What type of shocks for my truck?

[Gord]

I did some searching but couldn’t seem to find an answer to this question…
I have a ’99 F-250 super duty which we use to pull our 30′ 5th wheel trailer.

When I took the truck in to get a wheel alignment, after I changed the ball joints, the guy in the shop looked at the shocks and said I really should get those changed. They are the stock (original) shocks but they aren’t leaking and look, to me, to be OK. He said they are useless and aftermarket ones will be much better. We have noticed some bouncing especially when we travel down the Interstates at 60-70 MPH with the trailer, but I really didn’t think anything would help that.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I replace them with aftermarket shocks? Which brand/type would you recommend?

It doesn’t look like a very difficult job, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Topic

[college man]

either use the OE shocks or rancho shocks are good.

[Gord]

OK, I guess my question should have also been, can the shocks go bad (not work) without leaking? Do they just wear out?
I suppose if you are suggesting I should use the OE shocks, then you think the OE shocks are as good as any if they aren’t broken?

[Bill]

The OEM shocks on a Ford truck, especially on the front sucked when they were new. They were designed to give a smooth ride. Since Ford didn’t make the tires they didn’t give a damn if they wore out in a short amount of time.

I would install Heavy Duty shocks. You will find that most of the bouncing will be gone. The more and faster the suspension travels up and down the more wear that’s put on the tires. Don’t be fooled, sometimes they can be hard to replace if they are rusted at all.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Some OE dampers aren’t all that great. It’s usually domestics that fall into this category. That said, it may be an issue where you want to upgrade to some heavy duty dampers, especially if you’re hauling a heavy trailer. You may get a stiffer ride without the trailer but it would be much better and safer with heavy duty shocks.

Name brands are the way to go. Monroe, KYB, Koni…..

[Dave]

Yes shocks will wear out from use the fluid in them breaks down and they loose their ability to dampen the suspension movement. A shock is designed to weep a minor amount of fluid on to the shock shaft to keep the seals clean and lubed. Most any brand of shock will do because just like anything else one place makes them but will put many different brand stickers on them. What I would do is get some quotes on shocks then go online to the manufacturers websites to compare them.

[Harold Smith]

If you are having a bouncing problem while towing, I would buy top quality heavy duty gas charged shocks to put on it. In fact, I would get them from some place that specializes in after market truck parts. This is something to think about also; if you do a lot of towing over long distances, I would consider putting an air suspension on it. 🙂

[Gumpy Guss]

Shocks go bad so slowly you never notice it, until you replace them and then you go WOW no more bucking and swaying.

5 years is probably a good rough guide as to when they’re ripe for replacement.

[Gord]

5 years… humm… I guess being 15 years old kind of means I could replace them without feeling too bad about it!! 😛

I’m looking at
Monroe (Reflex) about $160
KYB (Gas-s-just) about $175
Rancho (RS5000) about $205

any votes as to which ones are best or are they all about the same?

Also, anything I should watch out for or special tricks I should know when I change them?

[Kevin Criswell]

[quote=”grg88″ post=76246]Shocks go bad so slowly you never notice it, until you replace them and then you go WOW no more bucking and swaying.

5 years is probably a good rough guide as to when they’re ripe for replacement.[/quote]

yup

I did shocks/struts on a 6 year old minivan last spring that rode like an ocean liner. Every single shock and strut was bad (collapsed upon removal) not a single one was leaking.

[Gord]

Just thought I’d post an update to my original question.
About 3 months ago I changed all 4 dampers on my truck with Rancho (RS5000). The old shocks were not leaking but, as I said in one of my other posts, I was getting some bouncing while towing along the Interstates, especially near big cities where the highway is concrete (expansion joints).
The new Rancho dampers are NOT gas charged. I thought that was rather strange because the old OEM ones were, but they fit the truck fine so I can only assume they are the correct ones and all four are the same so I believe they are not defective. The change was fairly straight forward, the only hard part is getting to the nut for the right front damper, the AC box is kind of in the way. I found the best way was to hold the nut and turn the damper from underneath in the wheel well. The only other problem I had was one of the bolts for the rear dampers was rusted in the bracket. I ended up using my ball joint press (really just a big C clamp) to push it out. Then I got new bolts and nuts, the new dampers did not come with these bolts. The bolts are metric, BTW, which added to fun of finding new ones. Ford doesn’t make them anymore or at least doesn’t sell them around here.

So, was it worth it.

I think so. There is not a huge difference but the bouncing has calmed down a bit. We just got back from 2 months driving (and towing) around the Southwest and we feel the trip was a lot smoother with the new dampers.

So not a WOW that’s great, more a… yup that’s a bit better!!!

Hope this helps someone else.

Gord

[college man]

Glad it worked out. Not to happy but just happy. 😉

[Author]

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