shock fell off

[60driver]

So there I was driving down the road and all of a sudden I hear this clunking/scraping/dragging sound. I pull over at the next side street, look under the front end in the dark using my handy Jeep(tm) flashlight and see nothing out of place. I hop back in and drive a few feet further with my door open and hear it again...from the rear. I stop, go to the back to find my left shock hanging from the axle! The crappy OEM bar pin broke in half! I was in a hurry so I busted out the tools that I keep in the back, took off the lower shock retaining bolt and removed the whole shock and threw it in the back! I drove on minus one shock. Strangely my ride quality did not change at all, lol.

So, I ordered a set of Rusty's Bar Pin Eliminiators (BPE) $30 plus tax and shipping. Still waiting on them since I just ordered them yesterday. I'll take pics and post when I get them installed. Hopefully this weekend.

[muddeprived]

So there I was driving down the road and all of a sudden I hear this clunking/scraping/dragging sound. I pull over at the next side street, look under the front end in the dark using my handy Jeep(tm) flashlight and see nothing out of place. I hop back in and drive a few feet further with my door open and hear it again...from the rear. I stop, go to the back to find my left shock hanging from the axle! The crappy OEM bar pin broke in half! I was in a hurry so I busted out the tools that I keep in the back, took off the lower shock retaining bolt and removed the whole shock and threw it in the back! I drove on minus one shock. Strangely my ride quality did not change at all, lol.

So, I ordered a set of Rusty's Bar Pin Eliminiators (BPE) $30 plus tax and shipping. Still waiting on them since I just ordered them yesterday. I'll take pics and post when I get them installed. Hopefully this weekend.


That sucks man. It happens. Did you jump your jeep or anything? That's usually what breaks the bar pins, when the shocks are over-compressed.

Using bar pin eliminators is a wise decision. Just be sure to spray the upper shock bolts with PB or aero kroil a couple times before you try to extract them. They can be a royal pain in the A$$.

[Mudderoy]

I want a picture. I don't understand what caused the shock to drop. I wonder if he was using the shocks as a limiting strap and it broke.

[4.3LXJ]

Ah yes, a little sleuthing is in order here.

[muddeprived]

I want a picture. I don't understand what caused the shock to drop. I wonder if he was using the shocks as a limiting strap and it broke.

He has a 4.5" lift and I'm betting he didn't modify his bumpstops to suit the extra height.

[4.3LXJ]

He has a 4.5" lift and I'm betting he didn't modify his bumpstops to suit the extra height.

Or maybe his shocks aren't long enough?

[muddeprived]

Or maybe his shocks aren't long enough?

...or too long.

[60driver]

I'm thinking all of the above, lol. Oh except the jumping part. I've never done that but I would love to, lol!

I didn't put the lift on unfortunately. I bought it lifted and found out afterwards that it is a crappy lift. Huge blocks in the rear, no new bumpstops, no limiting straps, and the shocks actually look like they are STOCK! So, I'm currently looking into getting new shocks all around, thinking Rough Country, and spring packs for the rear with new bumpstops. This is my DD, so I don't really wheel it too much and when I do, it definitely is not in any terrain that is that harsh. The barpin appears to have broken because of a little rust maybe. Overall my jeep is rust free but who knows. Crazy things happen. I did just drive it 8hrs to Louisiana and back this past weekend and the roads weren't exactly smooth. I'm thinking all that impact consistently for that long just did it in.

Oh yeah, and in the process of removing the bolts, one of them snapped...and I got a metal fragment in my eye and it scratched it. So I was even more pissed. Anyway, I'm off today trying to avoid further irritation to my eye as prescribed by my Dr. Hopefully I can get this thing fixed over the weekend.
:boohoo:

[muddeprived]

I'm thinking all of the above, lol. Oh except the jumping part. I've never done that but I would love to, lol!

I didn't put the lift on unfortunately. I bought it lifted and found out afterwards that it is a crappy lift. Huge blocks in the rear, no new bumpstops, no limiting straps, and the shocks actually look like they are STOCK! So, I'm currently looking into getting new shocks all around, thinking Rough Country, and spring packs for the rear with new bumpstops. This is my DD, so I don't really wheel it too much and when I do, it definitely is not in any terrain that is that harsh. The barpin appears to have broken because of a little rust maybe. Overall my jeep is rust free but who knows. Crazy things happen. I did just drive it 8hrs to Louisiana and back this past weekend and the roads weren't exactly smooth. I'm thinking all that impact consistently for that long just did it in.

Oh yeah, and in the process of removing the bolts, one of them snapped...and I got a metal fragment in my eye and it scratched it. So I was even more pissed. Anyway, I'm off today trying to avoid further irritation to my eye as prescribed by my Dr. Hopefully I can get this thing fixed over the weekend.
:boohoo:

I hate when that happens. I used to wear safety glasses but they never kept all the crap out from falling into my eyes so I got one of those full face masks. MUCH better.

[Mudderoy]

I'm thinking all of the above, lol. Oh except the jumping part. I've never done that but I would love to, lol!

I didn't put the lift on unfortunately. I bought it lifted and found out afterwards that it is a crappy lift. Huge blocks in the rear, no new bumpstops, no limiting straps, and the shocks actually look like they are STOCK! So, I'm currently looking into getting new shocks all around, thinking Rough Country, and spring packs for the rear with new bumpstops. This is my DD, so I don't really wheel it too much and when I do, it definitely is not in any terrain that is that harsh. The barpin appears to have broken because of a little rust maybe. Overall my jeep is rust free but who knows. Crazy things happen. I did just drive it 8hrs to Louisiana and back this past weekend and the roads weren't exactly smooth. I'm thinking all that impact consistently for that long just did it in.

Oh yeah, and in the process of removing the bolts, one of them snapped...and I got a metal fragment in my eye and it scratched it. So I was even more pissed. Anyway, I'm off today trying to avoid further irritation to my eye as prescribed by my Dr. Hopefully I can get this thing fixed over the weekend.
:boohoo:

Yeah, I'm thinking stock shocks, too short so they were acting like a limiter. My lift kit didn't come with bump stops. It did come with longer shocks, and brake line relocators.

You need to get rid of those blocks fast. The XJ leaves are strong enough for blocks, and they will deform while under stress. The rear drive shaft will bind, and in a worse case senerio break and drop.