Shocking!

[bcemrich]

Well I finally got around to replacing the shocks on the YJ. I try not to just fire the parts cannon at new-to-me vehicles; and since the YJ drives like no other vehicle I've owned I didn't suspect the shocks were bad. The front shock had a hole worn through the piston rod shield and I was thinking the sharp edges might imperil the brake hose so I decided to order a pair. When I got the front ones out I was surprised how bad they were. I did notice the improvement after replacing the fronts over rough pavement, speed bumps and a little vibration at 63 mph went away. I went ahead and did the rears also, they were not as bad. The YJ has 76K miles on it and for all I know these were original.

 

[machoheadgames]

I experienced similar when I did the lift on my new-to-me YJ back in January 2014. The old shocks did not extend. The ride was terrible, which made me think all YJs ride terribly. Then the shocks provided with the lift maintained that thought. It wasn't until I tried OME suspension that I realized the YJs could ride nicely, and then when I put mine back to stock height and used Bilsteins, realized that even a stock setup could also ride nicely. It's a bit firm but overall rides great.

It was around 50K when I did mine. I think time kills them more than anything. I also think the stock ones are just not very good. Even if they were new, they probably wouldn't have rode all that well.