Blown OME - Moving to Bilsteins

[elafilos]

Hello my good friends.

Long story short - been driving my jeep since 2003, back in 2009 I put on some koni heavy traks with stock springs, lasted until 2021 where I put on a full ome SET with 926 springs in the front which I blew the fronts a week ago. Big mess, leaked from the top on the rotors and such.

I took them out and since I am already on a budget I am trying to figure out the most cost effective solution to get the car rolling.

I was tempted to try the Bilsteins 4600 and/or 5100 with the semi sagged 926 up front.

Would this be a downgrade? I am running 245/75/16

The options would be:

4600 the cheapest
5100 the most expensive
OME same as before

What do you think??

 

[duderz7]

4600 and 5100 are the same except color.

 

[vlad588]

4600 are great quality option, i have them on my 03 Liberty for 5 years now without any issues. I think price/quality ration is best with these.

 

[elafilos]

I am literally unable to source the 4600 in Greece right now. Might be able to find the 5100 available but at a premium, since they are the same I might pull the trigger.

The only other set of shocks I have found are the ranchos 5000x or 5500x (can't recall right now) but leaning towards the Bilstein..

 

[KJowner]

KYB on mine, easily available in Europe.

 

[elafilos]

KYB on mine, easily available in Europe.

Yeap and pretty cheap to be honest. However I think it's going to be a big step down from my OME, that's why I was thinking of trying either the bilsteins - nothing available, or the Ranchos.

 

[elafilos]

The only way I could source the 24-139168 was to buy a whole kit with the shorter 24-139175 included, so I went for it.
Now I wondering whether I should throw on the back shocks too for a test.

Front Springs are 926 and rear 948 (the car was sitting perfectly level).

I believe that the worst case scenario is topping those out under very weird angles / catching air.

Any ideas / opinions?

 

[u2slow]

I have the Ranchos 5000's on the front with CRD coils. Rears are load-assist shocks (Monroe?) for a Durango.

 

[elafilos]

Update almost 4 months in.

Front is working perfectly - on washboard sections works as good as my OME with less fade and a bit more chatter transmitted to the cabin. Other than that all good.

The rear is topping under weird angles etc. They are probably on borrowed time - but I am going to use them until they are blown and switch the dakota variant.

They resist bottoming out greatly compared to my OME probably due to the IFP and monotube design. Even when I caught air a couple of days ago the landing was way more progressive and controlled compared to my OME.

Other than that a greatly more composed ride - well worth the 450 euro per set. (Can't get any cheaper).

 

[Hec In Omaha]

4600 and 5100 are the same except color.

Bilstein 5100’s are valved differently than the 4600’s. I looked into the differences between the two when I did my lift on our 2009 KK. According to Bilstein, the 5100’s are valved for a firmer ride than the 4600’s which is more suitable for lifted vehicles and larger tires. The 4600’s give a softer ride for stock suspension set ups. I love my 5100’s on the front and back!

Hec

 

[RenKJ]

Im shocked OME blew that quick, I've had mine on since 2013, did you put new springs in the front when the OME struts went in? what brand were the springs?

 

[elafilos]

Im shocked OME blew that quick, I've had mine on since 2013, did you put new springs in the front when the OME struts went in? what brand were the springs?

Forgot to mention that part - they weren't new, salvaged them from a donor KJ I bought for parts back in 2021. Unknown mileage and ridden quite hard.

The springs are also OME 926 front 948 rear