I've got 77K on my 01. Ride is still good. When have you all replaced your shocks? Also, if I do replace will i generally gain better ride comfort or will it still be on the rough side.

Thanks

 

I had 175k before I changed my shocks, I went with Bilsteins and I was expecting this huge difference in the ride and to be quite honest I only notice a little difference. There's this one section of road on I15 on my way to work that I hit doing about 70 that really mixes the coffee up and I was expecting that when I changed my shocks for it to really smooth out, it didn't, help a little bit but not $280 worth.

 

I didnt even touch mine until I went with taller coil spings. IN a 3500, your not going to get much luxury out of the ride. I could be wrong, but I havent heard of anyone with a smooth ride in these things.

 

I thought I might share a shock comparison I have made to help with your buying decision. I have tried three different shocks so here is my take.

The stock black shocks were changed out after 10 to 12K miles because they were too soft and did not control the truck well over rough roads. This is why the 9-year-old shock in the picture looks almost new. This shock is made in Brazil and is gas pressurized, like the others. The mounting hardware is beefy and the top nut bottoms out on the stepped shaft providing an indication when the rubber bushing is compressed enough. It seems this shock was designed for good ride but not much else.

Edelbrock made the next shock I tried. These shocks claim to vary the shock action by using an inertial valve that senses how severe the road is and they did provide better ride control at the expense of a slightly stiffer ride. My only gripe is the hardware used in mounting, does not provide a positive stop for the mounting nut but the directions say to tighten until the shaft sticks out a certain amount then apply the jam nut. This shock is built upside down from the others with the reservoir and valves at the top. I put about 115K miles on them before changing them out. They still had slightly more damping then the stock shock when compared side-by-side and these shocks are made in the good old USA.

I have just installed a set of the yellow and blue Bilstein shocks in my stock ride height truck. These shocks, in a side-by-side test of compression were stiffer than the other two. I just hope it holds up for another 100K miles. The mounting hardware looks beefy but I have read some complaints of the rubber bushings falling apart. I did like the steel sleeve used to bottom the lock nut indicating the rubber bushings were compressed enough. I did not like that the instructions did not indicate the order of assembly. I installed the front shock as shown in the picture with the donut shaped bushing below the stock metal shock tower and the donut with protrusion on the top. The cone shaped protrusion fits inside a tapered hole in the bottom donut and the only reason I had for doing it this way was because the bottom donut is bigger and will take more pounding. Installing the top, plastic insert lock nut took some finesse on the driver’s side; the shaft wants to turn as the nut is tightened. I was lucky to have a socket designed to fit the flattened shaft and I spun the shaft while holding the nut stationary. With all the junk in the way, over this nut there would be no joy trying to hold the shaft with vice grips. Bilstein shocks are made in Germany.

I am glad I used plenty of anti-seize the last time I changed shocks. All nuts and bolts broke free and could be reused. Years of salt in the Northeast take a toll.

 

When I installed my Bilstein shocks on my truck the front shocks did not have a flat on the shaft so when I tried to tighten the lock nut down I had no way of holding the shaft so I ended up drilling out the nylon part of the lock nut so I could tighten it up. I personally thought it was a poor design.