Here is my quandary... I am looking to put shocks on my 2013 2Dr Rubicon. I have replaced the stock springs and shocks with ones from a 10th anniversary 4dr and it raised it, but the ride is too stiff.

I do use my Jeep for daily driving.When I do go wheeling, 3 - 4 times a month, I do get into some pretty rocky stuff. I live in Tucson, AZ and want the best of both world here. I want a shock that will give a good ride, but I also want durability and performance while crawling and off road.

I have $1400 to spend on this and I really want to do it right the first time. I am going to upgrade to a 3.5" lift when I do my tires... going to go with 305.70.R17... I am still up in the air about the lift as well... Want something with some flex and a good road ride as well.

I will want something buff, maybe more then what I need because I roll like that.

Can I please get some advise from you guys.

Respect,

Here is my Jeep now................

 

Metalcloak woulld be a good option, their stuff is a little overbuilt so it should stand up to whatever you have in mind for it unless you are trying to run KOH, which is what I think they actually build their stuff for. I have their duraflex joints and they are amazing, when the budget allows it, I'm planning on moving away from my RC based lift and working towards the MC Game changer system with the 6 pack shocks. I know that that set up busts your budget, but you can get the springs first and run a different shock like a bilstein which most are pretty happy with while you save up for the 6 packs. I would definitely suggest some upgraded lower control arms in the rear at the very least since that is the first place I saw problems while bouncing my JKU off the rocks in central TX. I managed to bend both of mine and now am running some solid 2" arms that my brother in law made for me with MC duraflex on one end and johnny joints on the other, I'll rip the mount off before those arms give now! Do some searching on shocks, I just did that myself and ended up going with rancho 5000s for now, I also have the JKS stem conversion and the bar pin eliminator kits and am pretty happy with that other than the fact that the 4wp rep sent me a little shorter shock than he should have after I told him what I was doing. You lose about 1-1.5 inches in the front with the stem eliminators and he sent me all the same length shocks so be very specific when you order and make sure you measure compressed and extended length on your shocks before letting them ship! Best of luck with your build!

 

Thanks.. I will look into it. I am looking to have the rims and tires in a few months, just looking for shocks now as the ones I have are not working out for me.

 

So you installed some springs that have a higher coil rate and some gas charged shocks and the ride is now too stiff. What did you expect?

First thing I would do is check your tire pressure as most people new to jeeps will run too much air and dropping down to +-28 psi seems to improve the ride quite a bit.

You are looking at a 34" tire and 3.5" of lift is way more then needed. With your budget you should stay in the 2" range of lift and look into some trimmed or flat fenders to give you the look of a big lift without having totally screwing up your suspension and steering geometry.

There are some threads at the top of the modified page that should help you with your build, I would encourage you to read through them and search thru some of the other lift threads.

OK, back to the fanboys and poser shots.

 

Thanks for the info. I do airdown bro and I am not "New " to the Jeep world. So, here is what I said. I am looking into spending about $1400 on shocks now. My lift budget will be about $3000 in a few months and my wheels and tires are gonna cost about $3000. So, what I am looking for now is to just buy a pair of shocks with my budget of $1400 for the best shock I can get.

Thank you for the advise. I am considering the 2" - 3" lift as well. I will check out the threads too.

Respect.

 

So what air pressure are you running on the road? Or are you stating that the ride is too stiff off road?

 

I am running 38 on stock BFG mud terrain. When I wheel, I air down to 19 or 20. I went lower to 15 once and broke a bead on the stock rubicon rims. I believe a nicer shock will help because the shocks I have on it now were on the 10th Anniversary 4Dr edition and are stiffer. I do understand that the coils are stiffer too. I really do not understand what to look for in coils. I do not want them too soft as I do not want to much bounce when wheeling ( I do not want to bounce of bumpers) or body roll when cornering.

I love to wheel and I love Jeeps. I also like my money in the bank. So, I am one of those dudes who wants to do it right. I do not want to do this again unless I break it. I also want stuff that will not break easy. I do not go fast, I am in low and slow most the time. On dirt roads I like to pick it up. On the street I drive faster then I should.

I am looking for a rebuildable shock. I was looking at the Bilstien 5100 series until I found out they can not be rebuilt. Neither can the 5160's. So I was going to look into the 7100's until I found out that I need to cut too much to get them in there.

I want something that will work with OEM brackets, Looking at Fox, with the adjustable resivoirs, is that too much? I know that valving has more to do with ride quality then the adjustments on the shocks do.

 

You are running way too much air on the road, like I said before new jeep owners run too much air in the tires, drop it to +-28 psi and you will see the on road ride improve. Off road you should be down in the 12-15 psi with non bead locks and around 3-8 with bead locks. Your shocks are not your problem.

If you want a ride that is cushy off road and firm on road for driving a jeep like a sports car you want something that very hard to achieve. This is typically done with coil overs and bypass shocks. You are talking around $10k+ for a set up like that and several mods to the jeep to fit then, not in your description of what you want.

You can do a bolt on adjustable shock like the kings or Rancho that allow you to adjust the compression or "stiffness" of the shock. Both of these should fit in your budget. You will also want to map out just what you want your jeep to be in the end with lift size, as your shocks need to be sized to the lift and the amount of clearance you have.

The 5100 series is stiffer then the rubicon shocks and I see it reported that the Fox are even stiffer then the 5100's so I am not sure why you would be looking into those shocks for a nicer ride. Adding a res on a shock is mostly bling although it will add a small amount of extra down travel due to the dividing pistion being moved to the res. Most adjustable shocks will have the res.

Throwing big $$$ numbers out there for buying this or that is not going to do anything for you if you don't know what you are doing. You can build a very capible rig for a resonable budget if you understand a little bit about suspension and how lifting affects the geometry.

Good luck with the build.

 

38 is above the factory recommendation. Let some air out.

 

Rancho's rebate is back. Amazon seems to have good prices on their shocks. The rebate is $75/$100 back depending on 7000/9000 shocks.