FJ62: Bilstein shocks with OME (3 Viewers)

[jzilla]

That is too bad that did not work. Basically just select make, year and model and they will show up.

 

[ATXFJ]

That is too bad that did not work. Basically just select make, year and model and they will show up.

That's pretty obvious now that I've looked a little closer. I believe those Bilsteins are for the stock height application, OEM replacements not lifted. I believe you can still use those for a small lift but you will lose some suspension travel due to the extended limits of the shocks. I'm no expert, but that is probably frowned upon and might be damaging in extreme conditions. Bilstein does not have a specific set of shocks for lifted FJ62's. You have to buy ones based on collapsed and extended suspension measurements in their custom shock series and either mod the truck (weld and eye connection for the front shocks) or use eye-to-stem adapters.

5100 Series Shocks

 

[SNLC]

That's pretty obvious now that I've looked a little closer. I believe those Bilsteins are for the stock height application, OEM replacements not lifted. I believe you can still use those for a small lift but you will lose some suspension travel due to the extended limits of the shocks. I'm no expert, but that is probably frowned upon and might be damaging in extreme conditions. Bilstein does not have a specific set of shocks for lifted FJ62's. You have to buy ones based on collapsed and extended suspension measurements in their custom shock series and either mod the truck (weld and eye connection for the front shocks) or use eye-to-stem adapters.

5100 Series Shocks

It is really no big deal at all to modify the Ford shock tower to suit whatever you want. Basically chop it down to suit your needs, weld it together and weld it on. You can use them for SOA and super long travel or you can use them for stock suspension and not a lot of travel. We cut up the ones on my truck and modd'ed them to suit my needs. It turned out to be about the same as a stock tower hiegth wise just now I can mount eye/eye shocks in the front. No need to trim inner fenders, ect. Two advantages I saw to going this route. #1 no adapters needed and a large variety of shocks now can be fitted, anything eye/eye. #2 Front and rear shocks can now be swapped so I could carry one spare shock with me and it can fit in the front or the rear.

 

[Hank]

I have 5125's on my 90FJ62 with Haystee Parabolic lift. The shocks are excellent. I have the Ford F250 shock uppers welded right where I need them. My rears are a bit long for the upper mounts but I chose not to cut in to my tub just yet. My valving is 255/70, the rear is a little weak (gets hot and fades) but acceptable. I would not buy 5125's again. I would most definately purchase a take apart shock so I could tune to exactly my liking.

 

[chris0222]

Ok, I got everything installed. All parts worked great. The stem to eye connector worked perfect and bolted right in. These connectors seem to be built really well. The top of the front shocks still need to use the 5/8 bushings to mount to the connector. All other bushings need to be 3/4". The ride is much better, mostly notice that its a lot less bouncy.

 

[jzilla]

Would you be able to list the total cost? And a list of the parts and part numbers and where you got them please?
Thanks!
Up in Canada the OME shocks are $118 each!

 

[hunde]

Definitely considering this for my 60 with MAF / OME heavy 4" lift. Truck came this way and never driven a stock one so have no baseline, but man is it rough on the street. Haven't gotten it onto dirt yet but can imagine it would shake me stupid on washboard. Of course I could look into leaf removal, repositioning mounts, etc. But those shocks are sexy...

 

[chris0222]

Here are the parts I used for installing Bilstein 5125's on a 62 with OME 2.5"

Shocks I purchased from summit racing – Bilstein 5125’s valved 255/70. These are universal shocks and only come with eye mounting. 60 series LC’s use stem mounting for the front upper mounts so an adapter was necessary. The adapter effectively lowers the mounting point making the distance between the upper and lower mounting points closer together. This required purchasing a different shock length for the front. Member ATXFJ posted earlier in this thread the compression and extension measurements for a FJ62 running OME 2.5” springs. They are -

Front: 349mm/589mm (or 13.7"/23.2")
Rear: 357mm/582mm (or 14.1"/22.9")

Based on these measurements member ATXFJ also posted front and rear part numbers for Bilstein 5125’s he thought would work well considering the lower mounting point for the front upper shock due to the conversion mount. He reported that the conversion mount would reduce compression and extension measurements by 1”. Part numbers he suggested and the ones I went with as well are as follows –

Bilstein part numbers 33-185590 (front) and 33-185606 (rear)

Now if you are going to be doing some serious off road I would suggest taking your own measurements to make sure and get the shocks that fit your application best. You don’t want the shocks to be bottoming out or fully extending when axel articulation is at maximum.

I wasn’t too concerned with getting the lengths perfect as I never take my truck off road.

The conversion bracket I used was from Poly Performance, Synergy Suspension universal shock stem adapter. Link -

Poly Performance JEEP/TRUCK & BUGGY*::*Shocks & Accessories*::*Shock Mounting Kits*::*Synergy Suspension Universal Shock Stem Adapter for Jeep TJ, XJ, JK, YJ, ZJ - 4X4 Off-Road Parts, JK Synergy Suspension Systems, Fox Racing Shox, Beard, CNC Brakes,

This adapter worked great!

