Been along time since I have been on here! How is everyone doing?
My 06 1500 seems to be getting a soft and bouncy ride. I am thinking it might be time to put some new shocks on the baby. I was wondering what shocks all of you are going with? I only use my truck for road driving, and pulling a lawn mower or ATV from time to time. I get a load of fire wood a couple of times a year, and that is about it. So you can see that I'm not really that hard on the suspension. So what do you guys recommend for the front and back, to get my truck back to a good ride? Thanks!!!

 

Monroe Reflex here. Great ride an' it doesn't hop sideways in bumpy turns.

 

I'm happy with my bilsteins. Up here I think they call them the HD series and are direct replacements for OEM. They felt a lot stiffer at first compared to the worn out originals but no hopping around for me either.

 

Pro Comp 9000 for me. Great shock.
Al.

 

Thanks guys! I have looked at the bilsteins on line and they seem to be good. How hard is it to put shocks on, or is it something I need to have a shop do? Have any of you done this before?

 

I've done a half dozen or so. Too easy to pay someone to do. Keep the weight on the suspension (ramps for front, remove the spare to gain access to the rear). Don't cut the retainer straps 'til you have the shocks bolted in. Remove the top nut then the bottom bolts for the front. Use vice-grips or 9mm wrench (inexplicably hard to find) to hold the center shaft steady. Re-install in reverse order.You might need some WD-40 to free up some fasteners.

If you have the money, while you're under the rear, add an anti-sway bar. Great handling improvement for only a couple of c-notes.

 

Replaced the stock shocks with ProComp9000, but the front ones wore out in about 6 months. Granted, I drive my truck hard all the time, including a good deal of non-paved driving as often as possible. Replaced them with the cheap yellow Monroe shocks when the ProComps blew. I was strapped for cash at the time, and couldn't afford anything good. After about a month, the front bobs around like a boat everywhere I go. Very annoying. I hear the Bilsteins are very good, and may try them next.

 

Yes they're real easy to get at. I didn't even lift the truck at all. just crawl under with the impact and they're out in no time flat. One of my shocks was pretty old and the nut was on pretty good so I couldn't stop the shaft from spinning. I had to cut the nut and pry it off. A little irritation but still not a difficult process. A bigger impact might have gotten her done tho. +1 on the straps since since they're awfully hard to push into place once they're cut.

 

I threw some Monroe Sensa-traks on mine over the summer. Been pretty happy with them. Got 160k on the OEMs before they started getting bad.. Maybe I'll get another 160k on these? Super easy to change.. I found the fronts to be easier to do than the backs.. Might have spent 90 minutes total changing all 4..

 

I'd recommend bilsteins any day if you are looking for better handling and/or a level. I installed and have them on the front at 2" lift. You can use the stock height or lift/level up to 2". You have an 06 so the fronts are coilovers which are not a 30 min task like the 03-05s. You'll need a spring compressor and possibly a torch to deal with the lower shock bolt (it is known to stick). Search "bilstein 5100 install".

If you want a simple, quick, cheap, OEM-type restoration, grab some 'loaded' (w/springs) monroe front shocks from rockauto.com. Same goes for rears except for the "loaded" part. They seem to be popular for that purpose.