brianglawson
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Greensboro, NC
OK so first off... I have two Jeeps.
This Thread is meant to be informative and to answer a few of my questions!
OK so first off... I have two Jeeps.
One: My Rig, some of these mods are presently “in progress”
1998 Jeep Cherokee
4 door
4.0 liter Inline 6
AW4 Automatic
NP231
Chili Pepper Red (2010 factory respray)
Froehlich Suspension 3 Link Long Arm Upgrade with Skid (In Progress)
Froehlich Suspension Track bar (In Progress)
Rusty’s 4.5" coil springs
Rusty's 4.5" leaf springs
Rusty's 1.75" coil spacers
Rusty's 1.5" Greasable Shackles
Rusty's Fixed Lower Control arms
Rusty's shocks
Rusty’ s Cut Out Fender Flares
JKS Quick Disconnects
Iron Rock Offroad Bar Pin Eliminators (current query)
Iron Rock Offroad Heavy Duty Tie Rod
Iron Rock Offroad Stainless Steel Brake Lines
HD Offroad Frame Stiffeners
JCR Offroad Stage II Rock Rails (In Progress)
Teraflex Steering Stabilizer
4.88 Gears (In Progress)
16x8 Jeep Rubicon MOAB Wheels, painted (and baked) gloss black
Spidertrax Offroad 1.5" Wheel Spacers Front & Rear
305/75/16 Firestone Destination M/T's (33x12.50)
Rig Two: My Wife’s Rig; also has some “in progress.” She sits at about 2-2.5” over stock. FULL WRITE UP COMING SOON!
2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport
4.0
AW4 Automatic
NP231
Orvis ZJ Up Country Coil Springs
Rusty’s .75” spacers
6 Leaf XJ Leaf pack (alas Rock Lizard)
Iron Rock Offroad Bar Pin Eliminators
Monroe Sensa-Trac 37120 (YJ) Front Shocks
Monroe Sensa-Trac 37029 (MJ) Rear Shocks
Monroe Magnum Steering Stabilizer
NOW… On to the Thread…
I bought Iron Rock Offroad BPE’s (Bar Pin Eliminators) for my XJ sitting at 6.5” a while back. When I bought them, they only had a picture of the front BPE’s on their site. The ONLY reason I purchased them is because they DO NOT rotate the shock’s orientation. One only has to think about how axles move when they flex to see that you want your shock pins running on the same axis as stock (Front AND Rear, Top AND Bottom mounts). When I received my order of Front and Rear BPE’s from IRO, the rears, low and behold, looked just like most BPE’s; they looked like I had made a set out of my rear sway bar brackets (except these were good thick metal with nice strong hardware.. oh, and shiny.) This was disappointing, as I did not want to rotate my shock mounts on the top rear, especially without rotating the bottom (id prefer to never do either.) So, I installed the front ones, and I LOVE them. I installed the BPE and I never had to remove it again. Not to take out a shock or anything. Just one bolt and I can undo the shock.
^^^^THESE GUYS ARE JUST WHAT IM LOOKING FOR, EXCEPT OBVIOUSLY FOR THE REAR AND PREFERRABLY A LITTLE MORE ELEVATED/DROPPED FOR BOLT ACCESS.
I had decided not to install the rear, and THEN I decided to read on
and a lot of people argued that it doesn’t hurt the shocks. Well, when I tried to install it, where the bushing’s axis had changed, I literally could not get the shock up into the double sheared mount. My axle is now so low that when the BPEs are seated FLAT against the undercarriage, the shock bushing is a great deal off in angle. SOOOOooo.. I never ran them….
