Truck rides rough, new shocks?
Truck rides rough, new shocks?
Hall Of Fame
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,204
Likes: 10
From: Gainesville, Ga.
the only thing shocks do is limit the bounce/rebound of the springs. so if that's your problem it might help. if the problem is that the truck is stiff as a rock, and every bump jars you a solid farm wagon, then it won't help that problem. if you feel like your wheels and suspension is all loose and rattlely, then check for play throughout the front end, starting with bearings and ball joints by grabbing the top of the front tire and shaking it in/out as hard as you can. there should be no movement. if it shakes back and forth, you've got some expensive worn out parts.
Legend
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 7,843
Likes: 13
From: DFW, Texas
Vaughan is absolutely correct. The springs take the bumps. Shocks only dampen the springs from bouncing up and down after they hit the bumps. My experience has been that the front shocks wear about twice as fast as the rears due to the motor and cab weight being more front forward. Its a relatively easy DIY provided you have a breaker bar for the bottom shock bolt and a means of keeping the shock cylinder from turning to remove the top bolt.
You can check for bad shocks by grabbing the corner rears of your tailgate/bed and pulling diagonally down and away from the truck. If the truck shimmys and shakes all around when you let go, you can reasonably assume the shocks can't stop the springs anymore and are done. Also, if the truck rocks around at the completion of a firm stop, that's a typical sign of worn shocks.
My factory shocks were toast at about 60,000 miles. When I took them off, they damn near compressed under their own weight.
I've run Edelbrock IAS performer Shocks and Bilstein 5150s and liked them both. The Edelbrocks were stiffer and really stopped body roll well in fast cornering, (like going 30 thru a 15mph turn) but cost twice as much.
You can check for bad shocks by grabbing the corner rears of your tailgate/bed and pulling diagonally down and away from the truck. If the truck shimmys and shakes all around when you let go, you can reasonably assume the shocks can't stop the springs anymore and are done. Also, if the truck rocks around at the completion of a firm stop, that's a typical sign of worn shocks.
My factory shocks were toast at about 60,000 miles. When I took them off, they damn near compressed under their own weight.
I've run Edelbrock IAS performer Shocks and Bilstein 5150s and liked them both. The Edelbrocks were stiffer and really stopped body roll well in fast cornering, (like going 30 thru a 15mph turn) but cost twice as much.
Last edited by aim4squirrels; Oct 2, 2010 at 07:09 PM.
Grand Champion
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 7,055
Likes: 7
From: Lee County, North Carolina
To add to aim's statement, a lot of shocks have a nut on the underside of the shock tower built into them that you can get a wrench on, I believe it was a 3/4" wrench on my stock shocks.
If you have overload springs or add a leafs in the rear then you'll have a very bouncy ride when you don't have a few hundred pounds in the bed.
If you have 2500 or 3500 springs in the front then it'll be bouncy in the front too.
If you have overload springs or add a leafs in the rear then you'll have a very bouncy ride when you don't have a few hundred pounds in the bed.
If you have 2500 or 3500 springs in the front then it'll be bouncy in the front too.
