Fox or Bilstein for beach shocks?

[RoadSahara]

Hi everyone. My current JLU Sahara is on a 3” Zone lift kit and I’m looking for something that has a little more travel, ride comfort, and the ability to go faster that 5 mph on the beach. The issue is, the ride is so harsh and stiff, that it makes things unbearable and even worse when I go on the beach. I’ve narrowed it down to the Fox 2.0 performance series reservoir shocks or the Bilstein B8 5160. Which one will be able to take more of the bumps and washboarding on the beach? I don’t rock crawl or mud, but I do some trails and a lot of beach driving. Any other recommendations for the price? Thanks!
I’ve provided pictures below, the Fox has a rear set that I didn’t post a picture of.

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[The Last Cowboy]

Also look at Rancho RS7MT, or Eibach Pro Truck shocks.

Fox rides great, but rebuilding or replacing at ~50k miles is a pain.

Bilsteins are notoriously firmer riding, but that can be overcame with airing your tires down to 15 PSI or so.

 

[TravelerTheJLU]

My 4xe Rubi has the Mopar lift with the 5160s, while my dad had a Mojave. To oversimplify this, because it is not quite apples-to-apples, I find my Wrangler has more control and seems more stable going fast on sand and dirt; however, his does feel a little more cushiony. A couple of things to note: he has a winch and metal bumpers installed, which cause the front to hit the hydrobumps and cause the rear end to buck a fair amount. I also have a winch, but I also keep a fair bit of weight in the back, which seems to keep it balanced and prevents the back end from bucking. The stiffness of the 5160s is noticeable; however, if you bring multiple people or pack heavily, it is definitely less noticeable.
I would probably suggest avoiding the RS7MT I had them on a Wrangler previously and did not love them; I found they did not give much feedback, support, or improve ride quality. Lots of people also run Falcon shocks, but I suspect that for what you are looking for, they will be close to the 2k mark.

If you keep your Jeep light, I would go with the Fox. If you plan to bring multiple people and load it up, I would suggest 5160's.

Edit: I would be a little worried about the Fox shocks you have being too long, given you only have a 3" lift. I would go with the 2-3" lift shocks. There's a possibility your springs will compress over time, you want to do faster beach riding, and you are far more likely to compress the shock too much than extend it too much. I would fall on the side of caution.

 

[RoadSahara]

My 4xe Rubi has the Mopar lift with the 5160s, while my dad had a Mojave. To oversimplify this, because it is not quite apples-to-apples, I find my Wrangler has more control and seems more stable going fast on sand and dirt; however, his does feel a little more cushiony. A couple of things to note: he has a winch and metal bumpers installed, which cause the front to hit the hydrobumps and cause the rear end to buck a fair amount. I also have a winch, but I also keep a fair bit of weight in the back, which seems to keep it balanced and prevents the back end from bucking. The stiffness of the 5160s is noticeable; however, if you bring multiple people or pack heavily, it is definitely less noticeable.
I would probably suggest avoiding the RS7MT I had them on a Wrangler previously and did not love them; I found they did not give much feedback, support, or improve ride quality. Lots of people also run Falcon shocks, but I suspect that for what you are looking for, they will be close to the 2k mark.

If you keep your Jeep light, I would go with the Fox. If you plan to bring multiple people and load it up, I would suggest 5160's.

Edit: I would be a little worried about the Fox shocks you have being too long, given you only have a 3" lift. I would go with the 2-3" lift shocks. There's a possibility your springs will compress over time, you want to do faster beach riding, and you are far more likely to compress the shock too much than extend it too much. I would fall on the side of caution.

Yeah I would like to have similar suspension characteristics of the Mojave, but not shell out $6k for the Fox 3.0 reservoirs. As for weight, I’m usually on the heavier side: I have either 1 passenger or 4 with me, plus a large ice box, canopy tent, chairs, recovery equipment and a small pump. Which of the shocks would act more like the Mojave?

 

[TravelerTheJLU]

Yeah I would like to have similar suspension characteristics of the Mojave, but not shell out $6k for the Fox 3.0 reservoirs. As for weight, I’m usually on the heavier side: I have either 1 passenger or 4 with me, plus a large ice box, canopy tent, chairs, recovery equipment, and a small pump. Which of the shocks would act more like the Mojave?

I do not have experience with the Fox shocks you picked; I assume those would be closer to the Mojave shock. With that being said, the Mojave shocks are a 2.5" diameter vs the 2.0", and they are tuned by Mopar, so they cater to the Mojave more. For me, I prefer the Bilsteins for the added stability, especially when I am heavy, and I am ok with the slight loss in on-road comfort.

 

[thedeatons]

Couple things. I have a '24 Rubicon X and have had the Mopar Red, Fox 2.0s, and now Bilstein 5160's on it, all within the first 12k miles of buying it new.

Red were terrible. Bobbed like a cork.

Bought Fox 2.0s with 10k miles on them, they were like riding on clouds, but started leaking at the 15k mile point, and rebuild intervals on Fox shocks are 40k miles, so I was done with that ridiculousness.

Now have Bilstein 5160s and they are firm, but not harsh. You "feel" the road more at lower speeds. At higher speeds they feel like normal performance shocks.


*My wife has a '24 Mojave X with the Fox 2.5 shocks with remote rezzis and internal bypass feature. Nothing you buy will feel like those until you get into $1000/shock, with bypasses, so just put that out of your mind now

 

[JeepinPete]

I would probably suggest avoiding the RS7MT I had them on a Wrangler previously and did not love them; I found they did not give much feedback, support, or improve ride quality.

I have run the factory red shocks, Fox shocks that came with the Endurosport lift, and now RS7 silver bodied shocks. The RS7 are the best of that bunch. The factory shocks were nothing special, the Fox shocks were soft but ended up leaking. The Rancho shocks were a bit firmer initially specifically on small bumps, but really settled the Jeep down. My Jeep has never been a great highway machine, always wandering. The Ranchos helped quite a bit in that regard.

 

[jadmt]

for just beach driving i would not think you need reservoir shocks....unless you are driving very fast for long distance on the beach...otherwise standard bilstein 5100's or similar should be fine.

 

[yokramer]

How low are you going on your tire pressure as well? That will make a huge difference in ride quality over the beach.

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