Any tips on how to tell if your shocks are bad? I've been told that if you take one end.off and compress it, it should slowly extend. Mine didn't so I finally got some new ones but they also don't extend when compressed. Should they? And my new ones also don't seem much harder to.compress then my old ones but they are at least 4 years old and well over 100k

 

If they are gas charged shocks, like KYB's, they will extend after being compressed, but regular non gas charged with not...Mark

 

If there is any oil leaking down the shock they are bad, also if the gas charge is missing.

Mark,
Where have you been able to find heavy duty oil shocks (non gas charged)?
I have been looking for them for years.

Jim

 

Jim, I haven't yet found any non gas charged shocks for the 1st gen trucks, but Summit has them for the second gens...Mark

 

So the ones on my truck are rancho rs 5000 and the new ones I got are skyjacker hydro 7000. Any thoughts on comparison between these?

Out of the box the skyjackers seem cheaper and not nearly as smooth. They kinda skip and jitter as they compress. They also seem easier to compress than my old ranchos.

So since my 5 or 6 year old ranchos that arent leaking oil and have over 100k km on them and have similar if not.better resistance.to.compression than the new skyjackers is it safe to assume mine are fine?

Any other ways to test shocks?

 

Buy yourself a shock dyno.
At 100,000 I wouldn't hesitate to change them, sounds like the Skyjackers just aren't a good match for the truck.

 

100,000 relatively smooth miles on good shocks probably won't wear them out. A few thousand trips up the county road I live on, however.......

The quickest I ever took out shocks was when I hit a big new frost heave on a county road at 80 mph with a rice burner. (82 Colt) It was 30 below, the oil was stiff, and I went airborne for a considerable distance. When I landed, the car kept bouncing like a bobble head doll.

It took the alignment shop about an hour to get the old shocks out of the struts. The impact had expanded the shocks inside the strut tubes. He said he'd never seen anything like it.

 

I might be missing.something but is there no concrete method.to.tell weather.my shocks are bad other than leaking oil? I can't afford.newshocks if.I.didn't actually need em.

 

With the stiffness of our suspension systems in these trucks, I can't imagine whether or not a shock is bad, it actually does anything noticeable for ride quality.

Our trucks ride like trucks. Want a smoother ride ? Buy another truck.


In my experience, the bushings in the ends of the shocks go bad before the shock actually does (in our trucks, that is)

 

Its not really a matter.of wanting a smoother ride.so.much as wanting them.to be functioning. I'm fine with a bumpy.ride but I want them helping my springs

 

Compress the shock then pull it out to the extended position. If you feel resistance when pulling the shock is working( maybe not as good as new but none the less working) On all but drag racing front shocks there should be more resistance on extension(rebound) and less on retraction. The whole idea is to keep the springs from bouncing like a rubber ball.

 

The old timey way was to bounce the corner of the car then let go on a down stroke, then the car should go up and not come down again. If they bounced back then the shocks are bad. As T said, the suspensions on the trucks are so stiff that this method is difficult at best. Remove one and it should have hydraulic pressure in both directions. If one or both directions is real easy then the shock is bad...Mark

 

Wow,
That is going back a few years, like when gas stations used to install new tires and shocks.

The old simple test worked ok for grandpas 1959 Impala with squshy suspension but will not work on our trucks, don't think many of us here could compress our suspension 2" and check for rebound, I know I sure can't, I hitched up a travel trailer to mine with about 800# tounge weight and all it did was make it ride nice.

My truck rides quite a bit softer when I remove the shocks, this is why I am looking for a good set of oil filled non gas shocks.


The last time I had my springs off it took me about 30 minuets to reconnect the shocks, once it was extended it was a bugger to compress to the point where I could get it onto the mount, sucker wore me out.

I remember back in the 80's when I first put gas shocks on my lifted Suburban, I was astonished at how terrible it made the ride and I could not see why anyone would install them.
Jim

 

Maybe we need that sumo after all