The bolts were not too hard to find when I changed out stabilizers last year but my local dealership only had them in a package of 5 so that's what I ended up buying. If you can't find any locally, and assuming I can find my extras, I'll be happy to send you one
If you happen to locate one I would be much obliged if you could send one my way. I’m not a huge fan of the local dealership and from what I’ve seen online, some of these vendors want $12 for shipping which seems pretty steep for a bolt they could toss in a padded envelope.
Luckily, I’ve only been a Gladiator owner for a little over a year and I keep all the JT parts in one area of the garage. Sadly, it still took 10 minutes to find the right package, but I got them! I'm sending you a PM now
Great to hear you had a positive experience with these as well. The liners are annoyingly in the way, but they do pull and maneuver out of the way with some manipulation luckily.Alright, got the shocks installed yesterday! Took a bit longer than expected between figuring out how to compress the gas charged shocks to the right length such that the bolt holes lined up, and the tight tool access for the rear upper shock mounts.
A trick that I (re)learned is using a ratchet strap hooked to the shock tower to create a fabric loop around the bottom of the shock. Allows you to collapse the shock to the right length, sink the bolt, then sneak the strap out of the mount. For the rear upper shock mounts I ended up using a combination wrench, and an adjustable wrench for counter torque and bending back the wheel liner a bit. I'm glad I happened to have a 21mm combination wrench, it's a bit of an odd size. I certainly don't know what the final torque is on those guys, but I reckon "guten tight" with the locking nut and some blue locktite and a calibrated hand.
Additionally, here are the bolt/nut sizes in case someone runs across this. At least accurate on my 2020MY.
Front Upper/Lower Shock Mounts = 18mm
Rear Upper/Lower Shock Mounts = 21mm.
My first impressions: I daily drive this Jeep, so my first impressions are all "on road". These are the shocks that I expected this truck to come with. The ride control is noticeably improved, but the ride is not overly stiff. On small bumps, I notice a bit more feedback through the seat and steering wheel, but the shocks are still compliant. Mostly it's just feedback and not punishing at all. The big hits are substantially better with the suspension settling within an oscillation unlike the Fox shocks which often need 3-5 oscillations to settle out. Honestly these shocks feel much closer to the Tenneco's that the JL Rubi comes with, but not as harsh on the chattery stuff as the JLUR is. This is how the Glady Rubi should ride. I think the soft-ish springs still allow for a lot of compliance and allow for a lot of wheel travel on big bumps, while the stiffer shock control the compression and rebound a lot better.
It will be interesting to see how the shocks handle forest service roads and Jeep trails in the future and if there will be a trade off on ride comfort in the rough stuff.
Overall, a substantial and high value ride quality upgrade for <$500. The only "con" that I have is that the more controlled ride is encouraging me to drive faster
If you happen to still have an extra bolt, I would like to buy one as well! I just finalized my order for my new suspension last night (thanks to all the awesome info on this thread and forum).
Glad to hear it, and of course matching is an principal factorGreat to hear you had a positive experience with these as well. The liners are annoyingly in the way, but they do pull and maneuver out of the way with some manipulation luckily.
It's been a little over a month for me since the install and I am still loving the ride difference these made.
I'll be reporting back soon on their steering stabilizer when it arrives and I get it installed. I'm not expecting as dramatic of a difference there vs stock, but hoping it will also be a little more controlled plus it will match the shocks. We all know the matching appearance factor is always an important consideration.
Appreciate the updates!
Sending you a PMIf you happen to still have an extra bolt, I would like to buy one as well! I just finalized my order for my new suspension last night (thanks to all the awesome info on this thread and forum).
Glad to hear it, and of course matching is an principal factor
I wanted to give a huge shoutout to Idlethunder! He shipped me the needed stabilizer bolt insanely quickly for FREE. And also packed in the last 2 that were left.
Have you had time to install the Eibach stabilizer? If so, what's your opinion of it?
The stabilizer arrived mid last week actually just haven't had a ton of time to write a review. It was dropped shipped from Eibach (just like the shocks were when I ordered them through a different third-party) as I ordered it through Shock Surplus and took advantage of a discount coupon on top of the Eibach sale. I paid just under $90 out the door.
That sounds great. With a lot of dampeners of this type having some push to the right, I was curiousThe stabilizer arrived mid last week actually just haven't had a ton of time to right a review. It was dropped shipped from Eibach (just like the shocks were when I ordered them through a different third-party) as I ordered it through Shock Surplus and took advantage of a discount coupon on top of the Eibach sale. I paid just under $90 out the door.
The install is super easy and took all of 10 minutes including getting the tools out and putting them away. My build date is mid 2021 so I did need the "old" style bolt and a huge shoutout to @Idlethunder for sending me the bolt I needed and avoiding the trip to the dealership! With everything torqued down to spec my first impressions is just like I assumed, not a dramatic difference from the stock dampener.
Overall I would say I do feel a little less feedback in the steering wheel from some bumps on the road, but again not a dramatic difference like there was with the shocks. The steering feels very solid and there is no noticeable difference in resistance turning or pulling in either direction going down the road. I did compress and pull the stock dampener and the Eibach one while I had them both off and the Eibach did feel a little firmer in resistance both directions, but was still easy to do by hand. I haven't had a chance to see if there is a more noticeable difference off-road yet vs on-road as the only off-road I've seen this past week is the gravel parking lot at my son's baseball game on Saturday. With that said I'm still happy I replaced it and the price point was a good deal to test the waters. Those with larger tires may experience a different result, I'm running skinny 33s (275/70R18) currently.
I was concerned there may be a push to one side as well as I had read some aftermarket gas charged dampeners cause this. The best I can tell it's still tracking straight down the highway with no issues or corrections. From what I have read, Eibach states their steering stabilizer is a gas charged monotube just like their shocks, but is valved to be 50/50 so it's equalized on both side of the piston. Which is surprising as it feels more like a hydraulic dampener IMO. Like I said I was able to easily compress it by hand and it stayed in position.
Thanks for the write up on these. I went and ordered a set and stabilizer. Now to find a bolt for that stabilizer.
That's great to hear. I wasn't sure where this thread would go when I first started it, but I'm happy it turned into the write-up/review that it did. I've been very happy with the Eibach shocks and it's cool to see them being mentioned now as well in other threads as an alternative to the Bilstein 5100s. I still feel like these were the goldilocks shocks I was looking for when I first started my shock hunt.Thanks for the write up on these. I went and ordered a set and stabilizer. Now to find a bolt for that stabilizer.
