WH 3.5" lift shock upgrade

[papy]

Hi All,

I have a WH 3.5" lift on my 67 Bronco.
single steering stabilizer shock front
shock hoops in front dual shocks
dual shocks rear
11 leaf pack rear springs

After cruising around that last couple years i am ready for a softer more enjoyable ride. Right now with my current set up she rides really rough/hard. Will upgrading the shocks make a noticeable difference? i am looking at the Bilstein 5100.

be nice to hear what members have done for upgrades

cheers

 

[gr8scott]

You'll get the ride you're looking for with the Bilsteins. I sure did.

 

[DirtDonk]

I agree that the Bilstein‘s are probably going to give you a better ride.
I have a couple of recommendations though.

First and foremost is simply to remove one shock per corner. See how that works.
If it makes a big improvement and still handles well, without bouncing around, then great, you’ve just saved some money and can upgrade to the Bilstein’s later.

What size and load range tires are you running?
How much air pressure in the tires?
Too much air pressure, or too stiff of a tire will also increase ride harshness.
How old are the tires? Tires that are near to, or well past their aging out date will ride harder than new tires.

You show pictures of the vehicle stripped down for a restoration, but it sounds like you’re driving it? So presumably it’s all put back together? If so, is it complete and at full weight, or is it running light right now?
By light, I mean is it running without a hard top or rear spare or things like that.

 

[onpier55]

I have the same setup as you. Wh 3.5”.
35” tires. But one shock per corner and bilsteins. It’s a smother ride than my wife’s Honda Pilot. Smooth at high speeds.

 

[1969]

Dump the dual shocks and run a quality single and I’d also go straight to the bilsteins too.
Not sure why the vendors haven’t released a quality shock package with a 2.5 resi shock from king or fox (if they have not sure why it’s not pushed more either) and the likes every other 4x4 it seems like now a days have plenty of shock options. They seem to be stuck in 1994 with the crappy white body mono tube shocks still.

 

[papy]

Thank you for all the replys and suggestions so far.

I guess i should have better described my build as it sits today. the earlier pics were from my build folder just showing the suspension set up.

I am running 35x12.50x15 BFG k02 all terrains
all 4 corners are at 28 psi city and I boost them up to 32psi for hi-way road trips. this is where the the bronco likes to ride most comfortably
tires are load range C
tires date stamps were dated same as when I purchased them a couple years ago and are still in good shape few miles and not beaten down always garage stored

Looks like the 2 per corner shocks is not so popular anymore? this lift kit was part of the package when I bought my bronco several years ago so I just installed what I had.

for the front its probably best I remove the front rear facing shocks and keep the one closest to the coil? that would the closet to the original set up and our course for the rears I will remove forward facing shocks that I installed. I will run with 1 per corner and see how much of a difference it makes then I will most likely step up to the bilstien 5100's and be done with it. I just installed 5100's on work truck and it made a huge difference.

JP

 

[papy]

You'll get the ride you're looking for with the Bilsteins. I sure did.

are you also running with one shock per corner ?

 

[toddz69]

Thank you for all the replys and suggestions so far.

I guess i should have better described my build as it sits today. the earlier pics were from my build folder just showing the suspension set up.

I am running 35x12.50x15 BFG k02 all terrains
all 4 corners are at 28 psi city and I boost them up to 32psi for hi-way road trips. this is where the the bronco likes to ride most comfortably
tires are load range C
tires date stamps were dated same as when I purchased them a couple years ago and are still in good shape few miles and not beaten down always garage stored

Looks like the 2 per corner shocks is not so popular anymore? this lift kit was part of the package when I bought my bronco several years ago so I just installed what I had.

for the front its probably best I remove the front rear facing shocks and keep the one closest to the coil? that would the closet to the original set up and our course for the rears I will remove forward facing shocks that I installed. I will run with 1 per corner and see how much of a difference it makes then I will most likely step up to the bilstien 5100's and be done with it. I just installed 5100's on work truck and it made a huge difference.

