Rear Bilsteins for lifts

uncaged · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2017 8:57 am

I put the OME springs in and my stock length rear Bilsteins are topping out on the road with potholes. NFG. I was looking at the different models with 12mm eyes (installing washers to take up the width is fine). Does anyone have experience using any of these other shocks on the rear with a lift:

24-139175 extended 22" stock
33-151649 extended 24.3" for lifted Grand Cherokee
24-186704 extended 24.9"
33-151632 extended 25.9" for lifted Grand Cherokee
33-185859 extended ??? commonly recommended from a Dakota

Thanks for any help. I'm looking to maybe go 1 more insulator in the rear (3 total) and don't want these things topping out any more.

Thanks!

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2017 1:11 pm

uncaged wrote:

I put the OME springs in and my stock length rear Bilsteins are topping out on the road with potholes. NFG. I was looking at the different models with 12mm eyes (installing washers to take up the width is fine). Does anyone have experience using any of these other shocks on the rear with a lift:

24-139175 extended 22" stock
33-151649 extended 24.3" for lifted Grand Cherokee
24-186704 extended 24.9"
33-151632 extended 25.9" for lifted Grand Cherokee
33-185859 extended ??? commonly recommended from a Dakota

Thanks for any help. I'm looking to maybe go 1 more insulator in the rear (3 total) and don't want these things topping out any more.

Thanks!

First we need to know how much lift you have and what springs you used .
Next is it 2.5 ( normal lift ) 3, 3.5, 4 ??
At 3.5 or so the ones for a Dodge Dakota Club Cab 4x4 work great , jeepinbyal has the sleeves for the top to work great.
There is also the 132Ls now available from jeepinbyal that are the OMEs and correct length, GREAT shock
JBA also has listed all of the shocks for different heights

uncaged · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2017 3:49 pm

It has OME 948 springs in the rear with 2 upper insulators installed. Approximate measurement from the center of the hub to the top outer edge of the fender flare is 21.5" So how much lift is that classified as? With the way it sits now (parts in sig) the nose is higher than the rear, that's why I was thinking of another upper isolator.

How long are the Dakota shocks? It's strange, I can't seem to find specs for those.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:25 pm

uncaged wrote:

It has OME 948 springs in the rear with 2 upper insulators installed. Approximate measurement from the center of the hub to the top outer edge of the fender flare is 21.5" So how much lift is that classified as? With the way it sits now (parts in sig) the nose is higher than the rear, that's why I was thinking of another upper isolator.

How long are the Dakota shocks? It's strange, I can't seem to find specs for those.

If you have the 948 rear springs with two extra iso's per side you should be at 3.5 inches of lift and 22.5 middle of the wheel to bottom of the flare.
Or do you just have the one stock iso then one extra, if so then yes you can add one more extra on top.
The ones for the Dakota ( and they have to be for the club cab 4x4 ) are same length as the 132Ls from OME
Work great up to a 4 inch lift. I have installed at least 15-18 sets of each .
I have specs some where but not needed due to them working great

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:36 pm

Bilsteins 7100 12" travel short body shocks have the correct extended/compressed specs for a KJ's lifted 3.5"-4.5" and come with spacers for the eyelets.

Not cheap but will never have to buy another shock again as they are owner rebuildable.

uncaged · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2017 9:32 pm

Okay, so for grins I threw the Heepster on the lift and pulled some stuff off and took measurements.

Pulled both shocks off and let the axle hang at its full droop. This is the UCA resting on the 2 body brackets under the rear seat area.

The shock mount holes measured 22-5/8" on the left and 22-3/4" on the right, center to center. Of course, that's nominal, meaning the axle is somewhat even and one side articulating up would send the other down. Jacking up one side of the axle until that rear side started to raise off the rear lift arm pad (where my sketchy meter started to go off), the opposite holes measured 24".

The stock length Bilstein measured 22" center to center. Seems as-is, the shocks need to be about 3" longer.

