4.5" Rubicon Express long arm kit rides rough

thameren

thameren

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Joined
Oct 17, 2020
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15
Location
bc canada
My 98 4.0 has a 4.5" rubicon express long arm kit has the rebuildable hiem joints and bilstien 5100 shocks its been aligned but it rides terrible when I hit a bump it's jaring and the steering/body feel like it's going whereever it wants
Everything is torqued and tight have all new drive shafts
 
I like my Skyjacker Black Max shocks but I've blown up three.

Arguably my fault...overloaded the Jeep once and didn't set bump stops the second time.

-Mac
 
thameren said:
Would the rubicon express one's be better I've hear there basicly re valved 5100s
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I can't speak to those shocks or even recommend any off-the-shelf shocks as I am running tuned Fox 2.0 DSC coilovers. Some members with experience on various off-the-shelf shocks may chime in.
 
I have the JKS J-Spec shocks with their 2 inch spring lift. My TJ rides like it did factory fresh (and we have owned it since new/factory fresh).
 
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Update: so I did some thinking and research and found that my wife's new zj has some Ranchos on it has the same amount of lift and I'm going to swap the crossbars on the rear shock and put the bilstiens in the zj and try the Ranchos in the tj this friday
 
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thameren said:
Would the rubicon express one's be better I've hear there basically re valved 5100s
Click to expand...
The RE Monotubes ride ok on the street but they are TERRIBLE (!!!!) offroad. I installed a 4.5" RE longarm onto my previous TJ with their Monotubes and I had to slow down to 2-3 mph offroad on dirt roads due to them being unable to maintain control at normal dirt road speeds. Guys in my offroad groups would run off and leave me in the dust while laughing into their CB radios. I'm no fan of the 5100 shocks. From personal experience I'd go with the Rancho RS5000x shocks.

And what tire pressure are you running? Assuming you're running 35's, 24 psi is great for when the TJ is lightly loaded with just you and a passengers. 26 psi is good for when it's fully loaded with people and/or gear. Tire shops routinely overinflate tires, and neither is the tire pressure molded onto the tire's sidewall ever the correct pressure to run. The pressure shown on the sidewall is only the tire's maximum safe tire pressure which would only meant to be used if the tires were forced to carry their maximum possible safe load which would never be done since that leaves no safety margin.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
The RE Monotubes ride ok on the street but they are TERRIBLE (!!!!) offroad. I installed a 4.5" RE longarm onto my previous TJ with their Monotubes and I had to slow down to 2-3 mph offroad on dirt roads due to them being unable to maintain control at normal dirt road speeds. Guys in my offroad groups would run off and leave me in the dust while laughing into their CB radios. I'm no fan of the 5100 shocks. From personal experience I'd go with the Rancho RS5000x shocks.

And what tire pressure are you running? Assuming you're running 35's, 24 psi is great for when the TJ is lightly loaded with just you and a passengers. 26 psi is good for when it's fully loaded with people and/or gear. Tire shops routinely overinflate tires, and neither is the tire pressure molded onto the tire's sidewall ever the correct pressure to run. The pressure shown on the sidewall is only the tire's maximum safe tire pressure which would only meant to be used if the tires were forced to carry their maximum possible safe load which would never be done since that leaves no safety margin.
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Running 22psi 35" sttpros on 15" I constantly have a about 100-150lbs of gear with me I find l 24/25psi drive better on the highway but also relocates my vertebrae every pothole/bump
 
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thameren said:
Running 22psi 35" sttpros on 15" I constantly have a about 100-150lbs of gear with me I find l 24/25psi drive better on the highway but also relocates my vertebrae every pothole/bump
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My suggested tire pressures assumed a Load Range C tire which is correct for the TJ's weight. Could you be running a stiffer D or E load range tire?
 
thameren said:
Update: so I did some thinking and research and found that my wife's new zj has some Ranchos on it has the same amount of lift and I'm going to swap the crossbars on the rear shock and put the bilstiens in the zj and try the Ranchos in the tj this friday
Click to expand...

The Bilstein shocks actually ride ok with the heavier ZJ.
 
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TheBoogieman said:
The Bilstein shocks actually ride ok with the heavier ZJ.
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I recently had an eye-opening experience on shock absorbers- Thanks to @JMT

When I added weight to the rear of my LJ by hooking up my trailer it rode and drove fantastic- He said man that means your vehicle is not heavy enough for your shocks.

Pretty eye opening.
 
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AndyG said:
I recently had an eye-opening experience on shock absorbers- Thanks to @JMT

When I added weight to the rear of my LJ by hooking up my trailer it rode and drove fantastic- He said man that means your vehicle is not heavy enough for your shocks.

Pretty eye opening.
Click to expand...

Or your shocks aren't the proper length and the weight corrected the problem. 🤫
 
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