When to replace shocks???

[Cattletrkr]

I have 134K on my truck, most of that is heavy towing. I've never had to replace shocks on a vehicle before. How do I know when they're 'bout done? I don't have any funky hadling or anything. I just think that after 134K doing what I do, something has to be getting wore out. I have a brush gaurd on front that weighs about 150 lbs and 16 ply 19. 5's which can't be doing the shocks any good.



How do I check them? There's no excessive "bouncing" if I push down on the front end. Pretty much just comes up once and that's it. The rear is so sprung up I can't imagine the shocks do much of anything anymore.



Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Grunt]

I never knew I needed new shocks until after I put new ones on... what a difference in the ride! Shocks normally wear out over a time so that you don't notice it. In retrospect I'd recommend changing the factory shocks out no later than 50,000 and sooner the better. I had 75,000 on mine

 

[rjohnson916]

From what I hear, most shocks/ struts on todays vehicles are all gas shocks as oem parts. KYB, Bilstein etc. . . are contract suppliers now. Gas shock typically will out last a vehicle unless used in extreme situations. I think the oem gas shocks were only an option on the "4x4 Off-Road" group and the "TRX/4" group. I would think DC would have stepped up on their Heavy Duty trucks, but I wouldn't put it past them to go cheap in this dept. As a rule, I always thought the easiest way to tell if a shock is bad was if it had a wet spot or showed where it had leaked?



-Ryan

 

[DPKetchum]

I have replaced stockers and most replacements if I still own the vehicle that long between 80 and 100k. The few I kept for the second round I notriced a differance also after replacement. Even with a gas shock.

 

[TAbbott]

I have 134K on my truck, most of that is heavy towing. I've never had to replace shocks on a vehicle before. How do I know when they're 'bout done? I don't have any funky hadling or anything. I just think that after 134K doing what I do, something has to be getting wore out. I have a brush gaurd on front that weighs about 150 lbs and 16 ply 19. 5's which can't be doing the shocks any good.



How do I check them? There's no excessive "bouncing" if I push down on the front end. Pretty much just comes up once and that's it. The rear is so sprung up I can't imagine the shocks do much of anything anymore.



Any advice is much appreciated.

I replaced the oem shocks on my '06 w/ Bilsteins at about 1100 miles. IMO stock shocks are pretty much junk the day they are installed. The stockers wouldn't properly damp the stock aluminum wheels and 17" Michelins, so I figured they'd have no chance at all w/ 19. 5 Steelies w/ 265/70 G's mounted on them. No comparison whatever between the oem's and the Bilsteins. Anyway, to check one of your current shocks, remove it from the mount and see how easy it is to compress and pull back. New oem's w/ be much harder to do and the motions will be lots slower. The Bilsteins w/ be about that much difference again.

 

[wyosteve]

I replaced the shocks on my '01 at 22,000 and on my current 04. 5 at 32,000. In both instances, the fronts were completely shot. Could push them in and out like a beer keg pump. The rears were still good, but I preferred to replace them at the same time.

 

[Jeremiah]

+1 on what Grunt said. You won't know you need 'em until you replace 'em. I bought Bilsteins from Brandon at Geno's. Haven't been sorry a day.



The Bilsteins and 19. 5" wheels are a heckuva combo. Couldn't believe the difference. I wondered why DC didn't do this in the first place. $$$ probably.

 

[Lorenz]

Before your first wax job... But I'm biased.



Remove the shock from the truck. If you push down on the shock and they don't come back up on there own, you ready for another set. If you can push down with minimal resistance your ready for another set. If there leaking your past ready...

 

[Cattletrkr]

Are the Bilsteins from Geno's good enough to handle the steel 19. 5's and a heavy brushgaurd? Or doesn't all that extra weight make much difference?

 

[Cattletrkr]

Before your first wax job...

Wax??? Are you implying I have a uni-brow or something?? :-laf Wax a truck, what next?



Bilsteins showed up from Geno's this morning. Can't get the time to put them on until Thurs. Oo. Oo.

 

[Cattletrkr]

First run with the Bilsteins on front tonight. WOW!!! Not like riding on a Kelderman I'm sure, but worlds better than before. Rear end still hits like a freight-train, but that might have something to do with the extra springs up the wazoo and the 28K trailer behind. I'm toying with the idea of putting Bilsteins back there too. Anyone know if I'll notice any improvement there?



I highly recommend them to anyone with more than 5 miles on your truck. Install took me 1. 5-2. 0 hours and I've never done shocks before. Had to pull drivers side battery, but other than that it was pretty simple. Pass. side bottom bolt was a little tough, but do-able.



Only downside is the 2 months it took to get them here.

 

[TowPro]

I put Bilsteins on my truck this weekend. 13K on the old ones. The old ones were as good as new, but they have very little compression resistence. You can push them down with very little weight. The bilsteins have major compression resistence. In face to get the front ones on, I had to put a jack under them to lift them 1" so I could get the nuts on.



Ride difference: On smaller bumps (clump of ice or something on road) you feel a little more in the truck, but on the highway all of the bounce is gone. Before a dip in the road would cause the truck to bounce 3 or 4 times, now it recovers after one bounce.

 

[Jeremiah]

Bilsteins all the way 'round

Cattletrkr, I recommend Bilsteins on all four corners. I didn't see which truck you drive, but my 3500 SRW is extremely happy now that I have Bilsteins front and rear. Bilsteins combined with 19. 5" wheels and 245 Hankooks have made my truck one fine handling vehicle. I'm surprised trucks don't come this way, but it would increase the price and that's a consideration in a competitive market. This combination (Bilsteins, 19. 5s and commercial tires) is the best thing I've done to my truck. One of the guys at Geno's has this same combination, so that was recommendation enough for me.

 

[TowPro]

in fact there is a free "$10. 00 off" on a shock order in the pay it forward section

 

[Cattletrkr]

I'm alittle hesitant to spend the $$ for the rears 'cause I've got the rear end so sprung up that I don't know if the shocks do much of anything. Empty, there is virtually no give and loaded the trailer smooths things out.

 

[CPittman]

Changed the stock fronts at around 98K and now with 144K on the clock I'm noticing a little too much 'boing' in the back. Really noticable with the fiver hitched up. Hit a dip in the road at speed and it takes a while to settle things down.

 

[donnier]

Iv only got 32 K on mine and already thinking about Bilsteins.

A friend of mine changed the shocks on his Class A motorhome to Bilsteins and said they really made it nice to ride.

I agree with the OEM s being junk.

IMO, mine was built South of the border and by the time it got delievered to the dealer, it probably had 2000 miles worth of bouncing before I even drove it.