Bilstein 4600 Series Front & Rear Shock Absorbers 24-141727 & 24-141734 for 2007-2018 Jeep Wrangler JK - Off-Road Performance & Smooth Ride for Adventure & Daily Driving

To bad they used top head on Front shocks had to take out battery box to install if they used bottom nut bolt head like original equipment you wouldn't have to go in from top at all. It would save alot of timeHave a 17 2 door jk with 33s. 50k miles, stock height and didn't drive well. These help control the weight of the larger tires. It feels like a trophy truck looks! I have never been excited about shocks until these Bilstein 4600sEasy replacement of worn tired old shocks. Ride is like newInstructions are useless. The back shocks go in without much trouble, but the boots do not seem located properly as they are too compressed and sit way down on the bottom connection.The top shocks do not have enough threaded stem protruding to go thru the rubber bushings. I pulled the metal collar out of the top of the boot, and drilled it deeper with a 9/16" bit in a drill press, and then flattened the bottom of the hole with a 9/16" milling bit. When reinstalled in the boot, this allowed the collar to sit deeper on the piston, exposing enough of the threaded end to get the rubber bushings, washers, and nut started. I don't recommend this unless you have some mechanical knowledge. Also, on the passenger side, which has less clearance, I had to grind down some plastic on the vehicle for the battery box (from inside the wheel well), and then custom bend and cut an allen wrench to fit the top of the shock pistom which is necessary to keep the piston from rotating when you rotate the nut. The factory part I replaced has a much more intelligent design.On the plus side, for the inconvenience of the install, they do function much better than the factory originals replaced at 75,000 miles. This eliminated a great deal of rocking on bumps and stabilized the ride.These are great once installed on my 2012 Jeep Wrangler, but they should have a nut below the top stud on the fronts like the factory originals to hold the shaft. Also the rubber bushings are too thick to allow the nut to be installed. I had to use my old top bushings on the front shocks☹️Front shock has a very short stem, Hard to get startedRide is good after install. Price is cheaper than Fox but after the install I would buy fox. When you use the supplied washers and bushings, even before the frame is includes there are no threads showing to put the nut on for the front two shocks. Because the front uses an alen key out the top you have to get creative to install them driver's side is easier with more room. Passenger side we needed to cut away a fair amount of support structure for the fuse box and battery tray. The back shocks go on easy. Although the rear shocks appear to install upsidedown with the protective cover being the lower half, probably fine for me as I do mild trails but might be something to think about. My JK is stock suspension and fenders. If I buy shocks again for the jk I will look for ones that install with two end wrenches instead and these will get mutilated to be removed.My dead stock 2009 JK does less than 10K miles a year, and the factory shocks predictably died at almost exactly 50K. I changed them myself, in the garage, no lift or jacking, in a couple of hours, using PB Blaster, an impact gun and sockets, a couple of combination wrenches and a large drift punch to help with aligning bolt holes. That isn't exclusive to the Bilstein's; pretty much any brand would have installed the same way. If you've never changed shocks before, spend the time before you start making sure you understand completely all that's involved. It's pretty physical, can be frustrating and is deceptively simple looking.Once they were installed, though, the difference between factory new and the Bilstein's is absolutely amazing, and I'm referring to factory new, not factory worn out. The feedback through the steering wheel is, for lack of a better term, exquisite. This is my 4th Wrangler, and I've been through more than a few aftermarket shocks. The Bilstein's are truly a case of you get what you pay for. They are indeed more expensive than some you can buy, but they are lifetime warranted and for me, worth any extra money.The only issue I had was about the little black plastic wire ties at the base of the plastic boot. You can get rid of them on the front, gravity will keep the boots in place. The rear shocks mount with the boot down, and I had to put a more heavy duty wire tie on the top of the boot to help hold the boot so the bottom doesn't slide down over the bottom mounting point.With properly inflated street tires, you can literally feel almost every pebble. They will not change the ride characteristics from basic Jeep into Bentley, nor are they intended to. The ride is still firm, but not at all harsh. I have my Jeep off road on trails several times a week, and it's a lot more pleasant with these shocks than it ever was with the stock parts.