Warranty Shocks?

[VX4EJR]

This might be a stupid question, but I'll go for it anyway...

How do you know if you have a bad or blown shock?
Obviously if you see an oil substance coated on the tube itself, that's a sign you have a leak....right? (other than dirt and other crap that accumulates under there)
Otherwise with the hard and stiff way the VX handles the road and bumps, I'm not even sure I would be able to tell if a shock was bad.
Would it bounce a lot more and not quite recover as quick? Is that the idea?
Is there any audible signs or noises that you might hear with the suspension?

Also for some reason, when I pull out of the garage in reverse and go over this little bump at the door, I sometimes hear a sort of knock or click sound coming from just the front left wheel, almost like there's something hanging there that just gets bumped but I checked and nothing is loose.

[mbeach]

Drive over a speed bump and you'll know for sure if your shocks are blown.
You'll pitch fore and aft like a boat on rough water.

Don't believe the dealers' "bounce test" -the VX's wheelbase is so short, that it only rebounds 1-2 times with this method. I tested this by removing a shock altogether and bouncing the front corner -same result as with the blown shock in place, and neither result was enough to convince the dealer that replacement was required. The dealer want's to see 3-4 bounces.

Now I'm dealing with some meatrocket named "Clode" at Isuzu. We'll see where this road takes me.

[VX4EJR]

Drive over a speed bump and you'll know for sure if your shocks are blown.
You'll pitch fore and aft like a boat on rough water.

Thanks for the info! Thing is, I feel like the/my VX does this anyway because it is so rigid as many have posted with the stock suspension. In other words, you go over a speed bump and almost feel like you'd get whip-lash because of the stiffness. It's hard to tell if a shock is doing it's job or not, but I guess if the fronts were bad you'd have a low rider....??

I'll double check the swaybar and see, but last I looked around the front left wheel well and underside...nothing looked broken, out of place or worn.

[mbeach]

Thing is, I feel like the/my VX does this anyway because it is so rigid as many have posted with the stock suspension. In other words, you go over a speed bump and almost feel like you'd get whip-lash because of the stiffness.

A vehicle on toasted shocks will continue to pitch after crossing the bump -it's pretty obvious if you see it occur. Just hang out in a parking lot and watch the different vehicles go over the bumps -the new ones (good shocks, hopefully) will eat up the impact and translate little motion to the driver. The beater cars (unmaintained, likely bad shocks) will flop about like fish out of water. In any case, this fore-aft pitching is not normal, even for a 'stiff' vehicle.

It's hard to tell if a shock is doing it's job or not, but I guess if the fronts were bad you'd have a low rider....??

The shock absorbers do not suspend the weight of the vehicle. They only serve to control the motion of the spring. Your ride height will remain unchanged as the shocks wear out.

I'll double check the swaybar and see, but last I looked around the front left wheel well and underside...nothing looked broken, out of place or worn.

Mine was pretty far gone when I finally got to it -and it took over 2 months just to track down. The best method I found was to crawl underneath the truck, and have my wife bounce up and down in/on it. That's the only way I was able to find the source of my noise. Once this $26.00 part was replaced, ALL of my weird noises were gone. It was amazing.

[psychos2]

i found out mine were bad when hitting a bump going around a corner . the front end would hop over and the wheel would shake back and forth. i took it in and they told me the shocks were ok. i took the service manager for a ride in the parking lot to prove him wrong. if you go to a parking lot and get the vx going in drive and hit the brakes and the front does a big nose dive the shocks are bad. also when you do this the front of the vehicle will continue to go up and down a few times before it will stop moving. that is what the shocks are supposed to control. right now i have the rancho 9000's and one of the fronts is bad so when i stop fast i get one side that does a nose dive. i made sure to bring up the fact of how unsafe it was to drive. shawn

[VX4EJR]

Ok, here is a picture of my front left shock. There is some kind of stain or fluid at the top where I circled. It doesn't seem like water and it hasn't rained here, it's just at the top too...doesn't go below that and there is no drips down further or puddling to the ground.

Would this be a leak??

[mbeach]

That sir, is a leak.
Not in a typical location either. Most (I assume) of our leaks have been from the bottom of the shock (inside the boot, where the shaft enters the shock body).

[Heraclid]

Well, I took the plunge and have the Rancho RS9000X shocks on the way, finally. I'm somewhat depressed today because there's a rallycross going on at Joe's and I'm not there. But I said I wouldn't run rallycross at Ft. Meade again until I had new shocks and I'm sticking to it. It's killing me though!!! Thought I would have them on by now but things just didn't work out that way. Lately, there are some places I go through several times a day where my VX is taking the bumps pretty hard and never used to. Do not want to bang the truck apart, and I think the rears are hurtin' pretty bad at this point so definitely not too soon for the change.

[Spike]

Thanks for the info! Thing is, I feel like the/my VX does this anyway because it is so rigid as many have posted with the stock suspension. In other words, you go over a speed bump and almost feel like you'd get whip-lash because of the stiffness. It's hard to tell if a shock is doing it's job or not, but I guess if the fronts were bad you'd have a low rider....??

I'll double check the swaybar and see, but last I looked around the front left wheel well and underside...nothing looked broken, out of place or worn.

Hey man, been a long time!

I have that click in front driver side once in a while too. I also notice if i run over a manhole cover or some similar unevenness.. the front driver side 'chatters' slightly... this has been going on for a few months (winter)

I had it over at Murphy... they coundnt find anything wrong with the suspension or shocks... but did do an alignment and spin balance (at my request)... it seems to be a LOT better... but not 'perfect' Murphy has me irritated. Now that I am out of factory warranty, they almost dont want to work on it, even though I have a bumper to bumper aftermarket warranty and would get paid something for their 'hassle'

[Raque Thomas]

Thanks for the info! Thing is, I feel like the/my VX does this anyway because it is so rigid as many have posted with the stock suspension. In other words, you go over a speed bump and almost feel like you'd get whip-lash because of the stiffness. It's hard to tell if a shock is doing it's job or not, but I guess if the fronts were bad you'd have a low rider....??

"It is so rigid" - if that is the case, your stock shocks are working as designed. The VX is designed to have a rough ride - some of us like that, others are looking for different shocks to soften the ride. If your VX starts wallowing and riding soft with a lot of soft bounce - that will tell you that it is time to replace the shocks. The standard ride is going to be VERY tight, hard on bumps with a quick rebound. If you don't like that kind of ride, there are other shocks available and a couple of SUV's from Cadillac that ride a little softer. The VX was designed to be a "sport" SUV with a tight suspension.

[SGT.BATGUANO]

Remove the questionable shock(s) and check compression & rebound by hand

[mbeach]

Also for some reason, when I pull out of the garage in reverse and go over this little bump at the door, I sometimes hear a sort of knock or click sound coming from just the front left wheel, almost like there's something hanging there that just gets bumped but I checked and nothing is loose.

Check the endlinks on your swaybar -when the shocks wear, this part takes a lot of abuse. It will wear around the stud (on each end) and it will flop and clank when you cycle the suspension. It gets louder with time.