PagosaJeep

Hello. I have a 2008 Jeep JK with a 4" lift and 35" tires that keeps blowing rear shocks. I pull my boat with it, as well as an R-pod RP-176T RV. The RV's tongue weight is only 278lbs according to the manufacturer. Has anyone had this issue before? I believe it's the RV but I am not certain. I have replaced the shocks twice now in a span of 1 year. If it is the RV is there anything I can do to resolve the issue? I have never gotten it weighed at a truck scale, so have no idea of the total weight but was told it was well below the GVWR of my jeep which I believe is 3500lbs. I do not have a stock rear bumper, but instead a Smittybuilt XRC bumper.
Any info you guys can provide would be great. I am fairly ignorant when it comes to shocks.

Thanks!

karls10jk

You've got proper bumpstops and limiting straps for the rear axle, correct? That *may* be part of the problem but it sounds like your shocks are having a hard time handling the load.

If that's the case then some air bags in the rear would help you out. They're relatively cheap, $100, and it'll firm up the rear end so there isn't as much of a load transferred to your shocks.

Also...what brand/ type of shocks are you running? Some Rancho 9000x's might be a good choice for you between the adjustability and warranty.

larry0071

Load transferred to shocks? Shocks are motion dampeners, they do not hold or support any load. The shock is there to dampen motion so that the suspension does not bounce like a basketball. The airbags would take load away from the coils and prevent rear sag, but the shock is not a part of the load bearing components.

Like asked above, what shock, are you properly bump stopped and limited so that you not bottoming the shock at full extent or full compression? Are you "blowing the shock" as in leaking oil, or are you breaking the piston free inside the shock body and the shock is going limp? With the setup done correctly, even a parts store shock should last a few years.

karls10jk

My experience has been that slowing down the coil bounce by stabilizing the coil then reduces the extremes that the shock absorber sees.

Again- from experience pulling a trailer that is a little heavy.

PagosaJeep

Hey guys. Thanks for the education and help! I'm running Procomp ES9000 shocks back there. Both times that's what I had installed. It was installed by the Jeep/Chrysler dealer where I bought the Jeep. larry0071, if you could let me know what you mean by checking the bumpstops and limiters that would be great. Sorry, very ignorant when it comes to this. The two times I've changed the shocks the problems were leaking shocks, and the other time it was leaking and the bushings in the shocks had gone out. I live in the mountains, so all the roads I am on are dirt roads, many of them rough. And of course the mountain passes I drive on for fun to do 4 wheeling are big boulders, pot holes, rocks, etc so it is definitely an extreme environment. Maybe it's not the RV at all? Maybe it's my 4 wheeling extending the shocks too much because of limiters and/or bumpers? If you could tell me how to check those, that would be great.

Thanks again everyone!

DKJEEP

My 08' keeps blowing the drivers side rear. I just installed new ones all the way around and that was the second set to blow the drivers side rear only.

resharp001

$5 says you dont have enough bumpstop in the rear and are allowing the shock to compress completely. take a look under the back and see if you have bumpstops mounted on the top of the alxe tubes between upper control arm mounts and the springs. hard to exactly what size bump you need not knowing/seeing your setup, but would guess that with a 4" lift you most likely should have about 3" bumpstop. below is a generic pic of what you're looking for. if you look down there, you'll see there is a little rubber thing under the body of your jeep. that should compress against your bumpstop prior to your shock fully compressing when your rear suspension is compressed......if it doesn't, your shock is compressing all the way which is obviously no bueno.

Chuck-The-Ripper

I don't have very much knowledge about the whys or how's, but I can say this. I blew 3 sets of the procomp es9000 shocks in the rear in the 1.5 years I had them on my jeep. My bump stops were sized correctly too.