I'm sure this has been covered before... but I just bought rubi shocks for my 2dr sahara. I'm not doing springs with this upgrade and most of the write ups I found involved dropping the axle for a spring swap. Is there a write up someone could point me to for this upgrade for just the shocks? If not, exactly what tools do I need to do this upgrade? Will I need a torque wrench? What size wrenches, etc? Any personal opinions on the best way to swap the shocks?

 

you will need two 16mm open end wrenches and 2 18mm wrenches or 1 18mm wrench and one 18mm socket and a 5/8" socket. a sissors jack helpls to compress the shock so after you attach the top you can use the jack to compress the shock so it is easier to slide into the bottom bracket. use a screw driver to manipulate the shock so you can reinsert the bottom bolt. it is very easy and should take about an hour or two at most.

 

Its a pretty simple swap if you are just doing the shocks. Do one at a time......unbolt the old one, install the new one. You shouldn't have to disturb anything else. I can't help with exact bolt sizes or torque specs, but you don't need any special tools and the overall project is about as straight forward as you can get. Shouldn't take more than 20-30 mins. Don't even need to jack it up.

 

Got it. Any other tips? I've done plenty of easy mods like cat back exhaust and lights etc. but I feel like its a whole new ballgame with suspension components, just seems kinds intimidating even though this sounds like an easy swap.

 

It's not a bad job at all. When you get done, you'll be surprised by how easy it was and want to tackle more and more suspension plans.

As stated earlier, do one shock at a time.

I typically undo my top nut first, because the pressure of the shock will hold it in there.

Then go to the bottom. Once you've undone that bolt, use your muscles to compress shock some to pull bolt out. Then just pull the bottom out, and slide down, the top will follow suit.

Getting them in, I put the top shaft in it's whole, and PUSH until that bottom pops into the mount. Then install bolts and nuts and go to the next shock.

It literally is only 4 wrenches I use. 2 for bottom bolt and 2 for top.

***HINT*** the nuts on the top of the rear shock mount are welded on. You don't need a wrench up there, just on the bolt that goes upwards holding shocks on. I broke one of mine and had to weld it back on, PITA.

Good Luck

 

Even swapping out springs is very very easy as long as your 1, using jeep springs not aftermarket...2. installing a teraflex leveling kit with said springs...

I did mine in my driveway and never even took off the wheels....

 

Thanks guys. I won't have a change to install for a couple weeks when I get home from school. I'll post back my success/failure.

 

Anyone know the torque specs for both front and rear?

 

Just swapped in rubi shocks on my 08' JKU X, it wasn't too hard. I didn't realize how crappy my shocks were until I took them out. Rides so much better now. Took about 1.5 hours with hand tools. Hardest part was the top nut on the front shocks, actually sheared the whole bolt off one but it finally came out. Best bang for the buck upgrade so far.

 

To all that said this was easy, this is my old and now broken shock. It was a fighter. I'm definitely committed now lol.