hi, it looks like these bumpers that engage after about 1.5 inches of shock travel are the factories way of stiffening the ride and body roll. (mine are all original no prev. mods.) Mine is the 04 first year. model. I wish I had looked into softening the ride years ago ! The OEM shocks are well made and mjne were still good just needed some new rubber mounts and perhaps removing half the ure bumpers. This week I plan on removing a rear shock to see if its a similar sit. Bulletin to follow !