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Bilstein Valving for Lifted ZJ

8K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  IronWagon 
#1 ·
I'd like to hear only from people who have experience with a similar setup to mine, please.

I have a 97 ZJ with 5.25" lift (RE 4.5" kit w/ 3.5" springs and 1.75" puck), skid plates, steel bumper w/ winch, etc. I am running Bilstein 5100's for the 6" lift (24-185943), but they are too soft offroad. I feel that the nose wants to dive while driving over rocks and dips unless I go way slow, but I love the way it flexes while crawling - I get a ton of flex. I found out the valving is 126/47 front, and 255/70 rear. What would you recommend I revalve the fronts to? I know standard options from Bilstein are 170/60, 255/70 and 360/80. This Jeep is 65% offroad trails like Calico - Doran, Odessa, Big Bear, etc. (Not the Gatekeeper at Calico).

If you have bilstein's with a similar setup to mine and you like it, what are yours valved at, and what kind of trails do you run?
 
#2 ·
I'll be honest, I don't have direct experience with a similar setup, but I do have a TON of suspension experience in general, the problem you describe is a function of spring rate, I really don't think changing valving is going to help, unless you were to stiffen the hell out of your compression stack, but then it would ride like crap.
 
#6 ·
Did you order your shocks with that valving, or did they just come like that? My fronts came stock with really low rebound/compression rate, and they said they didn't offer stiffer valving - I would have to get them custom valved.
 
#4 ·
Bilstein 5125 on all 4 corners with the 255/70 rate. Basically same specs as Techno, but I do more trails than rock gardens. They are still a bit light when the front unloads at high speed. My understanding is that all Bilsteins are a bit soft.

Overall I'm very happy though.
 
#10 ·
My setup is Bilstein 5100s, IRO 3.5 lift with new rear IRO springs, front steel bumper with Warn winch, rear steel bumper plus tire carrier with 2" puck in rear (lost original height because of bumper), full factor skids, rock rails, light bars and roof rack. Lots of metal to sling around as you can tell...

I had better control offroad from the cheapy RC Hydro shocks that came with the kit versus the Bilstein I bought to replace them. I whole lot less body sway with the RC and all that armor. Don't know the valving on the Bilsteins... (get info off sticker on the shocks?)... So needless to say the RC was very rough and stiff for onroad while Bilstein are smooth as butter onroad. If I was going to turn my Jeep to a dedicated trail rig, I would put RC back on...

I don't rock crawl but built mine expedition style for a bunch of camping I do for my son's Boy Scout trips. I do light and medium trails with a bit of mud whenever it rains. 90% of the time it is on asphalt and my DD.
 
#11 ·
I have5125 255/70 14" for the front and rear Is garbage hydros. General rule of thumb from my engineering/fabrication buddy is stiffer front, softer rear iirc. I haven't put the bilsteins on yet because of some fab work I have to do to accomodate them, but they will definitely ride better than the hydros, I'm not too worried BC with my link setup it actually rides/handles better than bonestock at around 6" of lift. I kinda wish I would have got the 16" travel because I'll be using every bit of the 14s as it sits now
 
#12 ·
Well, after reading what everyone had to say, I decided to send in my front shocks (5100's currently rated at 126/47) to have them revalved to 275/78. The rears are already 255/70, so I think that should give me a really good setup for crawling as well as street. With the 126/47 valving, the front wanted to nose dive when coming off of rocks or hitting a dip or rut in the trail while being disconnected. It should be a couple of weeks before I get them back, so I'll post up what difference the revalving makes.
 
#16 ·
Yes, results:
So, to recap, I went from stock valving of 126/47 front, and 255/70 rear to revalving of 275/78 front, and kept the rear at 255/70. This has made a HUGE difference in the way the Jeep handles both on-road and off-road. I could tell that it was a little stiffer on pavement, but in a good way. It was still smooth and handled well. Once I went offroad and disconnected the sway bar, it acted like a Jeep should, giving me rebound and resistance when it should. I have to say that I am happy with this setup now. I think if I had opted for 255/70 front, it would have been just a tad too soft. If this was a dedicated rock rig, I might have gone with the 360/80, but I think that would be too harsh for the wheeling I do.

I am completely happy with the setup now, and would suggest that if you aren't happy with the way your Bilsteins react, then look into what valving you have and what your options are and if it is cost effective for you to get them revalved.

:2thumbsup:
 
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