XJ: What Shocks?

The rear shocks on my daily '96 Cherokee are dead. So dead, that every time I go over a bump, I hear a thud. I'm guessing that bumps make the wheels, tires and stick axle get slightly airborne.

The last time I put shocks on the car, I went for basic NAPA units. They made no real difference in how the car drove. Ride height is stock. I'm thinking KYB or Bilstein. Other good options?

Rancho stuff is cheap and decent and can be found anywhere. I preferred OME (Old Man Emu) stuff for XJs. Not too expensive, good valving rates for an XJ, and lasts forever.

Bilsteins are good. Tokico used to make a decent cheap shock, it was green. (Descriptive, huh?)

I like the Ranchos as well. The RS5000s can be a little rough but not awful.

Our blue one has the adjustable RS9000XLs and we like them a lot. They run about $75 each from Advance with smart discount code usage.

I really like my bilstein's.

I had some RS5000s and then switched to the silver Bilsteins, which were much better in both ride and handling. The Old Man Emu stuff on my Land Rover was also excellent.

I loved my Rusty's Off Road's

http://www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-suspension/jeep-shocks-struts-mounts/jeep-xj-cherokee-84-01-shocks/

Hey I had a '96 XJ too! It was my baby from age 16 to 28.

I had some Skyjacker Nitro shocks for a while. No complaints, run about $45. When I lifted it, I ran the Rusty's Off-Road Shocks. Again, no complaints.

The Bilsteins are probably the nicest but are going to be more expensive. I've also heard positive things about the Old Man Emu (OME) shocks.

But the reality it, it's still going to drive like a Jeep with rear leaf springs. I wouldn't over invest in shocks because as you experienced before, they're not going to significantly change the ride quality.

XJ? I was thinking this. Until I read the post saying Rancho makes shocks for them/ Interesting when Googling XJ, it takes four pages of Jaguars before a Jeep appears.

You should have seen heads explode on here when i asked about "Towing with an XJ" a couple years ago.

I have Bilstein 5100s on my Wrangler. I am very happy with them. I'll second the OME stuff as well. You can't go wrong with either of them.

I don't know what shocks were on my XJ. I doubt it would of made any difference since every rubber part of the suspension was toast. Hey, while you are in there...

OME or Bilstein 5100s

I'll dissent and say Rancho 5000s suck, I've had them on my TJ for a decade +, they sucked when new, and still suck. A pressure treated 2x4 cut to length will provide equal or greater amounts of dampening.

I stuck some Gabriel Pro Guards on SWMBO's brother's Jeep, very budget minded solution, great for what they are, don't know how long they'll last.

Bilstein 5000 series, or OMEs are what I'd be putting on a stock ride height XJ.

I lifted our XJ and seriously considered Bilstein 5100/5150, but went with OEM <10 mile JK Sahara/Sport take-offs instead, hard to beat free shocks.

Swank Force One wrote: You should have seen heads explode on here when i asked about "Towing with an XJ" a couple years ago.

I was one of those.