Conference ssdevo::4wd

With 45,000 miles on the old girl, it was time for shocks. The jeep 
was acting bad on wet windy nights. I thought it was worn 
shocks and tires. So I went after the shocks first.

I was right, the fronts had gone bad, even though they still had 
some gas in them. The right front was really toast and this may 
explain part of the reason why I had accelerated tire wear there.
The rear shocks could probably have been left alone, but I didn't 
relish the idea of being under there again in 6 months.

I put on 2 sets of Bilstein gas shocks. They are not cheap 
(list $110 ea, $50ea while on sale).

 They are also a hassle to put in as the 110 lb of presure makes a 
big job of compessing them so you can get them into place, 
along with their usual way too tight bushings that require liberal 
use of wd-40, levers and various size hammers to line up.  The 
other major hassles were Jeep induced. The top of the left front 
is all but impossible to get at because the ABS is just above it. 
Even with one of those shock wrenches, this one nut took 40 
minutes to manhandle. The other "feature" was the right rear, as 
the inner splash panels leave zero room to get a wrench at the 
to shock bolt, unlike the right side that has plenty of room 
molded in.

But the results are well worth it. The GC rides WONDERFULLY 
now.  Much better than new. Someone really worked out the 
valving to provide a super smooth ride, but corners like it is on 
rails. It feels like the tires are new, and they are just about 
history. It is hard to believe it is a 4x4, as it rides nicer than the 
Wife's Volvo (which also has Bilsteins).

They are not cheap, but with a lifetime guarentee and a history 
of lasting forever (something many pairs of Ranchos were not), 
you may want to pony up the extra $15 when yours start to go.
It's too bad Jeep doesn't offer these as an upgrade ala the Blazer 
Koni package.