Replaced all four of my RC 2.2 with Rancho 9000XL the other day. I learned that if you loosen the top nut, then you can rotate the shock body with your hand to get the nut of. It made it much easier. Also, the axle mounts were bent in by the second set of shocks, necessitating me using quite a bit of force to get the new shocks into that space. I can't imagine how hard it would be to replace them if one welded a skid to the bottom of the shock mount at the size they were from the RC shocks.


I didn't see any reason to jack mine in the air. Taking the front tires off may have given me a little more room, but I was able to do it pretty well without it.

 

Interesting that these are "body" down in the rear. my bilteiens are body up.

 

Nah. It wasn't difficult with the tires on, sitting on the ground. A flathead screwdriver can be used to pry the bottom of the shocks up to ease the removal of the bottom bolt. It takes the preload off the bolt. When you are seating the new shock, stick another screwdriver through the bolt hole to keep it centered in the mount while you use the flathead screwdriver to pry the bottom of the shock upwards; then insert the threaded bolt. Much easier. The shocks can be compressed by hand with a slow, constant force. No need to jack the Jeep. Just turn the steering wheel to give yourself mire room.

 

Sure, if the wheels are off, you'll have a little more room to work with. But you don't really need it. I had mine off, but that's only because I was doing other mods at the same time. Since my Jeep was sitting on jackstands under the axle, all having the tires off bought me was a little easier time seeing what was what. Compressing the new shocks so they'd slip into place took a little bit of effort, but only a little bit.

 

Interesting indeed. The arrows on the shock body said 'to ground' and all the google images show them the way I installed them. Wonder what the characteristics are between the two??? What billi's are you running?

 

5100's. you can't get it wrong, there is a T mount on the rear top. Just wonder what the difference is.

 

Yeah. We need to do some tests, data, whatever it is that road and track guys get paid for. Haha the 5100s were my other choice. Hows the ride?

 

Great so far! I've not gotten many miles on it since install but they are much better than the stock X shocks. Best thing is that mine are setup for more lift too. Which is something that maybe down the road I'll do. I'm not discouraging anyone from running stock shocks however. I enjoy upgrading a little at a time.

Just so we're still on topic here. 17mm for the Bilstien vs. 16mm for stock and no adjustable wrench needed.

 

That's good. I purchased the pro comps suited for my two inches of lift. A little at a time is right. Budgets are great for that.

And, on topic, yes. The pro comp shocks use a 15mm nut. :-/

Removal of the stockers just took time and patience with a 16mm flare and 16mm open ended wrench.

 

x2 for the Gear Wrench.