Matching Shock Absorbers For Front AND Rear

After doing some in depth research and checking dimensions I think I've found an easy source for gas charged shocks from the same manufacturer, same line, and color. The Monroe Monro-Matic Plus part# 31131 for the front is easily available as most know, but a matching rear is not shown by any vendor. The only one easily available is the Gabriel part# 81469, but it is red, and has to be ordered. There are lots of ones by Monroe that come close to fitting after some tweaking, typically the mountings are different. I was able to determine that a rear shock for 73-81 Jeep CJ5's are essentially a direct fit, bolt right on, no mods at all. The Dodge steel sleeves press nice and firmly into the shock bushings. The Monroe Monro-Matic Plus rear part# 32377 is what you want. Extended is 19.75" compressed is 12.65"  the rubber bushings are 5/8" IDx 1-5/16" OAL. Again, the steel sleeves press in and when bolted up fit perfect. $25.99 from O'Reillys or elsewhere. Many may have it in stock as it is for a popular make and model. Here's some pics of the 31131 fronts and 32377 rears next to some older Gabriel exact fit shocks I removed from my van.

A lot of people are mounting discontinued Bilstein shocks for motorhomes/rialta/VW's on to the vans as they are stiff and give the van a great deal more stability (stock suspension being what it is). There are some basic mods that need to be done to put them on and they are super compressed. I am at work right now, but I will try to post more information on them when I get home.

I used KYB shocks front and rear.

Yup, there are actually plenty of shocks that will fit. I ended up looking at Monroes commercial shocks for classI I, II, and III vehicles that were close in specs, some heavy duty shocks, which are worth a look, but those specs led me to the rears for the CJ5's, I just wanted matching Monro-Matics with as close to the same mounting. That hard to find parts list on the yahoo group needs to be updated for sure, which is what I started out with. Economy to high end is available.