I will be replacing my shocks very soon and would like some input. I am not leveled but raised slightly. The main reaon I am not leveled is I drive alot of miles and the couple mpg's is more important at this point. Can I use the bilstein cognitos without being leveled or are they too much. I know brodie had some alpha shocks I was also considering. Or should I just OEM. I do not have the adventure model but feel that i may as well put a little heavier duty shock on while I am at it.
Thanks

 

i can't give you a definitive answer if the bilsteins will be too big with the truck barely raised, but if you were really wanting to level it some more i wouldn't worry about losing mpg's. Nobody will probably beleive me but my gas mileage has gone up since mine was leveled.
I was getting a solid 15.1 mpg over a full tank(320 miles)with the truck at stock height(adventure package), new tires, aligned, all maintenance and fluids up to date, royal purple in the diffs, stock air box with k&n(had the volant on for a few thousand as well). as soon as i leveled it to 23.5" and also threw the spectre intake in i was consistently getting 16+ mpg. Now i have the injen short ram intake, just switched to mobil 1 full synthetic and i'm getting 17+..up to 360 miles per tank! Now i know the intake and oil help but if leveling costs you a couple mpg like everyone says, there is no way the intake an oil gained me 4 mpg...so i really do not think leveling hurt mileage too bad if at all.
the only explanation i can think of is that its still has the aerodynamics of a cinderblock whether its at stock height or leveled a couple inches. also most people that level their h3 put bigger and burlier tires on, i kept the same 285's. Sorry for the long winded comment, but i say raise it up a little more and throw on the bilsteins if thats what you really want.

 

I agree lifting my Alpha and same tires did not change my mpg at all.

 

My mpg changed slightly for the better when I leveled mine, also putting a taller shock in means you just have to get a little creative to get it in: like an afternoon delight: when it comes time for my suspension to be replaced I am definitely going with something that is more trail rugged, but oem is good for a reason

 

Im in the very same boat as you Widespread! I dont wanna have to buy $60 bump stops (although still cant seem to find oem ones) or special shocks just to have the H3 leveled. If I could get away with 1" lift without changing bump stops that would be great!

 

If you only want to raise it an inch you don't need to change bump stops or shocks, you might even think it rides better. the extra articulation between the bump stop and lower a arm weeds out alot little bumps you might feel now. you feel the suspension absorbing them rather than the whole truck. I'm at 23.5" with stock bump stops and shocks and in some ways the truck rides better than before. I think i would benefit from extended shocks like the bilsteins but i am in no hurry since it still rides great. I do have the adventure package though, a bit stiffer suspension.

 

the only thing you might see as a negative(I did) is a little more nosedive during heavy braking...

 

Mine is leveled and I ran a little stiffer shock on mine and it rides great. it nose dives less than it did stock. I have found that I prefer aftermarket and don't care for the oem shocks on this vehicle

 

wow good debate on the "nose dive issue" So perhaps a stiff shock would be good if running oem BS?

This would be a VERY good thing!!!

These are the shocks im looking at due to cost effectiveness; with a one inch level and OEM bumpstops! Perfect Explorer Pro Comp ES9000 PERFORMANCE GAS SHOCKS - JCWhitney

$180.00 for all four with free shipping; Pro Comp ES 9000 Nitro Shocks!!! Oh and shock boots would run another $20!

 

I don't know how those shocks would feel but I looked at those a couple of months ago. I know that with the "heavy duty" offroad package shocks I would like less high speed compression dampening, a tad more or the same high speed and low speed rebound and more low speed compression dampening. I would guess that I might find that in the higher end shocks like Fox or Bilstein but I don't know for certain. Most people buy new shocks when the old ones are worn out so in back to back testing anything new would feel better than the old stuff! Ideally I would like to call up Fox or someone and have mine custom valved to my personal tastes but I'm not excited about spending the money on that. Thinking about it, I guess the stock Adventure setup isn't so bad after all!