4.3L XJ

Several of you have asked how to find shocks for your lift kit, or better yet your home made lift. It is not enough to say "I have a 3" or 4.5" springs or kit". For instance, a Rancho or Skyjacker 3" kit will take stock length shocks while a Rubicon Express kit will not. there is a way to figure out what shocks you will need in most of the major brands.

First go to: Monroe Electronic Rapid Information System (MERIS)

http://www.monroe.com/catalog/ecatalog.asp

Then click on "Passenger Cars and Light Trucks" and then find your Jeep, such as 86 Cherokee.



You will now notice several shocks listed for the front and rear. Let's pick a front shock #911026. This is a stock front shock. Now click on "Misc. Application Info" in the side bar and then Mounting and Length sheets. You will get a PDF file of their catalogue. Scroll through until you find your shock number.



You now have a lot of information at your disposal. You now know it has a S4 stud top mount, a XP4 bottom mount and that it is 20.375" long when extended.
At this point you need to go back to the first three pages to find out how to measure your shock and know what S4 and XP4 mean.



At this point we find that we can substitute an S3 mount for an S4 if we need to, and an XP3 for an XP4.

Now it is the time to know just how long a shock you need. So go jack up your front end and undo your shock and measure the distance between mounts. The PDF file will show you how on page 379.

Now go through the PDF file and you will find that you already have the longest shock with those mounts. Here is where a little knowledge comes in handy. JKS makes adapters for the XP4 mount and also the S4 mount on the top if you need them. These convert your mount to an L1 mount, which is much more common. So let's try it again with our adapters. Let's just adapt the bottom to a L1 and leave the top at a S4. Still nothing that fits. Now let's adapt both top and bottom to L1

Now there is:

911029 at 23" length
911172 at 22.65" length

Scrolling through the Reflex shocks

SC2911 at 22.875"
SC2913 at 24"
SC2946 at 25.62"
SC2957 at 26.875"

Scrolling through the Gas Magnum shocks

555006 at 22.25"
555949 at 29.375


At this point, there is a shock length that will accommodate an 8" lift, maybe more depending on spring manufacturer. If you don't like Monroe shocks, just find the brand you like, give them a number and ask them to convert it to their brand and you will have what you want.

You now have another alternative, You can try to substitute the bar pin from your old shocks into a new shock. I did it, but it takes a press and it is a pain in the rear, so I don't recommend it. However it gets you past having to buy bar pin adapters and if you are wanting to save money, it is a reasonable alternative and will work well. If you do this, you will just need to go the rough the same process. When I did, I used a shock about 27" long for my front with an S4 stud on the top to accommodate my lift.

After you find the number of the shock you want, you can get virtually any brand through the use of a shock conversion chart that almost any decent retailer has.

a1racer

man you are full of good info i will look at that later nice link. and i normally measure the extended and collapsed lenght to order mine. but my lift is pretty home made so no off the shelf parts for me

4.3L XJ

Same here, I fabbed mine up on the cheap.

Mike H.

FWIW,
Simply letting the axle droop is not an accurate measurment of what it will want when articulated.
Find a ramp, or, place rig on jack stands, remove wheels, unbolt shocks and jack one side of the axle up to your bumpstop (assuming you have your bumpstops set up properly)... measure the side that is drooped for extended length, the side that is stuffed for collapsed length.
Collapsed length is important, you do not want a long shock that is acting as a bumpstop, it will have a quick life.

Note, watch jackstands and rig stability carefully as you jack up and down... You may have to alter jack and/or jackstand placement and direction to maintain stability.