rear shock question?

[new jeep owner]

I could here a thumping sound in the rear of my 06.
so tonight I jacked it up to check it out, with the tire just off the ground I put a bar under the tire and lifted it up and down . there seems to be slack in the shock . I can move the tire at least an inch before there is any resistence in the shock. any ideas?

 

[diyman]

Mileage (or Kms..) of th KJ? Five years? Any oil leak from the shocks? Already chaged mine.
Unmount the suspect and take a closer look. It's only two bolts. Should it need replacing, change both.

 

[new jeep owner]

right around 80,000 kilometers not sure what that would be in miles.
the shock's both look dry . should I replace them with factory sized shocks or would taller shocks help ? like the ones from the rear of a dakota?

 

[diyman]

I suppose 80000 Km are ******* shocks. They show strange behaviours when ageing, some technicians say they are
still OK whereas the user is getting poor performances.. so, listen to your feelings and if they say 'change', go ahead.
I'm only diyman ( ) but I know shocks must be paired to a specific coil length, otherwise they won't work the way
they are supposed to and will wear out fast. It's the coil length what determines the ride height, shock's length is
calculated on coil springs.

About the make, I use OEM, just because they're cheap here, although not US made ( Brazil, actually ), many go crazy
for Ranchos or Bilsteins.

Also, keep in mind that if You'd want to increase ride height, many more experienced that I members will chime in, You
might get premature wear of universal joints ( rear shaft's ) due to exceeding the calculated 3 degrees angle, but I repeat,
I'd let the 'gurus' speak out...

 

[tommudd]

Install a good quality set of rear shocks and all will be good in the world again
well more than likely anyways

 

[new jeep owner]

thanks, I'll have to get busy pricing a set of shocks . napa is usually where i buy most of my parts

 

[tommudd]

If you're going to NAPA at least get the best they have , the cheap ones are not even worth installing

 

[new jeep owner]

I don't have many other options locally .
Ive had good luck with them in the past . and I agree about buying the better ones. I cheaped out when I replaced the shocks on my dakota . now they need replaced again