just finished putting new shocks in...all around. Had skyjacker nitro 8000 in back and hydro 7000 in front...don't know why they were different, but they were all stiff and with the terrible roads in NY this year I was killing kidneys every day into work...also ripped the welds is the rear shock mount rail. 2001 with 3 inch in front and 4 in the back...hated it level. Had a buddy re-weld the rail back to the floor/frame rails and called skyjacker. They said their new Black Max were softer than the 7000's so I figured I would try them. I have been lifted for years but figured I might try new front bumpstops...never ate a shock before...just a highway rider but I got KJ09114BK extended bumpstops from Amazon...30 bucks. Hard part was getting them past the spring coils without extensive disassembly...Did some halfassed measurements...my shocks have 4 1/2 inch of travel before complete bottom out to destruction in the compress direction...problem was I didnt know how far in the bumpstops go before bottom out in the mount...so I cut back to the first ring and tried it. They dont go in easy with the springs installed. Had to undo the sway bar end links and jack up the body until the wheels came up. and still had to beat the bumpstop in with a hammer..then getting it pressed up into the bodymount took about 1/2 hour and some blood...but came out nice. I have a little over 3 1/2 inch travel before bumpstop hits and 4 1/2 before shock destructs ..about an hour plus for one side...plus a couple of beers....will do the other tomorrow. Other than the length /height of these stops ...they are a direct replacement for stock...no cutting or grinding to get them to seat

 

Are these bumpstops a harder material than the original foam ones? They call these "EVS foam".

When my axle flexes, the hockey pucks that I have on the axle's spring perch are no longer heading straight for the upper bump stop--but rather at an angle. This pushes the original style bump stop sideways and out of the way and also sorta crushes it like it isn't even there.

I am split between continuing to stack pucks (I think there'll be 5 of them in there) or also attacking it from the top with these.

The 33's just don't stuff away well without significant modifications.

 

The new ones are very hard rubber compared to the foam originals. . I dont have any good way to compress the springs to see what angles the extended stops hit the lower plate at. They probably dont do much for normal driving...the old ones were so short that the shocks would have bottomed out before the bumpstops hit , and the old shocks and lift were at least 5 years old. No damage when removed, just rusty and stiff.. i had to compress the right side spring, then unbolt shock and remove the spring entirely to install the pass side stop, i was able to squeeze the spring between the coils on the left side just by dropping the axle with the shock unbolted.. i guestimated where to cut the stops and it worked out well. 3 1/2 bump stop travel 4 1/2 shock travel

 

FWIW I ran Skyjacker coils in the front for awhile, supposed to be their flexy ones. I found them to be very stiff. My opinion, though based on limited experience with Skyjacker, is that they just like to market fairly stiff stuff. Comparing those cols to the Rubicon Express coils and you can see the difference. Much heavier wire in the Skyjacker coils. Your experience with your shocks doesn't encourage me either. Good job on the bump stops

 

The coils and rear leafs are OME . Only the shocks are skyjackers thanks

 

I bought a set of these Daystar extended bump stops. Yes, they are MUCH stiffer than the original style foam ones and they are working well. To install them, I had to droop the axle to extend the coil spring and then install it by hand and drive up on a rock to get the axle to make contact with the bump stop to push it in the rest of the way. However, when I REALLY flex the vehicle out, they do that thing where the angle of the axle hitting the bump stop causes the bump stop to push to the side and not work quite right.

However, I think that I can solve that with some limiting straps. When flexed, the coil spring on one side will leave its perch by about an inch. If I can limit this, it will reduce the axle angle and since any flex beyond the point of where the spring leaves its perch is almost useless, I may as well just limit it and keep the axle at a straighter angle.

I took the rig down Black Bear pass last week and it performed marvelously. 3.5" DPG Offroad Super Ultimate lift kit and 33" tires with trimmed fenders and I didn't scrape a single rock. There was one easily avoidable obstacle where the tip of my exhaust just barely kissed a rock, but that was more of a test than anything.

The next day I also went up the Ouray side of Imogene pass. The Jeep didn't care at all.