Bilstein 5150's... 25-101874 or 25-186277

[NotMatt]

Getting ready to order some 5150's for the front of my wrangler. I have about 11" of total travel up front before bumpstopping it, so it looks like the 25-101874 or the 25-186277 are going to fit the bill.... both are 29.70" extended, and 17.78" collapsed. However, they appear to have two different valvings available (thus the two part numbers)....

I'm looking at either....

Shock #1 25-101874
*Compression @0.52m/s: 740
*Rebound @0.52m/s: 2665

or...

Shock #2 25-186277
*Compression @0.52m/s: 575
*Rebound @0.52m/s: 1600

My rig is a 91 wrangler 4.0, AX-15, Atlas II, sprung over with RE 1.5 leafs in front and flipped XJ leafs in back, D60 front and 14b rear, 42" TSL's on H1 beadlocks. I have about 4" of uptravel and 7" of down travel. I want it to ride soft but still handle well on forest service roads and such.

Which shock to go with? This will be on the front. For the rears I will probably run a 5125 or 5100 series with similar valving to whatever I pick for the front.

 

[Lucky Jeff]

They are discontinuing 5150's. And they break all the time. Mine did many years ago and Trevor told me it was a common issue.

 

[NotMatt]

They are discontinuing 5150's. And they break all the time. Mine did many years ago and Trevor told me it was a common issue.

Ok, so if I step it up to the 5165 line... I'm looking at 25-187748 or 25-187731. Both are 13" travel and have similar compression/rebound numbers as their 5150 counterparts... do I want the higher compression/rebound numbers, or lower?

 

[slednecks1124]

I just bought some FOA 14" 2.0 remote reservoir shocks for my wrangler, I havent put them on yet but I have read good things about them:awesomework:

 

[NotMatt]

I just bought some FOA 14" 2.0 remote reservoir shocks for my wrangler, I havent put them on yet but I have read good things about them:awesomework:

Great, but my question is really about the valving. I've already decided to go with the Bilsteins, just need to know what peoples opinions on the harder vs softer valving....

 

[benw1]

Why get 5165's when you could get 7100's for the same price and have a rebuildable, revalvable shock?

 

[NotMatt]

Why get 5165's when you could get 7100's for the same price and have a rebuildable, revalvable shock?

Ok... I'm not going to go pick through Bilstein's catalog again and find 7100's that match up for what I'm doing... but I'm sure there are a couple different ones that are similar in stroke and initial valving as the above comparisons. I'm not asking what shock I should go with, I'm asking about valving that would work best with my rig and how I want to use it.

So back to my original question... maybe someone can answer it... given a choice between the two, what would you pick on a 1-ton wrangler with leafs and full hydro steering and 42" TSL's and and and... etc. The softer valving or the harder valving?

 

[benw1]

I would want firmer compression and softer rebound. Which is why I recommended a rebuildable shock, because Bilstein doesn't offer an off-the-shelf valve code that gives you firm compression and soft rebound.

FWIW, Bilstein recommends 255/70 in the front and 275/78 in the rear of a leaf spring jeep. http://eshocks.com/bil_Orgd.asp

 

[RidgelineMotorsports]

The 255/70 valving is the most common that they sell. I rarely have anyone ask for anything but that for the valving on the bilsteins. I would go with the setup that Ben recommended though..