Pics: 33's and 1" level
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 3,121
Likes: 4
From: Burlington, VT
There are several trustworthy sources about it, but here is one from CarTalk:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/today...-change-shocks
Basically, if there's no excessive bouncing, or no damage/evidence of leaks, there's no reason to think the shocks are "bad". They generally don't degrade, they're either good or bad. Replacing them every 50K or 100K miles is akin to changing your oil every 3K miles . . . mostly automotive folklore. You may have your own method of determining your shocks, but I have read the above from several sources who aren't trying to sell shock absorbers. YMMV
http://www.cartalk.com/content/today...-change-shocks
Basically, if there's no excessive bouncing, or no damage/evidence of leaks, there's no reason to think the shocks are "bad". They generally don't degrade, they're either good or bad. Replacing them every 50K or 100K miles is akin to changing your oil every 3K miles . . . mostly automotive folklore. You may have your own method of determining your shocks, but I have read the above from several sources who aren't trying to sell shock absorbers. YMMV
I've also read the bouncing the corner of the vehicle method doesn't really work as well with trucks and SUVs.
I replaced my OE coilovers with Monroe quickstuts. I honestly did notice a difference.
When I changed my rear shocks, I noticed the bed wouldn't dip as much when coming to a stop. Less squishy back there. I also went with an OE equivalent.
The OE used shocks would compress without any effort at all and offered absolutely no resistance. However, the brand new shock took most of your body weight to get it to compress. That says something right there, in my opinion.
Last edited by 2008_XL; Oct 26, 2015 at 09:55 AM.
When I compressed the shocks from my 65k mile 2004 truck in my hand with no effort I was left unimpressed. Lots of body wiggle too. I hate that. I put Bilsteins in that truck, I couldn't compress it by hand if my life depended on it. Handled much better.
I chalk this up to one of the few reasons coil springs crack on folks. The Motorcraft strut has no life left in it after so long with these heavy trucks sitting on them. One of the other reasons of this is poor maintenance via owner.
I chalk this up to one of the few reasons coil springs crack on folks. The Motorcraft strut has no life left in it after so long with these heavy trucks sitting on them. One of the other reasons of this is poor maintenance via owner.
Last edited by DarrenWS6; Oct 27, 2015 at 08:06 PM.