Xj shock mounting options

Jake.

Jake.

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Location
Middlesex
So I am about to order new shocks for the xj, and I want to go with a longer travel setup. I am going to be getting the Bilstein 5165's front and rear, going with their 13.1" travel front and 14.2" travel rear. They are short body being only 17.9" for the 13.1" flavor and 20.7" for the 14.2. For the rears I am going to run a crossbar right behind the rear seats with the shock tabs welded to it. The front is where I'm gonna need to figure out what I want to do as far as mounting. From what I've seen so far I'm going to have to hole saw the factory shock tower and build a hoop above to mount a shock tab. My current shock is ~16.5" collapsed but I haven't actually taken measurements yet so if I'm within 1.25 inch of bottoming out the shock at bump then I might be able to bolt up the bilstein without modification. I'm also going to relocate the lower tabs to the side of the lca mount so that should give me another 1.5". Does anyone have any info on this? I think I am hitting bump before I fully collapse the fronts as it is so that tells me I should be able to run the fronts without changing the mounts. Really I'm not so much worried about the fronts but I run out of droop in the rear at full flex.
 
If your going to go threw all the trouble of building new shock hoops and moving the mounting points on the axle. Why not just save a little bit longer and get air shocks or coil overs on the front?
 
Damnit Logan! I had coilovers in the back of my mind the whole time and now that you say it, it does make a ton more sense. I priced it out and I'm only looking a few hundred more bucks to go coilovers. From what I've seen I can make towers that weld to the unibody and extend into the engine bay. With a lot of bracing I think it would be pretty easy actually. Seems most people are running 14" travel on the front. I will probably buy 16" rears and just run them as shocks until I'm ready to link the rear.
 
Ok well I just ordered FOA 14" resi coilovers with dual rate hardware for the front. Now I just have to get my corner weights so I can order springs and get busy on building towers when they come in. Should be fun.
 
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