Rebuilt OEM shocks.

[CatFish]

Been to Moab and Silverton since the rebuild and the shocks work great, still love the ride and performance.

[litlbear]

Where is RG3 located? Do you have their information?

[Mile High VX]

They're in Golden, CO.

Here's their website...ask for Matt...he's a great guy!

http://www.rg3denver.com/

[litlbear]

Thanks Mile High.

[CatFish]

Matt can explain to you how he set up the dampening for Scott's and my shocks and if you like what he says you can have him do the same or tell him how you want yours set up.

[89Vette]

Simple questions deserve simple answers. From Matt:

"The original rebuild is around $950, due to the need for 'rebuildable' aluminum seal heads from KYB. These are $70 each so they add $280 to the first rebuild price. After the initial rebuild, they can once again be rebuilt for just $140 per shock, which includes a new oil seal and oil. It can take approximately 2 weeks to rebuild. If you have any questions feel free to call or email."


Not sure if I'd ever consider that much for a shock rebuild....and I'm used to higher priced Bilsteins for my sportscar. They are only $300 for a set of 4. That said, if being open-minded, I have to ask why it LOOKS like these rebuilds still have the original rubber bushings? For that much, I'd think everything would be replaced!

[CatFish]

I do not recall if he replaced the bushings but they looked good when I got them back, bushing replacement would be a good question to ask Matt if you decided to get them rebuilt. If you go with aftermarket shocks please keep the old OEM ones. I could use a spare set of OEM shocks for rebuilding later.

[mrtew]

I am still driving on my OEM shocks with no rebuilds after 15 years and am thinking about a rebuild. But I'm not sure if they even need it or if I should just keep going. Is 132,000 miles on these shocks totally normal and can they go way longer than that or am I kidding myself? It seems to drive fine with no bouncing really, but it's a little rough and slightly rattly on occasion but it's so hard to remember if that's normal or if the ride/handling would be totally transformed by having them rebuilt? How far can most people go on the OEM shocks before having to replace or rebuild them? My mileage is mostly around town on pavement that's not too great with one or two cross country trips and a couple of mild off road outings. What are the normal symptoms that something needs to be done about the OEM shocks? I don't see anything leaking or broken so maybe I'm totally fine.

[mrtew]

So how long do stock OEM shocks normally last before they need to be rebuilt?

[Mile High VX]

I pulled mine at 75K...one front and one rear were gone and one of each was still good.

[CatFish]

Life of shocks depends on a of of things, the stock VX shock rarely leak because of the design so you many not see leakage with them. Mine was very bouncy and I could tell they were not preforming as they should at least it seemed that way to me so I had them rebuilt. I noticed a big difference after the rebuild so they were either worn out or due to age they were not as good as they could be. Rebuilding is expensive but the OEM shocks are a good design and perform well when in good condition. You can get after market ones cheaper, some people are happy with the aftermarket ones and some are not so I guess it really boils down to what you want kind of ride you want and what you want to spend.

If you go aftermarket keep you old OEM shocks so if you are not happy with them you have an OEM set to rebuild and if you are happy with the aftermarket ones you can sell the old OEM ones to someone that wants to rebuild them. Just do not through out the old OEM shocks either way. I am always on the look out for a cheap extra set of shocks so I can rebuild them and have a set to put on and not have any down time waiting for them to be rebuilt. I plan to keep my VX until I die, but that is just me and a few others I am sure.

[mrtew]

I guess there are no more new shocks available??? How can this be? There must be more in existence aside from the ones that were originally installed on the VX. Did they used to be available at the parts counter of Isuzu dealerships? How expensive were they? Were they custom designed and built just for our truck?

[MSHardeman]

The shocks, as far as I know, were custom built by KYB for the VehiCROSS. No other Isuzu has our shocks. There may still be some new shocks available, but they are in the $350-$400 range PER SHOCK. If you look at them the shocks have little reservoirs on them to help cool the oil in the shock to prevent cavitation (creating air bubbles in the oil) during high cycle usage, like blasting across the desert during the Baja 500/1000. They are pretty cool little pieces of engineering.

[Mile High VX]

Last I heard there were still some new ones available from KYB...about $600 each.

[CatFish]

If you want new shocks you could try and order them but they show a price of $591.59 each. I do see they show new bushings for the shocks so I may get some for the future.
Front - https://www.isuzupartscenter.com/par...agramCallOut=1
Rear - https://www.isuzupartscenter.com/par...agramCallOut=5