Shock bushings that FIT?

greiswig · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:34 pm

Hi, all,

After installing a lift with Doetsch Tech shocks in the rear, I got a lot of thumping. I was able to confirm that the urethane bushings and/or the steel sleeves (which are a little too large for the OEM bolts) are the culprits. How? I made my own upper shock bushings using rubber stoppers from the hardware store. Thumps gone. But there's no telling how long those will last.

Does anyone make a relatively soft urethane bushing that has an ID designed to fit snuggly on a 12mm bolt? Or is there another alternative?

KJ04 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:57 pm

You should have been supplied a few various size steel sleeves. Cut the longest ones down to fit the upper shock mount and torque to 85 ft. lbs.

Haven't had a problem with mine yet, in two years.

skrracing · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:10 pm

Yes this has been a long time problem with the DTs on a KJ. The Rancho RSX is the best cure for this problem and I hope others reading this before they buy the DTs will not do the same thing. You might call Quinn at All J Products...They used to sell a kit to fix this problem but most have just moved over to the Ranchos RSX...Believe me the ride is well worth it as well. later...Clint

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:17 pm

I have Ranchos now with my lift....and I've got a lot of thumping. I've been eliminating possible causes all along and just today I came to the conclusion that I have the same problem as you...my bushings aren't the right size for the bolts. If anyone has a cure let me know, otherwise I'm just going to wrap multiple layers of tape around the bolt to take up the slack.

skrracing · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:49 pm

LibertyCRD. Just FYI. The Rancho RS 5248 is for a non lifted KJ. You might be topping out your shocks. That could be ome of you noise or you might be beating the bushing to death on a lifted KJ. Hope that helps. later...Clint

greiswig · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:45 am

skrracing wrote:

Yes this has been a long time problem with the DTs on a KJ. The Rancho RSX is the best cure for this problem and I hope others reading this before they buy the DTs will not do the same thing. You might call Quinn at All J Products...They used to sell a kit to fix this problem but most have just moved over to the Ranchos RSX...Believe me the ride is well worth it as well. later...Clint

Okay, so in theory getting a set of bushings from these Rancho shocks and putting them in the DT shocks would fix this?

greiswig · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:47 am

KJ04 wrote:

You should have been supplied a few various size steel sleeves. Cut the longest ones down to fit the upper shock mount and torque to 85 ft. lbs.

Haven't had a problem with mine yet, in two years.

Ah...so those sleeves have a smaller ID? I didn't even bother to check that out. Thanks!

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:44 am

skrracing wrote:

LibertyCRD. Just FYI. The Rancho RS 5248 is for a non lifted KJ. You might be topping out your shocks. That could be ome of you noise or you might be beating the bushing to death on a lifted KJ. Hope that helps. later...Clint

The ones everyone sells for lifted KJs are the RSX17004, right? And those are actually listed for a Dodge Durango, correct? Well the ones I got are the RS series that directly cross with the RSX17004. So my shocks are the exact same length and everything as the RSX17004, they are just $15 less per shock.

I assume the bushings would be the same amongst all Ranchos, am I right? So are there any ways to take up the diameter of the bushings on these??

skrracing · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:59 pm

No...not all the sleves are the same. some are metric and some are not. It's not just the sleve length but also the dia as well. Hope that helps. If you go to the Rancho site...The shock you installed on your lifted CRD is for a non lifted KJ. Hope that helps. later...Clint

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:04 pm

Hmm.. Well when I looked up this shock I have, it was listed for the 98-03 Dodge Durango. And I thought that was the length I needed since that's what the RSX17004 is for.

Oh well... I guess this is one time I should have forked over the extra $30 for the shocks everybody else was using. Now I have to explore my options and try to find a way to make these bushings fit. Thanks for the tips. If you have any other ideas post 'em. I'm sick of the thumping noise.

FarmDiesel · **Joined:** Thu Sep 15, 2005 8:49 am **Posts:** 132

I ended up buying some 3/8" NPT pipe, drilling the inside to match the diameter of the shock bolts, and using that as a spacer inside the shocks. The OD of the pipe matches the ID of the shocks perfectly, and thus, I eliminated my kabumpbump.

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Thu Dec 22, 2005 9:36 am

That sounds like a great idea. Pardon my ignorance...but what is NPT pipe?

FarmDiesel · **Joined:** Thu Sep 15, 2005 8:49 am **Posts:** 132

NPT stands for national pipe thread or something similar. Just go to a hardware store and ask for 3/8 pipe...you can get either galvanized or black pipe...either will work.

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Thu Dec 22, 2005 7:52 pm

Well this is odd... I pulled the Ranchos off today and compared them to my stock shocks. The internal diameter of the Rancho bushings is identical to the ID of the stock bushings. So that cannot be the problem. The only real differences are the width of the bushings...with I corrected by using washers with the Ranchos. So effectively the width shouldn't be the problem either. Other than that the only difference is the sheer thickness of the bushing itself. The stock shocks have more "padding" there with a thicker bushing.

So I put the stock shocks back on and I'm going to drive it like that for a while and see if the noise goes away. That will at least prove whether it is the shocks making the noise or not. If it is the Ranchos...then based on my visual inspection I have no clue why they are making the thumping sound. Everything should be 100% tight with them in there. I guess we shall see....

Shock bushings that FIT?

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