Just wanted to know if there is an easy way to know if your shocks are bad? I bought my truck with 90k on it and now it has 115k on it. There is not a huge differance in the ride since i bought it. So i dont know if the truck dives alot during braking or is rougher on bumps. Is this just something i have to do to find out if they are bad. By the way they are the stock shocks. Thanks for any help.

 

Well the easy way to know if there bad, Is look and see if there leaking oil, and if you cant see any on the shock body. Look at the shock shaft sometimes you will get a littl too much oil on them and that would tell you that the seals are leaking .... But thats just my 2 cents

 

Well, you stated they are the stock shocks. As that's the case, they were shot when you got the truck. Replace them and you will be amazed at the ride you were missing during that 25k you have had it.
Unfortunately with trucks it is not easy to tell if shocks are bad until you remove them. The springs are heavy enough that you can't use the method of seeing how much they rebound after pushing the bumper up and down. Even with shocks I could slid back and forth by hand after removal, the truck would only rebound once.
In this case just replace them. I never let OE shocks on more than 30k. They are better than the were 30 years ago, but I still replace them at that mileage.

 

shocks wear out gradually over time so you don't realize they are bad.
shocks are also a maintenance item and should be replaced at or about 30K like mentioned. after replacing all 4 you will definitely notice the difference.

 

If you have massive front end dive when you hit the brakes your shocks are pretty much shot.

 

Yeah if you have the origional shocks, I'd replace 'em for sure. See if you can bounce the truck front or back. Get it "bouncing a little and then stop poushing on it. It should stop rocking or bouncing pretty quickly. If it doesn't, your shocks are trashed. But with that milage, and with no more that a set of shock will cost you, I'd replace them. You really will be amazed at the difference it makes.--DIY

 

I really noticed mine were bad on the highway. Almost felt (and sounded) like I was leaving the road on occasion. Tire noise would fade/increase. And the side-to-side roll was quite dramatic.

I replaced the stock ones at about 75000 miles and felt a huge difference. Truck felt solid again. Got Monroe Reflex shocks because of lifetime warranty. NOw, every 30k I take them out and run to the local auto parts store to swap them out.

I thought about Rancho, but the lifetime warranty on Monroe was a big plus for me. And since I do mostly road driving now , they were the best value. Billstein and Edlebrock were a bit more than I wanted to spend, and no lifetime warranty.

 

False. Common misconception.

Front end dive under braking is a result of the weight transfer. The front end will dive the same amount whether it's got Bilsteins, or it's un-damped. Shocks will help control the RATE at which the nose dives when you stab the brakes, but the nose will dive the same amount regardless. Shocks DAMP the motion, they don't limit it. If the shocks ever LIMIT the motion, you've designed the system completely wrong.

-Joe

 

agreed.

Do not mistake the purpose of springs with that of shocks.

Shocks dampen. Period.

Take a ride on the freeway, when you hit a good bump, or transition in the road that is big enough to uncompress the suspension a bit, does your truck act like a pogo-stick?

If so, you need new shocks.

Im still on the original shocks on my '94 f-150. They are all still functional, but not nearly like they were when new. They will be replaced soon.

 

So.. what about front springs? Anyone put any aftermarket ones on and seen any significant improvements or benefits?