Bilstein 7100 Short or Standard Body Help?

[HEP111]

I'm having trouble finding out why some use the short body vs. standard body shocks of 10" or 12" lengths...ie why get a 12" if your then going to order it in a short body configuration that limits its throw?
Could someone explain the reasoning why? I see the differences on Bilsteins website w/ pistion collapsed and lengthened #'s and it seems that a short body 12" is almost compairable to a standard 10"...??? Why not just run standard length and bumpstop accordingly?
Looking for the right length shock and best value of the 7100 series so if anybody has a good supplier let me know!
Specs:
'99 XJ
- D-30 Rusty Coil 6" TNT trussed w/Warn 5 on 5 1/2 Superior Hub, WJ brakes, 4.56.
- D-44 Full Float warn bolt patern as above, hybrid dodge main/ leaf Rustys leafs, TNT ubolt elim.; relocated shock mounts/custom shock hoop, 4.56, ZJ Rear Disks

@ 6 1/2in lift now...want to lower slightly to 5 - 5 1/2"... and bumpstop accordingly.

Any thoughts Gents?

 

[Skullver]

I'm having trouble finding out why some use the short body vs. standard body shocks of 10" or 12" lengths...ie why get a 12" if your then going to order it in a short body configuration that limits its throw?
Could someone explain the reasoning why? I see the differences on Bilsteins website w/ pistion collapsed and lengthened #'s and it seems that a short body 12" is almost compairable to a standard 10"...??? Why not just run standard length and bumpstop accordingly?
Looking for the right length shock and best value of the 7100 series so if anybody has a good supplier let me know!
Specs:
'99 XJ
- D-30 Rusty Coil 6" TNT trussed w/Warn 5 on 5 1/2 Superior Hub, WJ brakes, 4.56.
- D-44 Full Float warn bolt patern as above, hybrid dodge main/ leaf Rustys leafs, TNT ubolt elim.; relocated shock mounts/custom shock hoop, 4.56, ZJ Rear Disks

@ 6 1/2in lift now...want to lower slightly to 5 - 5 1/2"... and bumpstop accordingly.

Any thoughts Gents?

well........they are shorter but still give you 12" of travel(if you tried fitting a standard 12" travel shock you would have little to no compression travel. The problem with the stock shock mounts in front is that the upper mount is too low and the lower mount is too high so fitting a shock in there with a decent amount of travel is hard. I would think that a good all around set-up would be around 6" up and around 6" down travel which is about where the 7100 short bodies give you with near stock mounting locations(although they are an eye-eye shock so you would have to do something about that) on around 6.5" of lift, but I would measure to be safe.

you can try hitting up a supporting vendor here, or you can get them from eshocks.

 

[xcm]

some people care more about travel then others.
rock crawlers dont give a shit as long as everything works at slow speeds. why else would so many of them run such shitty shocks?
go-fast types do care.

draw up a little picture if you cant wrap your mind around it. you do not want to limit your travel because you bought shocks that are too short.


also, longer travel = more oil, more oil = cooler oil.

 

[tbburg]

rock crawlers don't give a shit as long as everything works at slow speeds. why else would so many of them run such shitty shocks?

Actually, the "shitty" shocks that the rock guys run are just fine, FOR THEM. They may hit a bump hard, but they don't cycle the suspension fast for hours on end. Why spend 1500.00 on shocks when you never get over 40mph, and all the highway driving is on a trailer?

also, longer travel = more oil, more oil = cooler oil.

necessary for the "speed" guys after the first. say 1/2 hour. Heat is what kills shocks. The biggest shock you can fit/are allowed to run will give you the best performance over the longest time.

 

[xcm]

yes and pinto's work fine for some people.
just dont call it a quality car, or i might get up on a soapbox!
this debate has been done before.
you rock crawlers dont adjust your advice for jeepspeeders, why should i adjust mine for you? hes asking about the 7100's (a good shock), so im pretty convinced hes down with the quality of a racing shock, and is not interested in cheap CRAP.

so....?

 

[HEP111]

Lol I'm choosing to go with 7100's as there good quality w/ the adjustability I'm looking for for the DIY guy... Hey if theres another shock out there for the same or less $$$ that I can adjust the shims instead of sending the whole shock off to a manufacture let me know!

I've looked to build this XJ (I've owned nothing but Heeps since I learned how to drive... (CJ-8, CJ-7 and this is my 2nd XJ in that order..) as a do everything well / Expedition / DD for the next 10yrs...or 'til D-90's are brought back over here!!! lol....

I understand about fade and xtra oil for cooling n such as my buddy here in Vegas is a go fast fabracator type that races SCORE, SNORE etc... Light is right in my world but I also drive snow, mud and rock...

Back on topic... I have JKS relocation in front with custom rear and like to keep things simple so not looking for huge droop or insane articulation as I'll prob. run a center mount limiting strap anyhow at some point... just want to know what most run and understand the afore mentioned differences...
Thanks guys!

 

[xcm]

the xj is the perfect match for both. it can haul some ass with the right modifications.

i said it before, but it really does help some people to draw a few pictures, it sure helped me figure out shock lengths.... for instance 12" travel fox shocks are longer overall then the 12" 7100 shortbodys... so if the fox 12"s wont fit... you can stuff the 7100's in there... and still get 12" of travel. basically the compressed length is smaller.

about the jks relocation... i assume your talking about the lower bar pin eliminator?
theres 2 differant products from jks one is for regular shocks w/ a rubber bushing down bellow, and theres the 'conversion' which accepts a shock with a lower heim joint. (like the 7100)

both the upper and lower front shock mounts are available for either. its a shame nobody else makes a similar product, as jks KNOWS you need something from them unless you can fab it yourself, and they take advantage on prices imo (a package deal at a lowered cost would be cool of them)

 

[xcm]

I'm having trouble finding out why some use the short body vs. standard body shocks of 10" or 12" lengths...ie why get a 12" if your then going to order it in a short body configuration that limits its throw?

i just saw this, and thought it might be a part of the confusion.

the 'throw' or 'travel' of a 12" and a 12" sb 7100 are the same... 12"!
the compressed and extended lengths are whats differant, obviously the short body is that... shorter (i cant remember how much, but it comes into play when fitting shocks)