JP

The Bilsteins should work real well with those tires and psi. As you said, remove the forward facing shock in the rear and keep the shock closest to the coil.

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

Dump the dual shocks and run a quality single and I’d also go straight to the bilsteins too.
Not sure why the vendors haven’t released a quality shock package with a 2.5 resi shock from king or fox (if they have not sure why it’s not pushed more either) and the likes every other 4x4 it seems like now a days have plenty of shock options. They seem to be stuck in 1994 with the crappy white body mono tube shocks still.

The twin-tube shocks are still popular because they work well for most applications and because although the median EB owner income has certainly risen over the years, we're all still pretty cheap , and twin-tube shocks are cheap.

2.5" (and even 2.0") monotube and monotube with reservoir shocks are a whole different game and because of all the different permutations of our trucks, it can get tricky figuring out exactly what works in each application. Vendors don't want to stock many multiples of SKUs with the expensive shocks that they might sell 3 of each year. It's a lot easier to peddle the expensive stuff when you're selling to Tacoma owners or JK/JL owners or Super Duty owners.

Todd Z.

 

[c0astie31]

Here is my take

I have the same setup you have, pretty much
3.5 duff kit with 70/30 shocks, 2 on each corner.
There is no way my bronco would drive with 1 shock on each corner. It felt horrible. All my shocks are new too. I tried bilstiens, 1 on each corner and it felt like I was in a boat. Bought 4 more to see it at would help, nope it was the same. Sold them and went back to the 70/30 duff shock and it is better but I still don’t think it’s perfect. You may get lucky with your setup
I was leaning toward my springs front and back are just used up and very soft.

 

[DirtDonk]

Sounds like you could benefit from some adjustable shocks like Rancho 9000’s.
They were not my absolute favorites, but they never lacked for damping when needed.
I really liked them when on a trip when fully loaded with gear. I could turn them up a bit to compensate for the extra weight.

 

[papy]

The Bilsteins should work real well with those tires and psi. As you said, remove the forward facing shock in the rear and keep the shock closest to the coil.

Todd Z.

thanks

will let you all know what i think once i put the Bilstein's on in a few weeks time

cheers

 

[gnpenning]

Curious why nobody has mentioned the Eibach shocks

 

[DirtDonk]

Probably just not as many points of reference yet. I’ve heard only good things about them, but there aren’t as many members using them yet as there are Bilstein shocks.
They just have a head start is all.

 

[Z Bronco]

Okay, I ran the Rancho soft valve 9000s, then the Doetch Tech MV 12s, both rode and handled well. My Bronco has been double shocked for the 35 years I have owned it, 300,000 miles on the Bronco, two thirds of that being double shocked. My current suspension is the WH 3 1/2 rock crawler suspension with the hoops in front (both shocks behind the coil), and the shock jock in the rear. When I checked out the Bilstein shocks, they didn't match my suspension travel and it was also recommended that I double shock the front (351W, Warn 8274 winch, Hanson 3/16" plate bumper)...the cost was a lot for those shocks, so I went old school. I put on the Duff shocks that are for double shocking. Only mod I did was to drill an extra hole in the shock jock to match the Duff setup in spacing. At that time it was a little over $300 for 8 shocks. My Bronco rides and handles great, much better than my Subaru Forrester. All shocks are the same size, I have full suspension drop in front and back. I bump stopped the front for full compression if I happen to go airborne (that's been a few years), I lost a total of 1/4" of upward travel to guarantee I wouldn't over compress the shock. The back has a 4 1/2" bump stop, no worries on full compression. I currently have an old set of BFG KM2s (35s) that are close to being replaced as they are close to resembling a racing slick (not quite that bad). I run between 27-30 lbs of pressure on the highway and air down off road. I also often tow an old military trailer behind my Bronco. Just throwing this into the pool of information and/or ideas.

 

[Qumanchew]

Curious why nobody has mentioned the Eibach shocks

I'm running the Eibachs and couldn't be happier. I've never had Bilsteins on a Bronco so I can't compare to them, but they are much better than any of the cheap ones I've run.