For clarification, I currently have 2 OEM isolators on top of the springs.

GordnadoCRD · **Posted:** Mon Oct 09, 2017 11:18 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

Bilsteins 7100 12" travel short body shocks have the correct extended/compressed specs for a KJ's lifted 3.5"-4.5" and come with spacers for the eyelets.

Not cheap but will never have to buy another shock again as they are owner rebuildable.

Is this the one? https://thmotorsports.com/bilstein/bilstein-truck-off-road-m-7100-series-shocks/ak7112sb01/i-1735650.aspx

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Oct 10, 2017 9:08 am

uncaged wrote:

Okay, so for grins I threw the Heepster on the lift and pulled some stuff off and took measurements.

Pulled both shocks off and let the axle hang at its full droop. This is the UCA resting on the 2 body brackets under the rear seat area.

The shock mount holes measured 22-5/8" on the left and 22-3/4" on the right, center to center. Of course, that's nominal, meaning the axle is somewhat even and one side articulating up would send the other down. Jacking up one side of the axle until that rear side started to raise off the rear lift arm pad (where my sketchy meter started to go off), the opposite holes measured 24".

The stock length Bilstein measured 22" center to center. Seems as-is, the shocks need to be about 3" longer.

For clarification, I currently have 2 OEM isolators on top of the springs.

For clarification a lot of us have been lifting KJs for over 12-14 years now so what we ( tjkj and I ) listed works great

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 10, 2017 10:22 am

GordnadoCRD wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

Bilsteins 7100 12" travel short body shocks have the correct extended/compressed specs for a KJ's lifted 3.5"-4.5" and come with spacers for the eyelets.

Not cheap but will never have to buy another shock again as they are owner rebuildable.

Is this the one? https://thmotorsports.com/bilstein/bilstein-truck-off-road-m-7100-series-shocks/ak7112sb01/i-1735650.aspx

Yes but there are 6 choices for valving,these are "built to order" shocks.Make sure you get the valving you want,255/70 is just a tad stiffer then the OME's(which is way to soft for my liking).

uncaged · **Posted:** Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:29 am

So, to close the loop from the first post, I added another upper isolator (for a total of 3 OEM isolators) and installed a set of Bilstein 24-186704 shocks. They were $145. delivered for the pair. They have the correct 12mm ID metal collar eyes, and only needed one 1/2" flat washer on each side of the eyes when mounting in the brackets to take up the width when tightening the bolt.

Now, the approximate rear axle hub center to outside flare measurement is 22-1/4". The ride is great, and it's not topping or bottoming out anymore. Hope this helps someone that may have the same questions I had.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Oct 16, 2017 4:43 pm

uncaged wrote:

So, to close the loop from the first post, I added another upper isolator (for a total of 3 OEM isolators) and installed a set of Bilstein 24-186704 shocks. They were $145. delivered for the pair. They have the correct 12mm ID metal collar eyes, and only needed one 1/2" flat washer on each side of the eyes when mounting in the brackets to take up the width when tightening the bolt.

Now, the approximate rear axle hub center to outside flare measurement is 22-1/4". The ride is great, and it's not topping or bottoming out anymore. Hope this helps someone that may have the same questions I had.

But what vehicle are they for?
Many have different valving for proper ride , having the right valving with the right spring rate gives a good ride.
I know of some one who went with a Bilstein shock in the rear , complained about the ride for a year
switched out the shocks for correct ones we all had been installing and not a problem at all
One may work for say a full size pickup may not be valved right for the KJ for example

uncaged · **Posted:** Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:51 pm

The 24-186704 is a B8 5100 series for the rear of a 04-08 F-150 2WD. Bilstein does not publish valving rates for direct fitment (specific application) shocks. What the technical applications guy at Bilstein US could tell me was that compared to their rear Liberty specs, this has the exact same compression valving, and 400N more of rebound force. He said this would be beneficial to use with the OME rear springs. That's all I can tell you.

Again, hope this helps.

Rear Bilsteins for lifts

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