shocking

Well, after talking to a few folks that suggested either the Rancho 9000 (115 ea) with a buy 3 get one free deal... I decided to save money and go with the Bilstein at $65.

Oddly, Autozone had the best price.

Don't forget Rock Auto, they may carry one or the other, and some of the stuff I get from them is cheaper than any other source I use.

Yep. I checked. Taxes and shipping worked out to be about the same.

Should get the shocks in Monday/Tuesday and providing the auto hobby shop isn't booked solid I'll get the fronts on. Backs are easy, the fronts have that stupid strut-like top nut that requires an impact wrench.

Then again, Hibdon tires offered to do the job for $15/shock. Might just do the rears then have Hibdon do the front. Would only be $10 more than the hobby shop fee.

Not surprised... Some things are much cheaper there, other things are not. We buy bulk from them (20-50 of a given item) so shipping is nominal when spread over the entire order.

For that price, I'd let 'em do all four! But certainly the front ones, unless you really like doing shocks. Me, shocks are one job that I'd just as soon have help with. Rusty bolts, dirt falling on me, etc., makes it a thankless job.

Good luck!

So far so good.

The back two Edelbrock IAS shocks were in piss poor shape. One didn't even take any effort to compress! I'd say it was dead. At any rate the bushing on one was totally shot. Guess I found my rattle in the back then. ^_^

The Bilstein shocks would have taken a lot of effort to compress had I not connected brain cells A and B to realize that jacking up the frame would make things easier. These things have some serious force to compress. I'd wager the Jeep is now sitting a bit higher.

The fronts are next but they are a strut type and the drivers side requires removing the brake booster sensor. (plastic fiddly bit that probably costs a lot if I break it) Seems to be held on by a spring ring. Gonna have to research that before I pull it off, just to make sure I don't fark something up.

Now I have screaming YELLOW shocks peaking out from the jeep. Looks like a twister game. Green Jeep, red and black bushings, Yellow shocks. All I'm missing is some blue bushings to make it a jello pukefest.

I'm reminded of the time I did front struts on a car. Pulled off the passenger side and held it up to look at it. The rod slid in with a clunk... If figured it wasn't doing very much to improve the ride or handling in that state. The other side was slightly (just slightly) better.

Well, all done.

I don't understand all the fuss folks seem to have had with those strut type shocks. It just takes a small box end to hold the shaft and a wrench to tighten the bolt.

Passenger side was a breeze. Damn shock fell out!

Drivers side was more difficult. Shock is wedged between the ABS brakes, booster, and intake. I just took the air box out and removed the washer fluid bottle. That gave me plenty of room to get in there. This side was FUBAR as well.... the top bolt was on by a couple of threads! That wouldn't have been nice to find out offroad.... :O

I thought about taking some photos or making a U-tube but honestly I needed to get the dang shocks in and there isn't that much light to fark around.