Thinking about replacing shocks, what should I choose?

Hello fellow jimny enthusiasts.

I am in need of new shocks, I have a 35" Suzuki jimny and need some good shocks for it. I have Black Raptor shocks in it now and I think they are horrible.

What should I choose. I have been reading about Rough Country, OME, Pro Comp, AVO, Bilsteins and so on.

I want some proper offroad shocks not to soft.

Please any discussion about what shocks I should choose is very much appreciated.

Best regards, Thordur Reynisson

What kind of lift do you have now?

Also what's the budget?

Rough country and pro comp are probably same quality as raptors.

Fox 8" shocks are a pretty good match for +3" springs

The Pro comp one are very stiff.

I too am thinking about shocks for the Zanfi springs coming courtesy of TomDK above, Tom, which Fox shocks specifically are you running? i see they make a number of different options and styles.

I like my Trailmaster 'comfort' ones but dont think they will be long enough.

I have 2" suspension lift and a 2" body lift on it, bought from Jimnybits. The thing is it's to soft for the proper offroad we do here in Iceland.

That would leave Tom's question of budget.

Similar to Tom's Fox shocks, there is now a remote reservoir shock by ProFender made specifically for the Jimny. They are very close to the price of Fox and are for vehicles with a 2" lift. Also like Fox, they are available with an 8 stage adjustable compression stroke.

These are relatively new for the Jimny but the brand has made a reasonable impression with the pro drivers running the KOH off-road race in the U.S.

The Fox shocks I have on the front axle are 2.0 remote reservoir 5/8" shaft, 8" travel. Upper stem mount.

Bought from Prolinx in the UK. Very helpful guys.

On the rear axle I'm soon ordering similar shocks, but of course upper eye mount.

If the Profender shocks are almost the same price as Fox. I know what I'd choose. Valve stacks, spare parts and such are always available from Prolinx. Not sure the same goes with Profender.
Profender sees only very limited if any use in US ultra4 Racing. But they are quite popular at the Croatia trophy and wild boar valley challenge.

The Fox shocks I have are not adjustable. I believe that's an extra £80 or so.

I will preface this post by saying to Thordur that Tom and I aren't trying to hijack your thread.

The truth is, if all things were equal, I would also chose the Fox. They have a consistent history of excellent quality products. The only thing that moved me away from them back when I was researching is (where I live) to have them factory rebuilt or customize the valving meant they needed to be shipped away without much interface with Fox. Shipping here has issues that I won't bore people with. The Profender shocks I can purchase or take for rebuild and deal with the Profender people face to face. In my opinion the rebuild option, along with the quality, really does justify the price......assuming the budget is available. The short answer is that mentioning the Profender was intended to add an additional choice rather than replace the Fox suggestion.

Only 11/60 answered the other piece of your question, so I will add a comment here. If your choice is to stick to one of the other shocks, Trailmaster, OME and Bilstein have good reputations. Some people seem to think OME are too soft while others love them. I only have personal experience with Bilstein, Tom has used those as well. If you decide on one of those three, I doubt that you would regret it it.

Just curius. Where do you live?

But that makes good sense. I'd probably also go with the easy access to service and shock rebuild.

Also, yes.. We almost forgot the initial question.
With 2" lift springs, best option is probably Trail Master shocks. Or perhaps Bilstein. But that requires a bit of searching to find the correct valvng.

Just saw these. Could probably also go with a 2" lift. Perhaps with a small spring spacer
www.polyperformance.com/shocks/shocks-by...versal-eyelet-shocks
Looks like they come custom valved as well.

Thank you TomDK and Zukebob, I live in Reykjavik, Iceland. I have decided to try the Rough Country N2.0 shocks( they are fairly cheap and supposed to be quite stiff) and if I dont like them I have found Bilstein shocks in Germany that I will buy next if the Rough Country ones dont pan out.

If someone is interested here is the partnumber for the Bilsteins B6 4600 shocks:
Front: 24-193382
Rear: 24-193399

These bilstein shocks you've found are for stock height jimny. Not very good for a suspension lift.