These shocks come with 5/8” eye bushings. The eye mounting on the adapter is also 5/8” so that mounted perfect however the other mounts are ¾”. I purchased some ¾” bushings from Energy suspension that fit perfect. Here is a link to those bushings –

Energy Suspension 9.8108 Bump Stops - Shock Eyes - 98108

The ride is much better now and the conversion and install was really simple once you have the right parts.

 

[Moby]

Ok, I got everything installed. All parts worked great. The stem to eye connector worked perfect and bolted right in. These connectors seem to be built really well. The top of the front shocks still need to use the 5/8 bushings to mount to the connector. All other bushings need to be 3/4". The ride is much better, mostly notice that its a lot less bouncy.

Looks good! This mount is how I started with my 7100s. Then I found I was bottoming them out. I did what was suggested above with ford towers - I just chopped out a big chunk from the middle of them, welded them back up and welded them to the frame.

I just got back from a long road trip where my wife drove the truck quite a bit. With the 7100s plus the valving work that I did she said that it was handling much better (which it is). She said that she was now comfortable taking it up to 75mph, whereas before she would only drive it up to 70mph max.

 

[jzilla]

Thanks for all that info chris0222. At $20 for each conversion bracket and about $83 a shock, plus bushings for $4 each that is around $400 it looks like?, not bad still cheaper than ome which would be $472 without new bushings...and I guess once you have the adaptor it is easier to use other brands in the future in the front. I am running a belton 3 inch lift on my BJ60 so this should work...
These the same ones at truckspring.com? seem a few bucks cheaper.
http://www.truckspring.com/products/Bilstein-5100-Series-Shock-Absorber__33-185590.aspx

 

[chris0222]

The conversion brackets are $20 for 2 not each, so that helps cost some.

 

[chris0222]

One other thing to note is I thought the conversion bracket reduced compression/extension measurement by 1" and the shocks were ordered with that in mind.

However, its actually 2 1/4" reduction. With that being the case, if I had to do it again I would not get the same length shocks I listed for the front, they would need to be another 1 1/4" shorter.

Because I don't take my truck off road its not too big of a deal but it would be for some of you.

 

[jzilla]

Oh ok yes I just checked the site, $20 for a pair, not bad!
I guess the other thing you could do is just get the bilsteins for rear and ome for front as others have done if you don't want to bother with the brackets.
So looks like you save over $120 getting the bilsteins...

 

[Sixty's Guy]

Member ATXFJ posted earlier in this thread the compression and extension measurements for a FJ62 running OME 2.5” springs. They are -

Front: 349mm/589mm (or 13.7"/23.2")
Rear: 357mm/582mm (or 14.1"/22.9")

Just to add to the threas.......My calcs worked out like this:

OME shocks lengths are:
Front: 349/589mm
Rear: 349/594mm

My required shock lengths with OME 2.5" springs:
Front: 420/575mm
Rear: 455/600mm

Based on this I bought Bilstein 5125:
Front: BE5-6253-H5 357/572mm
Rear: BE5-6248-H5 659/404mm

I bought these shocks slightly longer than required in case I installed extended shackles later on. The rears are fine, could get away with the next size down if not running extended shackles (BE5-A463-H5 384/618mm).

The problem with the fronts is that because the adaptor moves the shock mount down by 50mm, you effectively have less travel due to installing a shorther shock. With the Bilstein shocks you either get shocks that are too long and will bottom out on compression or get them too short.

My thinking now is some shocks from the rear of an 80 series that will bolt straight up to the front of the 60.

 

[NetJunky]

Why hasn't anybody designed a shock mount that utilizes the Ford mount to bolt up to the FJ series trucks? Grind the 4 rivets down and bolt a mount up that is a few inches higher and it'll solve all our issues. Great for people that can't weld...Like me!

 

[SNLC]

Whatever you do, take carefull measurements of the distance between the mounting locations with the suspension completely unloaded (as in up in the air) and the current shocks removed. Calculate the minimum distance by subtracting the distance between the axle and bump stop. Then buy your shocks by the dimensions. I cannot begin to elaborate on how many times I have seen parts guys produce the wrong shock based on the manufacturer's literature. Don't rely on it.

x2, solid advice. Shocks that come with lift kits have also been the same for me more than once.

No matter what anybody tells you, you do not want the shocks being the limiting factor in the suspension.

I have ran 5150's with OME springs. Liked it but not a big fan of the 5150's.

Cheers

 

[NetJunky]

x2, solid advice. Shocks that come with lift kits have also been the same for me more than once.

No matter what anybody tells you, you do not want the shocks being the limiting factor in the suspension.

I have ran 5150's with OME springs. Liked it but not a big fan of the 5150's.

Cheers

Why didn't you like the 5150?

 

[SNLC]

Why didn't you like the 5150?

The adapters on the ends. Pulled one out once on a rear shock. Otherwise no issues.

Cheers

 

[NetJunky]

Ok. I was thinking you had issue with the ride quality. I am thinking of going with the 7100 series.

 

[IB14A69]

Bringing up an old thread here but I just purchased bilsteins for my 89 fj62. I didnt have to buy an adapter for the front shocks as Bilstein just came out with their 5125 shocks with stud mount. You still have to get different bushing though.