What made you choose the shocks you are running?

catahoula

Caught the Bug
I am really thinking about about keeping my 18/59 coils. I am still on fence with plush coils. I am running Rubi shocks with those as well as TF leveling kit. I am interested in improving my stock ride. This is a daily driver that runs rough roads, service and logging trails and not a rock crawler. Eventually, I would like to go up to 35's or stick with 33's. Anybody running these coils or stiffer on their 2 door I would love to hear from you as well. I have read some having great results when they changed them out.

My questions are...

1. What shocks are you running and how did they compare to your stock ones?

2. Anybody running these coils or stiffer on their 2 door I would love to hear from you as well?

3. Why you choose mono or twin?

4. If you got adjustable how often or do you even adjust them?

5. Do you think you over spent on some that are not even utilized to their potential?

Thanks in advance!
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
1. What shocks are you running and how did they compare to your stock ones?

Shocks are like coils in that the comfort they provide is subjective. Of the shocks that I ran, I actually like Rancho 7000's and Bilsten 5100's. They are a bit more of the firm side but are more responsive and handle driving down rough terrain longer without the kind of fading you will see on an old school hydro shock. While they aren't as fancy as a remote reservoir monotube shock with a fancy name, I find that most guys never use their Jeeps in a way that would actually need them. Also, both of these shocks are very affordable.

2. Anybody running these coils or stiffer on their 2 door I would love to hear from you as well?

Sorry, can't help you there as the only coils we ran on the 2-door we had were TeraFlex :icon_crazy:

3. Why you choose mono or twin?

Mono because they have a smaller can which makes it easier to clear things, they run cooler by design and they are gas charged making them more responsive and helps prevent cavitation.

4. If you got adjustable how often or do you even adjust them?

I know that most people don't but when we were running Rancho 9000, we found that we wanted to change our settings every time we went off road and then again when we got back to pavement.

5. Do you think you over spent on some that are not even utilized to their potential?

Not for me but I see a lot of guys wanting to by fancy remote reservoir shocks like they're somehow so much better but they live in a big city and only kind of wheeling they do is rock crawling or playing in the mud. That to me is a waste of money.
 

catahoula

Caught the Bug
I've read the 5000's are similar to the 9000's set at mid can someone confirm? The 5's are very affordable and have probably gotten better since I had them last.

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ob_tj

New member
I bought some bilsteins because they are a good price and I wanted to get rid of the fox remote reservoirs that I had on my tj. I didn't need them for the wheeling I do
 

WJCO

Meme King
I just saw some Bilsteins reasonably priced. WJCO have you been happy with those?

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I really am. I have the 5100s. It seems like I've developed a little softness in them over time, like I feel a little more body roll around turns, but that's it. I'm still pretty happy with them.
 

Lil Nasty

Member
Eddie dropping knowledge bombs.

Shocks are one piece of a larger puzzle for ride. I've finally found the ride I was looking for with EVO springs, 5100 shocks and 8 ply Toyo tires set at 28 psi. The springs and shocks combined with my last 33" 10 ply tires was a harsh ride. I do notice some shock fade on the roads around here where it's like a motocross whoop section.


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tippedover

Member
When talking shocks what is the pros and cons of external reservoir shock, my understanding is they run cooler or so I am told. I am about to put new shocks on and in the same phase as the OP.




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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I've read the 5000's are similar to the 9000's set at mid can someone confirm? The 5's are very affordable and have probably gotten better since I had them last.

Yes, the new 5000X are similar to the 9000XL or what it would be like set somewhere in the middle. For the most part, both are still hydro shocks.

When talking shocks what is the pros and cons of external reservoir shock, my understanding is they run cooler or so I am told. I am about to put new shocks on and in the same phase as the OP.

External will run cooler but unless you do a LOT of hard and fast driving across rough terrain and for long periods of time, I seriously doubt you would need them. Of course, they do "look" cool to have though.
 

Hot94Z28

New member
I switched from the 5100's to the Rancho 9000XL's and liked them better paired with the Rock Krawler springs. I still don't like how the RK springs rife myself.


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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I switched from the 5100's to the Rancho 9000XL's and liked them better paired with the Rock Krawler springs. I still don't like how the RK springs rife myself.

Assuming you are running a reasonable amount of air in your tires, a majority of ride quality does in fact come from the springs you're running. Shocks can only assist in the ride by helping to absorb hits. Are you running the newer triple rate coils?
 

Hot94Z28

New member
Assuming you are running a reasonable amount of air in your tires, a majority of ride quality does in fact come from the springs you're running. Shocks can only assist in the ride by helping to absorb hits. Are you running the newer triple rate coils?

No I am not running the triple rate coils, the ride is still what I would say is firm. I think the 9000 shocks helped some compared to the 5100's.

I have been thinking of going to the triple rate or EVO's


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RockyMtnAnvil

Guest
I run the Bilstein 5100s as they were the "recommended" compliment to the "triple rate" RK spings at the time. I have since switch out the springs to MC which are quite a bit firmer, but the ride is still to my liking. The shocks softened up a bit after the first 1,000 miles. I my case, the rear shocks (P/N 24-146715) have a compressed length of 15.39" which nicely complements the Rockstars Skids without requiring a lot of extra bump stop.
 

catahoula

Caught the Bug
Thanks Eddie for the tips and advice! I did notice a difference when I changed from my Sport to Rubi shocks. Heck, even my wife mentioned it. I can only imagine how it will feel going up to a better option.
 
i had the 5100's on the 13. Love the ride. Just replaced the 16's shocks yesterday, with the 5160's.............Love the ride, and the look......except the front reservoirs are hard to locate with the DV8 inner fenders...........got to work on that one..............Probably would have been fine with another set of 5100's.............but.............I always try to upgrade when changing things out. I also added the Fox steering stabilizer at the tune of 419 bucks....so far I think it solved a bunch of my darting issues. Time will tell.

For the record. I upgrade all my vehicles to Bilstein shocks. I always feel improvement in the ride.

Be safe. Merry Christmas
SFS
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks Eddie for the tips and advice! I did notice a difference when I changed from my Sport to Rubi shocks. Heck, even my wife mentioned it. I can only imagine how it will feel going up to a better option.

Oh yeah, I've run both and would agree, there is a significant difference between standard Sport/Sahara shocks and Rubi shocks. That being said, a new aftermarket option won't necessarily mean that your ride will feel "better".
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
i had the 5100's on the 13. Love the ride. Just replaced the 16's shocks yesterday, with the 5160's.............Love the ride, and the look......except the front reservoirs are hard to locate with the DV8 inner fenders...........got to work on that one..............Probably would have been fine with another set of 5100's.............but.............I always try to upgrade when changing things out. I also added the Fox steering stabilizer at the tune of 419 bucks....so far I think it solved a bunch of my darting issues. Time will tell.

For the record. I upgrade all my vehicles to Bilstein shocks. I always feel improvement in the ride.

Be safe. Merry Christmas
SFS

Your $419 steering stabilizer only masked whatever "darting issues" you were having. Most likely, you have too little caster. Also, the 5160's look great but it's not really an "upgrade" from 5100's per se - they simply come with remote reservoirs which are good to have if you live in the desert and do a lot of fast driving over rough terrain.
 
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