^^^^THESE GUYS ARE BAD (BUILT WELL, BAD DESIGN) THEY ROTATE, WHICH IS A NO-NO! (Your opinion may differ, your loss )
Fast Forward to two weeks ago, and I was installing a Home-brew, Screw OME (mine rides way better) 2” lift on my Wife’s recently purchased 2000 Cherokee. The Monroe shocks either needed bar pins to install them, or BPEs, so I robbed the front BPE’s off of MY jeep which had worked great (now I need new ones, which I will get too shortly). For Shits and Giggles, I decided to see if the rear BPE’s would work with her 2-3” lift. Low and Behold, they worked fine. Now her jeep is all hooked up. HOWEVER, Let me QUALIFY the Rear, rotated, IRO (and MOST other Rear BPE’s) I BELIEVE (IMHO) should only be used on lifts of 3” or less. I ONLY decided to leave them on due to my wife’s XJ being a Daily Driver. She won’t be articulating her suspension a whole lot. It is plainly evident that when/if her rear gets super flexed, the shaft of the shock absorber, and more so, the bushings on top will be under WAY more stress than they would if they were in the stock orientation. In the stock orientation, both upper and lower mounts work together to alleviate this problem. However, at low lifts… I wouldn’t worry too much about them. *Pics for reference.*
Now, anyone can argue all they want that rotating only the top shock mount isn’t a problem… all I can tell them is go flex your rear suspension, crawl under it, and think as hard as you can about what would happen if the two axis can’t work together.
SOOO now on to my questions. The former info is a just so you know kind of thing for people looking for BPEs.
I need new BPEs for my jeep. After the IRO dilemma (not a big one, I firmly believe they make good quality parts, I just believe their parts guys were FOS when they said the rears are fine, they wouldn’t even bolt up; but like I said, they work on the wife’s rig, and I would not ever hesitate to buy other things from them, including another set of front BPE’s), I decided I would Go for the JKS, ones, since I know JKS makes nice stuff!!! After looking at the install instructions, ALL I can say is SCREW THAT.
^^^^THESE ARE SURELY BUILT WELL, BUT WHO THE HELL WANTS TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THOSE PAIN IN THE REAR BOLTS UNDER THE FRONT COIL MOUNTS OR THE RUSTY ONES ON THE REAR CROSSMEMBER?!?!?!? BAD DESIGN FAIL!!
Yes The JKS obviously preload the bushings on the shocks, getting rid of that annoying clunk that Bar Pins can develop, but why on this Green Earth they made it to where you have to remove the BPE to remove the shock is numbs my mind! What a HORRIBLE design flaw. For anyone, who never wants to touch their rear shock bolts (after they have done one of the numerous methods to fix the 4 they broke when lifting their jeep, or the 4 they WILL break when they do [I used the 20 gauge wire/drift punch method on the wife’s) the JKS BPE’s would be a TERRIBLE decision. I was deeply saddened when I realized this fact when shopping a while ago.
I know JKS makes great stuff, but I refuse to buy something that will be a nuisance to work with when BPE’s that are made like the ones for the Front by IRO, or these pictured below I found supposedly by Full traction not only preload the bushings, but make shock install and removal SOOOOO much easier. Also, these on Amazon by ZONE Offroad look like the real deal, but I can’t find anyone who has used them to verify fitment!
Supposed “Full Traction” pictured here http://my98blackjeepxj.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favorite-bar-pin-eliminator-full.html
^^^^ZONE OFFROAD on Amazon
SO now, finally, my question is, what manufacturers offer BOTH front and rear Bar Pin Eliminators that DO NOT rotate the Shock orientation. Also, while I’m at it, are there any BEEFY front Upper Shock adapters/mounts available????
Bar pin Eliminators that do not rotate the shock mounts:
JKS (Very inconvenient)
Iron Rock Offroad *FRONT ONLY (rear do rotate)
ZONE Offroad on Amazon *Rear only, no front avail.
Full Traction??
Who else???
BPE’s that DO rotate shocks (just don’t get em)
Rusty’s F&R
Teraflex F&R
Rear Sway Bar Bracket Homebrew BPE’s
Iron Rock Offroad Rears
And MOST others.
Maybe this was just a lot of rambling for nothing, but I would love to find a good set of BPEs, nice and simple, double shear that Do not rotate the shock mounts, match Front and Rear (just for the hell of it) and that elevate/drop the mount about 1” so I can gave good easy access to the bolt to remove the shocks.
