Do you have to replace heavy duty shocks
with the same thing? I went to buy some
replacement shocks and was given some with a much smaller mounting
thread and mounting bushings than the
oem. The new ones are gabriel gas ryder
lt VST's. I've replaced the front two already and it has improved the ride very
much. No more tooth jarring rattles on
pavement cracks. Does the fact that I had
heavy duty shocks from the factory mean
that the truck has a heavier suspension
than normal , and that it has to have oem
sized shocks. or is it ok to put on normal
ones. I like these shocks,my head doesn't get thrown into the side window
when I pull into a driveway anymore.

 

I'm glad to hear that you like the Gabriels (generally). I am planning on getting some myself. However, I'd expect the rear shocks to be at least the size of the factory ones. The Gas Ryders are supposed to be heavy-duty. There is another "brand" by Gabriel that is more car-like. Are you sure you got the correct ones? You can check the model numbers at the Gabriel website.

 

My truck has the towing package, from
what I can see physically it has a below
the bumper hitch ,heavy duty shocks,trans
and oil coolers. I'm guessing that is the
two coolers set out in front of the radiator
at the bottom. The main part of the shocks are the same size ,just the mounting threads are a smaller diameter
along with the bushings. Just as a test,
tonight I pulled into a driveway at about
15 to 20 miles an hour and was very pleased with the shocks performance!
Normally this would have given me a headache and a window smudge to deal
with on top of that,but the front end just
kind of dipped a little,then came back up
and leveled out without any ridiculous
bouncing motion. I was also turning at the
time and it did not do any back and forth
seesaw movement. I guess you could say I am happy with them,and I have not
installed the rears yet. One of them is leaking ,too. Thanks for the response.

 

I hope you mean that one of the rear shocks is leaking and not one of the new ones.

I also have the tow pkg. and plan on upgrading all four corners. My front OEM shocks are completely shot. Still, I'd expect the bushings & bolts to be the same size even though we have the factory version of "heavy-duty".

For my 2WD, the following part numbers are what Gabriel says I need:
Front: G63714
Rear: G63788

Does that match your shocks?


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1997 4x4 Expedition- 4.6L, true dual exhaust w/glass-packs, K&N air filter, SuperChip, airbox mods, Edelbrock shocks, 285/75R16 BFG ATs, 2000 "XLT" wheels, 4.10 gears, Auburn LS, Clarion In-dash CD player, Smitty Bilt push bars and nerf bars.

2000 4x2 F150 XLT Reg. Cab LWB- 5.4L, Tow Pkg, 3.55LS, CD player,Remote Keyless Entry, Sliding back glass, Special Appearance Pkg., tinted windows, Line-X bedliner, K&N air filter, SuperChip, airbox mods, 285/60R16 Goodyear Eagle GT IIs and Prime #155 wheels.

http://members.visualcities.com/NoMo

 

Yep, those are the same numbers I
purchased, and the right rear oem shock
is the one that leaks. This leads me to
believe that all the shocks were bad. The
ride was very stiff and rattled the suspension quite a bit. The front shocks
were dificult,by that I mean I had to go buy
a 21 mm socket for the top mount nut,
what a hassle. did them without any thing
but the factory jack ,so I could get the shocks out of the lower a-arms. The bushings seemed to fit the hole on the top but the outside diameter of the bushings were smaller than the heavys.
An air ratchet would've been nice,but I'm not at home so I had to hand tool it. you'll
also probably need a wrench to hold the
nut below the upper bushings because
they spun on me, not sure what size that
one is but it's smaller than the top one.
Have fun and enjoy the "ride".

 

Hey nomo, I found a second reason for
the bad ride!! the Wal Mart idiots put 50
pounds of air in my tires! Granted they
are sport truck performance tires, but I
don't know of any size tire that would fit
this truck being inflated that much.
This was done right before I went on a road trip of 576 miles so I didn't notice the
roughness til I was in inner city Milwaukee. The tires are yokahama
AVS/ST's and are absolutely the best
handling tire I have had on any vehicle,bar
none. They howl a little bit on hard cornering but have never let go on me.
I am going to post a message about the
over inflation in the wheel and tire section
have fun installing your shocks,

 

Thanks for the update and tips. As soon as I recover from this back surgery, I'll be doing the install. I feel even better about the shocks now that I'm not the "first" to try them.

My rear shocks seem to be OK, but the front were toast after towing a rather heavy load. I'm suprised it wasn't the rears... factory shocks have never impressed me.

Thanks again,
Neal

------------------
1997 4x4 Expedition- 4.6L, true dual exhaust w/glass-packs, K&N air filter, SuperChip, airbox mods, Edelbrock shocks, 285/75R16 BFG ATs, 2000 "XLT" wheels, 4.10 gears, Auburn LS, Clarion In-dash CD player, Smitty Bilt push bars and nerf bars.

2000 4x2 F150 XLT Reg. Cab LWB- 5.4L, Tow Pkg, 3.55LS, CD player,Remote Keyless Entry, Sliding back glass, Special Appearance Pkg., tinted windows, Line-X bedliner, K&N air filter, SuperChip, airbox mods, 285/60R16 Goodyear Eagle GT IIs and Prime #155 wheels.

http://members.visualcities.com/NoMo