Hello, I have a 2000 dodge Grand Caravan with the heavy duty suspension with a 2 inch Reese Hitch. I bought some Monroe gas-matic shocks, their lowest grade and they are to soft. When I jump up and down on the hitch and step off they bounce 4 times before recovering. I put the family in the vehicle and drove it. Over certain bumps, she bounced a little, not bad, but noticeable before recovering, which is no good as I sometimes tow a 16 ft boat with a 50 hp outboard with the family. I'm sure it would bounce more with a full load. I called Monroe and they have a mid grade Monroe Spectrum shock and then a more expensive coil over shock. It's the only three they sell for this year. I'm trying to figure out if the mid grade shocks will do the trick. I don't mind buying the more expensive coil overs, but don't like wasting money if it's not needed. I'm trying to stay with Monroe as I bought them online and they will pay to ship them back if I upgrade. If I don't, I have to pay to ship them back which would almost be a wash as they were only $44.00 for the pair. The Spectrum's are about $78.00 a pair and the coil overs are $128.00. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

One thing to consider is that if the springs are 'played-out' then a new shock won't be able to control it.
I bought a B200 Tradesman van brand new and at 18,000 miles of NYC (Queens & Brooklyn) streets the front of the van was bouncing uncontrollably.
Because the roads were so bad as to be like 'off-road' driving I bought the biggest 'off-road' Gabriel shocks available (in fact I had a hard time fitting them though the hole in control arm!).
Well, it was better but still with a lot of vertical travel. So I went back to the parts store and they said if the those shocks didn't control my van then the springs must have gone soft. The thing that fooled me was that the ride height was still good, but they were right! My front coil springs had lost their 'spring rate'. I changed the springs and the front didn't bounce at all! In fact the Gabriel shocks were three way adjustable and I had set them to firm originally to try and control the bouncing but with the new springs I had to back them down to the soft setting and the ride was still quite firm.

So maybe a new set of heavy duty leaf springs would be a good idea?

 

Thanks. I thought about that, but the ride was fine with the old shocks. I've ordered the mid grade shocks as the consensus is that will suit my needs. If they don't work, I'll look into the leaf springs as I'm sure I don't need heavy duty shocks for a mini van even though it has a heavy duty suspension. The stock shocks that came off weren't heavy duty. Thanks for the reply!

 

I have to ask a question. I have a 2000 Grand Caravan Sport 4WD and rear shocks cost me about $900 to replace. What makes these shocks so expensive?

 

Good question. I don't have AWD, but I can't think of any reason they would cost that much. I just installed the replacements and they were 78.00 for the pair. I did the job in a half hour without a lift.

 

Well, I did some checking on-line and find that this must be a special shock for the AWD. Prices ranged from about $350 to $500 each, so I guess I didn't over pay.

 

You must have Nivomatic shocks, which are ridiculously priced. I replaced both of my front strut assemblies and rear shocks for about 250.00. Now, I did the work myself, but it only took my about 3.5 hrs total, 3 of those on the front struts. If I had a lift I could have done the job in 2 hrs easy. Just recently learned about Nivomatic shocks, but it will be something I research when I buy another vehicle. I have a Cadillac too. I just had a fuel line on the fuel pump crack. Caddy dealer wanted 150.00 for a single 4 foot line, not counting labor. Bought a kit to fix it for 30.00 at the auto parts store. I try my best to stay away from dealers.

 

I gather that is the case. The rear differential and transfer case must add enough weight to the rear of the car. I had them replaced when the rear of the car would scrape while backing out of an inclined driveway.