Cheap shock suggestion

[windnsea00]

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I haven't been a fan of Bilstiens, at least in the OEM application. These shocks failed really early in my '98 Chev K1500 Z71, and in my '04 Avalanche Z71. This is a common complaint on all of the GM enthusiast boards I frequent as well.

Maybe GM got Bilstien to dumb-down the shocks to make them cheaper in the OEM application.

I replaced them in each case with Rancho's and have been really pleased. In the case of the Avalanche, I installed RS9000's all around. These shocks have dials on them so you can set the desired stiffness. Apparently they are a really long-lived shock as well.

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Interesting, in the BMW world Bilstein's are pretty popular...I run the M3 struts in front and Bilstein sport's re-valved at 25% stiffer in the rear on my `97 318ti (I have a custom spring rate also, 450/550).

Also the Bilstein (not sure if HD or sports) on my brother's 325is seem to be holding up decently ~60k miles on them.

 

[Jim 5]

Good to know.

Sounds like Bilstein's have a good reputation generally.

However, they have a pretty bad one from my experience and others' in respect of OEM GM Z71 truck applications....generally going soft after 30k miles or less.

The rancho's are significantly larger diameter and have a lifetime warranty. They are pretty expensive too.

 

[g20ooh]

#4 Paper clip in a wall socket ( 120 V A/C ) always works for me . Fast , efficient , reliable , readily available , and inexpensive . I discovered this at an early age in the 1950s ..... still works as well now as it did then , but YMMV ?

(

) well .... not really .

 

[Whimsey]

I changed to Rancho RSX's in my 2002 F-150 8' bed Supercab when it had under 5,000 miles on it. The Ford factory shocks were totally shot, even with no off road driving. The RSX's have been great shocks at a real good price. I also added a rear sway bar and in the Supercab F-150 with an 8' bed and a 300lb fiberglass cap I can handle better than many cars

.

I heard that the Monroe Reflex (?) shocks are the same as Rancho RSX's but without the boot, I'm not too sure about that though.

I have no problem with the Rancho RSX shocks. I think they are a real good value. It seems that around every March/April Summit Racing has them on sale.

Ironically the Ford factory shocks in my 1989 F-150 were great and I replaced them with Motorcraft shocks in 1998.

Whimsey

 

[01rangerxl]

Stay away from Gabriel. They are cheap, but you get what you pay for.

About two years ago I decided to replace the factory shocks on my truck since it was bouncing a lot when going over bumps. I went with Gabriels since they were $15 each for my truck. The ride, which is bad enough on a small truck with a heavy payload package, got much worse. Handling did improve somewhat, but that did not last long. After a year one of the bushings worked its way out and I replaced the two front shocks with the cheapest Monroes I could get. The Monroes are okay, but the ride was better with the OEM shocks before they went bad.

 

[swjohnsey]

Put Bilstiens on my '93 Chevy C2500 soon after I bought it new and they are still as stiff as they ever were at about 150,000 miles, same for the '00 Crown Victoria now at 125,000.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Thanks for all the help everyone. The right front just exploded and since I am hard pressed for money, I went with the Monroe Reflex. I love the Bilsteins as my dad had them on our old Mercedes Benz but I just need a high quality shock that won't fail me in the next 1.5 years of college.