The one-stop SHOCK ABSORBER Info Thread

[E-ZooZoo One]

DOH!!!

I have seen that thread... however, I completely failed to notice Page Two - and somehow never ran across the original posts that were quoted therein


I guess you can file this one under:
‘The road to Hell is paved with good intentions’

[kpaske]

It would be nice to get a FAQ and HOWTO written up though. I wish I had the time.

I do plan to take a TON of photos when I do my brake and suspension upgrades, so maybe someday I'll do one, or atleast contribute some photos if someone else wants to do one.

[Reg Hinnant]

Hi Guys,
It will be interesting if you find anything new out there. I finally gave up and at 90,000 miles went ahead and replaced mine with new original shocks.
I did not have any outward visible indications (shock leaking, etc) but when cornering hard you felt some undulation rather than getting firm and solid feeling into the turn. The springs are so hard that trying to test a shock by bouncing the car dosent work. A lot of the owners could tell a rear was bad by how rough it would be over speed bumps/pot holes.
A lot of people got the Bilsteins & Ranchos and raved about them in the beginning. Later, you could get most to admit that they were not as good nor would hold up like the originals. (Guess I'll get flamed for saying that....LOL But its true)
Arm your selves with the distance collapsed & extended and go hunting! Good luck!

[kpaske]

A lot of people got the Bilsteins & Ranchos and raved about them in the beginning. Later, you could get most to admit that they were not as good nor would hold up like the originals. (Guess I'll get flamed for saying that....LOL But its true)

I got the Ranchos after my stock shocks were shot at ~50k miles. I think finding a reasonable shock that worked well in the VX was why most of us were so pleased with them, not that we thought they were better than the originals. However, I must say that I've got over 60k on these Ranchos and they still seem to be holding up.

In retrospect I wish I would have noticed the problem sooner and had them replaced under warranty, but then those might have gone out by now, so we were all kind of screwed either way.

I say that because I was under the impression that shock failure on the originals was extremely common, but you say yours have lasted 90k. I guess what it boils down to is they are great shocks when you get good ones, but they're way too expensive for most people to take a chance on them if theirs go out after their warranty is up. What is the warranty on replacement OEM shocks?

[johnnyapollo]

I've got over 75K miles on my original shocks without issues.

-- John

[E-ZooZoo One]

I test-drove a VX the other day that had 135+ K miles on it - with a set of OEM shocks. --- I don't know if they were the originals or not - or even if they were still as firm as they're supposed to be - but that thing handled so much better than mine, it made me sick (and started me thinking about replacements in a BIG WAY!)

But, like so many others before me, I simply can't justify the cost to pony-up for a set of OEMs right now - so I'm looking for "reasonable" alternatives... something that will at least do the job well enough, without hearing "You spent HOW MUCH???" from Miss Kathy

[Joe_Black]

I'm at 130K on the IronMan with the stock shocks and they're still in "like new" condition. Once I score a full set of OEM 18" wheels (just need one!) my plan is to pop for the Bilstein 7100's from Independent4X4 since a full set would only be $760 and they're fully rebuildable.