Put 5100s on the rear last night. I am a believer now. They are the magic sauce! The feel and ride just can't be compared to the inexpensive shocks. I will have to get fronts now. No if ands or buts.

 

I had 5100's all around on my ZJ a couple years ago because of all the hype about them. To be honest, it still rode like a jeep and I don't think they rode much better than what was on it. I wasn't so impressed to justify spending the extra 150 bucks on them compared to the rubicon express ones that came on the jeep. Don't give me wrong, I think they are a nice shock, but I just wasn't impressed to the point that I decided I was going to use them from now on. I got the skyjacker hydro's with the shock pin eliminators all for under 200 shipped to my door. Ordered them yesterday morning and I get em' Sat.

 

I totally understand. It was reviews like yours that had been keeping me from trying them. The majority of reviews are very positive so figured I need to see for myself. Compared to Zone nitros and the garbage parts store shocks Ive had over the last two years is night and day. Even compressing by hand you can feel a significant difference in how smooth the Bilsteins are. We are all different and experience things differently. These 5100s definitely smoothed things out and brought a new level of controlled feeling.

I am still interested in the hydros. They were on the short list from their lower price and generally good reviews.

 

If they were the mono-tubes, you replaced a Bilstein with a Bilstein.

 

Yep, just a softer valved version.

 

Seconded, I ran these and bilsteins. These are longer but the bilsteins definitely were softer and more $$$

 

ProComp makes a good affordable shock as well. I have them on my 3/4 ton ram as well as my F150 and they will be going on the xj soon.

 

Shocks are a very important part of all cars, trucks, SUV's to race cars and trucks and one of those places where people tend to buy cheap and not well designed shocks for their applications.


I do understand that cost can be an issue at times for some that has happened to all of us at one time or another When I was young I did do the cheap thing more often till I found out how much more those items ended up costing me in the long run over a good one to begin with.


Performance is where I learned my first lesson at age 19 that was with racing shocks for a 1966 Dodge Hemi. Tried 3 sets of cheap fronts and 2 sets of rears trying to lower my 60' times and weight transfer. Fighting with these and no real gains I ended up buying a set of coil over shocks for the front and a free set from a Shock supplier in a plain box for the rear. First night of test and tune 60' times dropped a bunch plus reduced wheel spin and front wheel lift.


From then on decided to try and use the better shocks on everything I owned, only cheap shocks bought were for cars being sold from then on.


Personally I never thought twice about putting Bilstein shocks on my least driven of all I personally own (7). A bad shock can make for a really poor day when out on the trails and it fails.


JMHO and YMMV