Let's talk Bilsteins.....

[Ary'01XJ]

Rusty's having a special, "ALL Bilsteins, $45", and I need shocks BAD. Now, the question is, what series/valving/travel do I want for my XJ. It's got short arms and staying that way, w/ 4.5" of lift, 32 ATs on the road, 33 MTRs off. I'm not so much worried about what travel to get, I was planning on playing a forklift to get those measurements anyhow, but I want to know what series and valving you guys recommend. I will most likely be eliminating the post style mount in the fronts. Thanks for any opinions. Peace

Ary

[Joe Dillard]

Loooong time ago, when I worked for Mr Thompson (Mickey), at his shop on Placentia in OC, we distributed Bilstein's (reluctantly). The valving was geared towards ~40-80+. Most were for 1 or 2 seat buggy rail guys. These were nitro gas charged shocks, some had expansion tanks & cooling fins in the 40-65MM sizes. It wasn't uncommon to run 3 shocks per wheel for the rears & 5 per front. Yep, they were $$$ too.

[JMyerz]

Ary,

Goto http://www.discoweb.org those landy guys seem to love their blisteins and have all sorts of info.

Justin

[Desert Fox]

Ary,

I have a similar set up. I have been using the Bilstein 5100 series for the past three years.
No problems and they provide very good flex off
road and a smooth ride on road. I paid about
$75 each, so $45 sound really good. They do come in different lenghts.

Fred

[Timzjatl]

I'd just call rusty, he knows his XJs. I've been to his shop, and he owns at least 5.
Tim

[Paradiddle]

Ary - I ran Bilstein 5100s on my 4" lifted WJ for one trip. They were excellent on the road, but they blew threw all their travel off road almost instantly. I had no control and the rig felt VERY bouncy. It sucked. This was in Big Bear so the trails weren't even "that" hard.

So - I put RS9000s on and I've never looked back. I took those off my WJ and swapped them for the correct shock on my XJ.

I know $45 is cheap - and I wouldn't fault you at all for using them - just letting you know my experience.

Isn't Rancho having their usual 4 for 3 thing?

Jeff

[William]

Originally posted by Paradiddle
Ary - I ran Bilstein 5100s on my 4" lifted WJ for one trip. They were excellent on the road, but they blew threw all their travel off road almost instantly. I had no control and the rig felt VERY bouncy. It sucked. This was in Big Bear so the trails weren't even "that" hard.

So - I put RS9000s on and I've never looked back. I took those off my WJ and swapped them for the correct shock on my XJ.

I know $45 is cheap - and I wouldn't fault you at all for using them - just letting you know my experience.

Isn't Rancho having their usual 4 for 3 thing?

Jeff

I have billstiens on my TJ, only on the rear now.. Went I get my new shocks, I'd give them to you.. But.

I've never met you, and you've never done anything wrong to me, so I wouldn't want to do anything that mean to someone in that spot. I'd give my billstiens to sadam or osama, but just barely.

All joking aside, it's a matter of the emporers new clothes. I never thought anything was wrong with the Billstiens untill I tried something new, and the difference was night and day. They are way to stiff on my TJ. Except in a turn when they simply give up and I get horrible lean. The difference between these and the rancho's (when I swapped the front) is night and day. 4WPH is having a sale right now. I hate 4WPH, but I'm going to get some from them.

[Jeff Weston]

You only need two William? Screw 4Wheel Parts and their buy 3 get 1 free (raise the regular prices to compensate). I just bought two from Summitracing.com for $134 delivered. Instead of the buy 3 get 1 free deal, they just knock 25% off each shock when you add it to your cart. In essence, you get the same savings even if you only want to buy 1, 2 or 3 shocks. Also, no sales tax and no attitude.

[Ary'01XJ]

Well crap, I hate it when opinions are mixed. Makes making a decision harder. Could it be that the vehicles that didn't react well to the Bilsteins were coiled in the rear?? Does that correlation make any sense?? My Jeep is an '01 bought w/ 6 miles on it in June of '01 and it's got 50k now. So I definately do my fair share of driving. I will be driving it to CA and back this summer, along w/ my usual driving. I also wheel at least twice a month year round usually. They can't be nearly as bouncy as my blown shocks

Given the choice, would you get DT 3000s, DT 8000s, Bilstein 5100s, or OME long travels??(price is DEFINATELY a concern, and the list I gave is in order from cheapest to most expensive. Thanks for your opinions guys, it's great having such an extensive knowledge base to pull from before making a purchase. Peace

Ary

[William]

Originally posted by Ary'01XJ
Could it be that the vehicles that didn't react well to the Bilsteins were coiled in the rear??
Ary

Don't know what to tell you on that, of course, I'm coils in the rear. I'm not sure if it'll make a huge difference or not though? Seems that many folks run different coils here, so perhaps that negates that issue? Don't. know.

Jeff, I'll check today to see thier price, and if they don't match (which they won't most likelty, the @#$@#), I'll go through summit. Thanks for the tip. I have to go to 4WPH today to get replacement springs.

[William]

Originally posted by Jeff Weston
You only need two William? Screw 4Wheel Parts and their buy 3 get 1 free (raise the regular prices to compensate). I just bought two from Summitracing.com for $134 delivered. Instead of the buy 3 get 1 free deal, they just knock 25% off each shock when you add it to your cart. In essence, you get the same savings even if you only want to buy 1, 2 or 3 shocks. Also, no sales tax and no attitude.

Yeah, screw them, well, once I get my refund for the springs screw them!!!

Their "helpful team member" tried to sell me procomp's newest shock. I asked if it was better than Rancho, and if so, why.

"Because it's just better."

Why?

"Thier just better, I know thier just better."

This went on for about 4 minutes until I rememebered Abbot and Costello's "Who's on first" routine.

So I took my springs and left...

[Desert Fox]

Ary,

One last consideration. In some of the posts above, mention was made of Bilsteins having a harsh or hard ride. My experience has been that
the stiffness of a ride is more a factor of springs and not totally controlled by the shocks.
For instance, I have a RE lift and William had/has
a Teraflex lift. We both had Bilstein 5100s. I believe the difference in ride may be more attributed to the difference in springs. Also, there are B5100s for different vehicle weights and
shaft travel. A mismatch may well cause problems.

Fred

[blkTJ]

add anothe ex-Bilstein user to the list. My concern was not so much with ride as it was with length. This was the most recent reply to my inquires...

"...Our 4" lift shocks, BE5-6241-H5, are a little short for the Rubicon Express
4.5" lift. The rear shock will work with no problems (BE5-6242-H5). What I
suggest on the front is getting a "JKS" stem eliminator and using a 10" 5100
(BE5-6248-H5) or what would be cooler,a new 5150 crossflow reservoir shock
(BF5-A196-H1)."

I decided to go with OME log travels. $60 a shock from DPG.

my $.02

Brian.