're Monroes. I did it to fix the blown stock shocks and to cure the sagging rear end and it allows me to do some hauling and trailering, too.
It's not the best option if you do serious off-road cuz it restricts articulation. But if you don't do that stuff, the air shocks cure the common spring sag problems. And the ride and handling are good.

 

40K Bilsteins on my 98 and still rides very firm. All 4 cost around 250

Ron

 

Haven't compared them personally, but you can probably expect about 75-100k mi from a set of shocks if the vehicle is primarily street driven before noticable degradation occurs. Off-roading can wear the shocks much more quickly and shocks designed for off-road use (OME, certain Billstine lines, and several others) whould be reccomended to handle the abuse if the vehicle is subject to regular off-roading (beyond fire/logging roads and "mild" trails).

Modern shocks probably won't compleatly loose dampining ability untill the cylinder rusts through or the seals fail but the ride will begin to suffer with wear.

The OE shocks that were on the rear of my XJ when I bought it which had over 200k mi on them and looked like something that came off the Titanic were still good enough to pass PA inspection, but a new set (just regular Monroe-Matic Plus) made a big difference. The PO (previous-owner) replaced the front shocks on my XJ with Monroe Sensa-tracks and they seem to be holding up well, I don't know how long they've been on there but I would guess at least 5-6 years by looking at them which would be arround 60-70k mi based on the mileage reported on the registrations (from Carfax).

With the possible exception of "Heavy duty" shocks (which will ride like rocks) longevity probably won't differ much if the Jeep is primarily used on the street of for "light" off-roading, the main diference will be rid-quality and posibly travel.