jack1981

looking for a decent priced set of front struts and rear shocks for my 94 grand cherokee laredo. don't want to spend an arm and a leg on them though. what are your guys thoughts on KYB's? are all 4 wheels just shocks and use the same part number?

xjmarc

You got shocks all the way around but the front and rear are different. Never known anyone to use KYBs. Are you lifted or stock and what kind of ride do you like all those things will help determine what kind of shock to run.

Irongrave

i ran KYBs on my MR2 auto x car nut billstien is the way to go for trucks and SUVs IMO (though I am running Rancho RS9000s right now and love them)

jack1981

i was thinking ranchos as well. however, i'm cheap when it comes to my 94 LOL. I only paid 2000 for it and amazingly its in excellent condition with 87000 miles. Can't see paying $125 per shock on bilsteins.

Irongrave

i though the same thing but after riding in a rig with bills they are well worth the coin. only reason i have ranchos now on it is because i got them for free from a buddy who upgraded to bills

jack1981

dang you selling me on the bills now LOL

1996XJSport

So I was in autoshop and I had my XJ on the lift on friday and I noticed both my shocks and struts were leaking at the seals, it had a little lean to it whenever I would take turns too so I knew it was time to replace the shocks. Well, I looked at JCWhitney and the shocks were running almost the same price as just buying a lift. I just decided to order a 3 inch zone offroad lift with add a leafs, coils, new U bolts, and all around new shocks/struts. It ran to $320 with shipping and it wasn't a bad deal for the price. I'm just hoping my shocks and struts hold up over the stress of wheeling and just driving to school and auto shop every day lol

jack1981

i found a heck of a deal for 4 shocks. however, they are off of a 99-04 jeep cherokee. will these fit my 94 cherokee laredo?

1996XJSport

Please put Grand in front of your car's name lol.... They should fit just fine.

Irongrave

1996 nice deal on the zone kit. when in doubt mod it.

peep

Jack, I reccommend Monro products, Tenneco is a customer of mine. I run Sensi Trac on all 4 corners with the rear having the Load Adjust option, a coil over right from Monroe good for 400 lb extra load support, I got 110000km on the 1st set, second set running strong, Rear shocks for and XJ won't fit your 94ZJ, on our 95 Hello Kitty Grand Cherokee Laredo we run Monroe Gas Magnums with 235-75x15 on 7" refurbished Jeep aluminum rims. Both shock applications work. Our XJ runs 1400 km a week and the ZJ about 400 km. If you want to consider lift, Napa 277-5360 made in USA front coil springs are for a V8 ZJ, they fit my XJ also for a 2" front boost, on your ZJ you can pick up an inch on the front, move your current front coils too the back to balance the height, consider budget boost donut spring spacers at this time also, an easy first lift for the ZJ. Then with lift what about shock length, take a look at site "GoJeep.com" for how to build shock height blocks and snubber extensions, I did and they work, easy to make. The other brands of shocks you referenced work too, but since Monroe has put meals on my table I buy their product (also made on this continent, not offshore). If you decide to approach over 3" of lift give a close look at your brake flex line lenghts and watch for any tire to sway bar ends interference, lost a couple good tires once on that one, needless to say the rear swaybar is now on the "not needed" parts pile. Get an aligment after lifting, especially front caster. I know you were just inquiring about shocks, however we all know where any involvment with a jeep can lead.

1996XJSport

Got it done tonight and took it for a spin. No problems at all! I love the tall stance, and I ran a dirt road test for vibration, a flex test on some big rocks in front of my house, I went around a roundabout and it doesn't lean bad at all! I'm very satisfied with the lift except for the fact that I put a lot more work into it than I thought I would have too!

1ABrian

The rancho 9000 are a good all around rail and street. I ran them in my lifted Wrangler and my lifted Grand Cherokee. Awsome drivability and not to rough.

MikeTheGreat26

I am by no means a pro. Just another frugal Jeep owner as yourself OP. I got my 98 Jeep Cherokee XJ from my grandma in 2011. She only put 38K miles on it!!!! I'm now in the upper 80s i think like 85K or 87k. I cannot tell you which are good, but can tell you what I have been looking at on Amazon. I ride stock. It is a daily driver for me and I do not go offroading. I was looking at the fact that several brands have lifetime warranties. Again, not sure if these are great by any means. Just that if any ever break or run the course, I can do the repair myself and just exchange the part for the lifetime warranty and get a new one Saw some good deals on Monroe. "Warranty, Parts:PartsWarranty, Labor:Monroe offers a limited lifetime warranty on Reflex, Sensa-Trac, OE Spectrum shocks & struts and Gas Magnum shocks except for the RV lines. Monroe offers a 24 month warranty on the 55 series stabilizer shocks"

Although the SENSEN Shocks Struts, Full Set, 4 Pieces, run for around 71 for 4 shocks with a lifetime warranty, I did some research and read if you want to die and have a death wish to get these lol . Think I will stick with a more normalized brand and not some random Chinese ones that call themselves Japanese. Gabriel ran affordable, I don't think I saw the warranty on those. I'm thinking about going with one of the Monroe "premium" shocks so far with what I have found on reviews and price.

I just figure if these XJs are known to run 300-500k in miles, might as well stick it to the man with these darn life time parts. Fight the power .

97grand4.0

With shocks there is a key thing you need to know, there are two designs. Twin tube and mono tube. I just unknowingly put a full set of KYB twin tubes on mine. While it is a improvement, I was disappointed to learn I could have put the firmer riding mono tubes on. Mono are bigger. They say they ride stiffer and they do. However the twin tubes are good, just might not be quite what youre looking for .