Shocks, it is time.......

[mwilson]

Retrieved the MEGA from storage yesterday and drove it 200 miles to the house.

Now these are the conditions that I was operating under...

(1) 13 days straight at work between normal duties and building prep for an open house Friday....and they were all long days....

(2) 3rd day of a nasty cold with special attention given to chest and sinuses along with eyeballs that feel like squeezed grapes...

(3) Put 20,000 on a Cadillac DTS since driving the Mega down to storage in November.

(4) Tired......no, actually more like total exhaustion...

So driving home under the above four conditions I felt that the truck was acting a little wonky. It rides really well, has since the day it was new. But I think it is time for new shocks.

I know that a lot of you will recommend the Bilstein brand which I may do.
My question is this....

Will it ride as good as it does with the OEM shocks? I will be distraught if I lose the ride quality. Plus the truck has 135,000 miles on these OEM shocks and this is the first time that I have noticed any deterioration. It was more like too much rocking from side to side.

A lot of other things were bothering on the way home like trying to maintain control with watering eyes, coughing fits, sneezes and trying to nurse an extra large DD coffee just to maintain a moderate heartbeat.......I hate colds....

 

[mwilson]

I gave the four conditions because any minor thing when I drove for a living turned in to a major thing when I was dog tired. A lot like a dripping faucet scenario....

 

[jgillott]

Getting ready to swap out the shocks on my '07 in a couple of weeks. I was planning on just ordering a set of Bilsteins from Genos. Mine has 90K on it and it has started to just bounce all over the road. Not that I should be surprised, this winter just took its toll on everything.

 

[jgillott]

I was also thinking of doing a steering damper while I am at it.

 

[Regcabguy]

Retrieved the MEGA from storage yesterday and drove it 200 miles to the house.

Now these are the conditions that I was operating under...

(1) 13 days straight at work between normal duties and building prep for an open house Friday....and they were all long days....

(2) 3rd day of a nasty cold with special attention given to chest and sinuses along with eyeballs that feel like squeezed grapes...

(3) Put 20,000 on a Cadillac DTS since driving the Mega down to storage in November.

(4) Tired......no, actually more like total exhaustion...

So driving home under the above four conditions I felt that the truck was acting a little wonky. It rides really well, has since the day it was new. But I think it is time for new shocks.

I know that a lot of you will recommend the Bilstein brand which I may do.
My question is this....

Will it ride as good as it does with the OEM shocks? I will be distraught if I lose the ride quality. Plus the truck has 135,000 miles on these OEM shocks and this is the first time that I have noticed any deterioration. It was more like too much rocking from side to side.

A lot of other things were bothering on the way home like trying to maintain control with watering eyes, coughing fits, sneezes and trying to nurse an extra large DD coffee just to maintain a moderate heartbeat.......I hate colds....

I recently drove an '06 regcab w/shell,285's and stock everything and thought it rode rough. Truck had 85k on it. Don Thuren offers some white bodied shocks that are supposed to deliver a nicer ride than Bilstein 5000/5100's. My stock shocks came off the 1st week.

 

[crispyboy]

I put the standard yellow and blue 4600 series Bilstein on my truck. I couldn't be happier. My oem shocks were worn at 40k miles - just didn't seem like they could control the ride very well. The new ones do well. Some say the 5100 series is just a little more of a stiff ride so I stayed away from those. My opinion is the 4600 is better than oem for a stock ride.

 

[seafish]

WHen I put the 5100 on my 2005 I felt that the ride and handling quality was MUCH better then the oem shocks, though a little firmer.

FYI-Thuren makes the Overland shocks which are supposed to be a little softer then the 5100. That being said, not sure if they are available for an unleveled truck, but it might be worth giving them a call to find out.

 

[S.Morris]

Hope you are feeling better soon.......
I think the fact that you are very sensitive conditions and not feeling well, and have been driving a Caddy all winter make it hard to remember just how the truck rides (it will never ride like a Caddy)

I replaced my originals at 150K approx(with (4600) and could not really tell much difference. The orig still had good and even resistance if stroked by hand. (I was expecting them to be worse) and expecting to see a very noticeable difference with the new ones which I did not.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Rancho's on mine, didn't notice any ride difference. Have had them on for quite sometime will have to look at records to see exactly when. I haul some out of control things with the truck towing, but have air bags also so that could be the difference towing weight.

 

[Jim W]

Mike;
Hope you are feeling better soon.

Now here is something to look at. I have the same front steering linkage as your 06 has on my 08.

I failed the RH outer tie rod end of the drag link right at the wheel assembly two weeks ago (81,000 + miles). I was crossing a set of very ruff railroad tracks doing between 25 to 30 MPH when the linkage failed. The front end started to shimmy and I loss some control over the steering. Although I was able to get the truck over to the side of the road without incident; if I had been going faster I would be looking for a new truck by now. The RH tire was turn inboard and the LH tire was also turn inboard so I could get off the road, the RH tire was sliding as I was driving very slow to the shoulder.

I ended up replacing the entire steering linkage and the wheel ball joints top and bottom plus a unit BRG on the RH side.
So when you are replacing your shocks check the linkage real close for wear and play. If there is any replace with all of the driving you do; just a suggestion.

Jim W.

 

[cerberusiam]

I put the Bilsteins on, no change in ride just much better handling. Stopped the body roll and bounce after bumps.

 

[TFucili]

Shoot, if I had your money, Mike, I'd get a set of Kings for sure

 

[mwilson]

I'm doing the time but not seeing the money.........

Just keep getting more to do.....

 

[AH64ID]

Bilstien 5100's will ride much better than stock. At those many miles your OEMs probably are beyond shot, even if the truck has lead an easy life. OEM shocks just are not designed to go that long.

 

[TFucili]

I'm doing the time but not seeing the money.........

Just keep getting more to do.....

I used to have a manager who worked for me at the lumber yard whose favorite saying was, "The more you do, the more you do". He was right!

 

[KIKER]

I replaced mine a couple of weeks ago with Bilstien 5100 and had 238,000 miles on the original equipment shocks! It does do better on the highway, but I can't tell much difference on the rough oilfield roads that I drive everyday. The roads are still rough!

 

[mwilson]

Gonna' order a set of Bilstein's today. I watched carefully when towing the fiver this weekend and after the shocks warm up they bounce a lot. The oil passages are worn out for sure.

I think the 4600 series will do what I want.

 

[inlinesix3million]

I believe you will be happy with the 4600's. I just replaced my 4600's with 5100's purely for aesthetics. I donated my 4600's to a friend for his '06 megacab and he is very pleased with them. He
tows a 28" TT and enjoys the better handling. Bilstein invented the gas monotube shock.

 

[crispyboy]

I believe you will be happy with the 4600's. I just replaced my 4600's with 5100's purely for aesthetics. I donated my 4600's to a friend for his '06 megacab and he is very pleased with them. He
tows a 28" TT and enjoys the better handling. Bilstein invented the gas monotube shock.

So was there a discernible difference between the two series of shocks?

 

[mwilson]

Finally got them ordered last night, had been sitting in my Geno's shopping cart for a week......I don't seem to have time to do anything lately.......

I am going to install the rears this weekend, the fronts will get done when I do the axle u-joints and brake pads. That may be a couple of weekends away but I want it done before I go on vacation the last week of June...

Getting kinda' excited about it now...

Mike.