-Brian
This Thread is meant to be informative and to answer a few of my questions!
OK so first off... I have two Jeeps.
One: My Rig, some of these mods are presently “in progress”
1998 Jeep Cherokee
4 door
4.0 liter Inline 6
AW4 Automatic
NP231
Chili Pepper Red (2010 factory respray)
Froehlich Suspension 3 Link Long Arm Upgrade with Skid (In Progress)
Froehlich Suspension Track bar (In Progress)
Rusty’s 4.5" coil springs
Rusty's 4.5" leaf springs
Rusty's 1.75" coil spacers
Rusty's 1.5" Greasable Shackles
Rusty's Fixed Lower Control arms
Rusty's shocks
Rusty’ s Cut Out Fender Flares
JKS Quick Disconnects
Iron Rock Offroad Bar Pin Eliminators (current query)
Iron Rock Offroad Heavy Duty Tie Rod
Iron Rock Offroad Stainless Steel Brake Lines
HD Offroad Frame Stiffeners
JCR Offroad Stage II Rock Rails (In Progress)
Teraflex Steering Stabilizer
4.88 Gears (In Progress)
16x8 Jeep Rubicon MOAB Wheels, painted (and baked) gloss black
Spidertrax Offroad 1.5" Wheel Spacers Front & Rear
305/75/16 Firestone Destination M/T's (33x12.50)
Rig Two: My Wife’s Rig; also has some “in progress.” She sits at about 2-2.5” over stock. FULL WRITE UP COMING SOON!
2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport
4.0
AW4 Automatic
NP231
Orvis ZJ Up Country Coil Springs
Rusty’s .75” spacers
6 Leaf XJ Leaf pack (alas Rock Lizard)
Iron Rock Offroad Bar Pin Eliminators
Monroe Sensa-Trac 37120 (YJ) Front Shocks
Monroe Sensa-Trac 37029 (MJ) Rear Shocks
Monroe Magnum Steering Stabilizer
NOW… On to the Thread…
I bought Iron Rock Offroad BPE’s (Bar Pin Eliminators) for my XJ sitting at 6.5” a while back. When I bought them, they only had a picture of the front BPE’s on their site. The ONLY reason I purchased them is because they DO NOT rotate the shock’s orientation. One only has to think about how axles move when they flex to see that you want your shock pins running on the same axis as stock (Front AND Rear, Top AND Bottom mounts). When I received my order of Front and Rear BPE’s from IRO, the rears, low and behold, looked just like most BPE’s; they looked like I had made a set out of my rear sway bar brackets (except these were good thick metal with nice strong hardware.. oh, and shiny.) This was disappointing, as I did not want to rotate my shock mounts on the top rear, especially without rotating the bottom (id prefer to never do either.) So, I installed the front ones, and I LOVE them. I installed the BPE and I never had to remove it again. Not to take out a shock or anything. Just one bolt and I can undo the shock.
^^^^THESE GUYS ARE JUST WHAT IM LOOKING FOR, EXCEPT OBVIOUSLY FOR THE REAR AND PREFERRABLY A LITTLE MORE ELEVATED/DROPPED FOR BOLT ACCESS.
I had decided not to install the rear, and THEN I decided to read on
and a lot of people argued that it doesn’t hurt the shocks. Well, when I tried to install it, where the bushing’s axis had changed, I literally could not get the shock up into the double sheared mount. My axle is now so low that when the BPEs are seated FLAT against the undercarriage, the shock bushing is a great deal off in angle. SOOOOooo.. I never ran them….
