Shocks, what valving and length? 5.5" RK LA

1030 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by JKSteve, Oct 8, 2010

JKSteve

Discussion Starter · Oct 5, 2010

Thinking about the intended use of the jeep, and considering price since I'm unfortunately not loaded, I bought the 5.5" X factor plus LA from RK. I don't want to use the off the shelf 5100s they recommend because I'd like to optimize the length and get as much droop as possible. Running JKS adapters on the front will let me run the 5125 series but I don't know what valving to go with. The tech guy at bilstein recommended the 170/60, but the valving chart on their site says 255/70 front, and 170/60 for comfort in the rear. He also acted like he couldn't tell me the valving in the 5100s, not sure if he didn't know or just didn't want to tell.

As for length, I may run the Nth Shock shifters rear, so I'll just test and measure before I buy them. I'm not sure if the pinion will be rotated enough on the LJ to need the shock shifters or not. Gonna try to run a 12" travel for the front, we'll see, it might be to long with the adapter up top that drops it 1.1"

I don't run high speed anything offroad, just east coast hills and rocks. So is anyone running the "custom" series stuff from bilstein?

Thanks Guys.

Also, right now the rig is stock weight, but add the lift, bumpers with tire carrier and winch, fullsize spare, skids, armor, etc down the road.

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Squatchy07

· #2 · Oct 7, 2010

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been researching shocks to replace the RE ones I have now and don't like. I think I'm gonna replace 'em with 5150's or the new 5160's if I can wait til they release 'em. The valving for the front is the same as yours. And I don't know what I need in the rear.

Will the "performance" valving make the ride substantially "stiffer"?

Joey

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bojang

· #3 · Oct 7, 2010

You guys might want to check out the deal I think 4wd.com has with the rs9000xl, you can get a wireless controller thing for free.

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Darrel Mauzy

· #4 · Oct 7, 2010

Squatchy07 said:
I'm in the same boat as you. I've been researching shocks to replace the RE ones I have now and don't like. I think I'm gonna replace 'em with 5150's or the new 5160's if I can wait til they release 'em. The valving for the front is the same as yours. And I don't know what I need in the rear.

Will the "performance" valving make the ride substantially "stiffer"?

Joey

http://ok4wd.com/shop-by-category/lift- ... hocks.html

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Squatchy07

· #5 · Oct 8, 2010

Hey, hey... I thought I had read a release date of October somewhere. And Bilsteins site doesn't even have them listed yet. Thanx for the link!

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seal66

· #6 · Oct 8, 2010

if you do buy the shocks themselves from RK with the kit, they well be short. Right now the limiting factor on my RK 4'' LA is the shocks that was bought with them

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JKSteve

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 8, 2010

seal66 said:
if you do buy the shocks themselves from RK with the kit, they well be short. Right now the limiting factor on my RK 4'' LA is the shocks that was bought with them

Do you mean the bilsteins that they recommend? Their RRD shocks aren't available yet and I don't think they have any other RK shocks.

On rockkrawlers site they recommend a front shock that is 19 and 31 inches, and 17/27 rear. The off the shelf ones they recommend are only 17/28.5 front and 15.3/25 rear. I may just end up with these since I'm running Nth shock shifters rear, and maybe add a BPE front. The tech at bilstein was telling me the 255/70 valving in the generic 5125s and 5150 would be much softer on the road and allow more body roll than the 5100 for the TJ. I hate to buy them and not like them but have an extra 2 inches of travel. The regular 5100s will probably unseat the spring anyway, so there isn't much point beyond that.

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