I'm going through the shock selection process now. You'll see a ton of information by doing a search of people's real world experience with different shock brands.

Smooth ride is a very subjective thing though. What is a smooth ride to my wife in her JK is different that what is a smooth ride in my JK.

If your budget allows, Rancho 9000's seem to be the shock of choice for what you are asking (from my reading on here), as you can dial them in (they are adjustable) to your preference for a smooth ride.

 

^x2

Lots of articles on here, so do a search.
Bilstein and Rancho are most common for smooth ride.

 

Rancho RS9000XL adjustable shocks and triple rate coil springs hands down...


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I love my falcons.

 

If I had money to burn I would try the Falcon 3.3"s for a 2 door on my 4 door.

 

I've got Bilstein 5100's on my AEV 2.5" and I think they're a bit stiff. I'm looking at Falcon's.

 

I just installed the Bilstein HD yesterday. No lift, 285/70R17 KO2’s. Ride seems pretty smooth and they eliminated the rear end bounce I had with the stock shocks. The install was easy except removing the old fronts will try your patience. For what ever reason the rubber isolators supplied by Bilstein are too thick to use, can’t start the nut, so I reused the originals.

 

I just installed the Rancho 5000 shocks all around. I'm the third owner so not sure if the old ones were original or not but I'm guessing that they were. Installing the new ones was a breeze but removing the old was a bitch. They were quite rusted and reaching the front top nuts was tough. I sprayed them with Kroil and let them sit overnight. I have Gear wrenches but did not have the right metric size needed so I had to use a box wrench. Very slow going.

The ride now is way different and she doesn't sway as much. Railroad tracks are no longer a challenge and she sits firm.

I got a great deal from Allen Off Road here on the forum and they were under $200 shipped for all four. Allen is a super guy to deal with. Very helpful and willing to answer all of my stupid questions. I hadn't done my own shocks for quite some time.

I used the wheel off method as it just seemed easier to get my fat body close enough to do the work. I also took advantage of the wheels being off to check the brakes and sand and paint the shock pockets and exposed frame and suspension parts with rust covering paint.

 

I have Fox 2.0 shocks and like the results, however, springs can also impact ride quality. Are you sure it is the shocks causing the issue? I had really soft shocks on my 07 with rough country springs and it rode like a lumber wagon.