^^^^THESE GUYS ARE BAD (BUILT WELL, BAD DESIGN) THEY ROTATE, WHICH IS A NO-NO! (Your opinion may differ, your loss )
Fast Forward to two weeks ago, and I was installing a Home-brew, Screw OME (mine rides way better) 2” lift on my Wife’s recently purchased 2000 Cherokee. The Monroe shocks either needed bar pins to install them, or BPEs, so I robbed the front BPE’s off of MY jeep which had worked great (now I need new ones, which I will get too shortly). For Shits and Giggles, I decided to see if the rear BPE’s would work with her 2-3” lift. Low and Behold, they worked fine. Now her jeep is all hooked up. HOWEVER, Let me QUALIFY the Rear, rotated, IRO (and MOST other Rear BPE’s) I BELIEVE (IMHO) should only be used on lifts of 3” or less. I ONLY decided to leave them on due to my wife’s XJ being a Daily Driver. She won’t be articulating her suspension a whole lot. It is plainly evident that when/if her rear gets super flexed, the shaft of the shock absorber, and more so, the bushings on top will be under WAY more stress than they would if they were in the stock orientation. In the stock orientation, both upper and lower mounts work together to alleviate this problem. However, at low lifts… I wouldn’t worry too much about them. *Pics for reference.*
Now, anyone can argue all they want that rotating only the top shock mount isn’t a problem… all I can tell them is go flex your rear suspension, crawl under it, and think as hard as you can about what would happen if the two axis can’t work together.
SOOO now on to my questions. The former info is a just so you know kind of thing for people looking for BPEs.
I need new BPEs for my jeep. After the IRO dilemma (not a big one, I firmly believe they make good quality parts, I just believe their parts guys were FOS when they said the rears are fine, they wouldn’t even bolt up; but like I said, they work on the wife’s rig, and I would not ever hesitate to buy other things from them, including another set of front BPE’s), I decided I would Go for the JKS, ones, since I know JKS makes nice stuff!!! After looking at the install instructions, ALL I can say is SCREW THAT.
^^^^THESE ARE SURELY BUILT WELL, BUT WHO THE HELL WANTS TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THOSE PAIN IN THE REAR BOLTS UNDER THE FRONT COIL MOUNTS OR THE RUSTY ONES ON THE REAR CROSSMEMBER?!?!?!? BAD DESIGN FAIL!!
Yes The JKS obviously preload the bushings on the shocks, getting rid of that annoying clunk that Bar Pins can develop, but why on this Green Earth they made it to where you have to remove the BPE to remove the shock is numbs my mind! What a HORRIBLE design flaw. For anyone, who never wants to touch their rear shock bolts (after they have done one of the numerous methods to fix the 4 they broke when lifting their jeep, or the 4 they WILL break when they do [I used the 20 gauge wire/drift punch method on the wife’s) the JKS BPE’s would be a TERRIBLE decision. I was deeply saddened when I realized this fact when shopping a while ago.
I know JKS makes great stuff, but I refuse to buy something that will be a nuisance to work with when BPE’s that are made like the ones for the Front by IRO, or these pictured below I found supposedly by Full traction not only preload the bushings, but make shock install and removal SOOOOO much easier. Also, these on Amazon by ZONE Offroad look like the real deal, but I can’t find anyone who has used them to verify fitment!
Supposed “Full Traction” pictured here http://my98blackjeepxj.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favorite-bar-pin-eliminator-full.html
^^^^ZONE OFFROAD on Amazon
SO now, finally, my question is, what manufacturers offer BOTH front and rear Bar Pin Eliminators that DO NOT rotate the Shock orientation. Also, while I’m at it, are there any BEEFY front Upper Shock adapters/mounts available????
Bar pin Eliminators that do not rotate the shock mounts:
JKS (Very inconvenient)
Iron Rock Offroad *FRONT ONLY (rear do rotate)
ZONE Offroad on Amazon *Rear only, no front avail.
Full Traction??
Who else???
BPE’s that DO rotate shocks (just don’t get em)
Rusty’s F&R
Teraflex F&R
Rear Sway Bar Bracket Homebrew BPE’s
Iron Rock Offroad Rears
And MOST others.
Maybe this was just a lot of rambling for nothing, but I would love to find a good set of BPEs, nice and simple, double shear that Do not rotate the shock mounts, match Front and Rear (just for the hell of it) and that elevate/drop the mount about 1” so I can gave good easy access to the bolt to remove the shocks.
-Brian
