Quote Originally Posted by SlowPro48 View Post
Oh and to the OP: If your shocks aren't leaking fluid, just take them off the vehicle, pop the metal cap off the reservoir and clean everything up - especially inside the schrader valve. Take the shocks to a motorcycle shop or tire shop that has nitrogen and tell them you want 250psi. Then go to Lowes/Home Depot/Grainger/any plumbing supply place and get rubber caps and jubilee clips to replace the metal caps you destroyed. Put the shocks back on the VX and see if it helped.

If not, you can get them rebuilt as long as the shaft isn't bent or dinged up. But a lot of times, just pumping them back up will do the trick. It's the same principal that allows the water in your radiator to go well over 212 degrees without boiling - only at about 20 times the pressure. If the shocks aren't pressurized enough, the fluid will cavitate when forced through the shim stacks and you end up with a bunch of air bubbles in the fluid. It's like boiling water in a pot except it's caused by pulling a localized vacuum on the fluid instead of having the vapor pressure of the fluid exceed atmospheric pressure due to heating. But the end result is the same - bubbly, frothy fluid that offers no resistance when forced through the piston/shims and therefore shocks that don't damp.

Give the nitrogen a try - it's a cheap gamble...

P.S. you can use a drill and slide hammer to remove the caps or they're thin enough to just hammer an awl in and pry the cap off - but do your drilling/punching off center! The shrader valve is in the center!
These were my OEMs when I replaced them with Ranchos 9000XLS
I'm curious, is the rusty looking crudy end cap/piece in the first 2 pics indicative of them leaking something?

oh...and Hi V!...I'm hangin'....