I went to the saw mill to pick up a load of wood shavings today and the truck rides OK but sometimes I feel like a fishing line bobber floating in rough water going down the road.  I can't imagine that the original OEM installed,17 year old shocks when the truck was built at the factory STILL being installed could possibly be the problem????    

 

I was looking at the Bilstein 5100 but Geno's Garage as far I can tell only carries the 5160 which fits my truck according to their selections.  What is the deal on shock for these trucks or at least this year and model?  Thanks.

Just installed a set of KYB shock on my truck and love them. My Rancho's last quite a while still had oil in them but the gas charge was gone. 

Those Bilstein 5160's are pricey.  I found the correct 5100's for my truck.  The 5160's are a $100 a piece each more!  I don't go hard core off roading but I DO drive off road a lot.  Are the reservoir shocks worth the extra money?  

I was right around $250 for my KYB Gas A Just Shocks from NAPA. 

I am on $90 worth of Monroe s for3 years now. The ride is no harsher than stock and they still keep 5he wheels planted. My Ranchos barely lasted this long.

what is the intended ride quality desired ???

 

the 5160 is slightly better valved shock for our trucks, but both the 5160 and 5100 along with ANY other OFF ROAD shock is going to be firmer and normal speeds and road condition.

 

a generic cheapo gas shock is the easiest and best ride....may have to replace several times compared to the others.

 

the coils are the real issue.... you might look into thuren fab overland shocks....they are a soft off road white body with really good reviews.

Edited November 17, 20186 yr by Stormin08

Like @Taz just replaced his front factory shocks that were shot. Then he went to a KYB Gas A Just and I liked how it rode. Still fairly firm ride but not overly bouncy ride. Being I came from Rancho shock were pretty good and served well for 200k miles. 

 

I've got to say I like @Stormin08 suggestions too. 

I’ve got 5100’s on my truck and they are the best shock I’ve run on any rig. Great empty, loaded, and on back roads. 

 

I’ll never touch another Rancho. 

6 hours ago, Stormin08 said:

what is the intended ride quality desired ???

 

the 5160 is slightly better valved shock for our trucks, but both the 5160 and 5100 along with ANY other OFF ROAD shock is going to be firmer and normal speeds and road condition.

 

a generic cheapo gas shock is the easiest and best ride....may have to replace several times compared to the others.

 

the coils are the real issue.... you might look into thuren fab overland shocks....they are a soft off road white body with really good reviews.

I am looking for a firm but stable ride for most normal conditions however I would say at least 50% of my driving is off road.  The other thing that occurred to me was that going from stock 245/75R-16's to 315/75R-16's has added a considerable amount of unsprung weight to the suspension.  These trucks have a LOT of unsprung weight due to the weight and mass of the rotors, calipers, and axles that typical shocks may not be designed to properly dampen and likely exceed their capacity to do so.  I suspect this may be a significant contributing factor to why cheaper and less robust design shocks don't last very long on these trucks.  

 

I am still not sure I want to go with the Bilstein 5160's as the installation instruction call for sway bar link extensions or shimming the sway bars due to the slightly extended shock extension.  I am still trying to determine if this would be required on a stock suspension with NO lift.  

bilstiene 4600, 5100, are the same valving, different length and body.

rancho 7000's are a mono tube gas shock like the 4600's are. you want to stay away from the 5000 and 9000 series.

KYB mono tub are good.

i have 3 dodge trucks, 2 have the 4600's and the older 95 has 9000 ranchos. i like the 4600's the most.

1 hour ago, LiveOak said:

These trucks have a LOT of unsprung weight due to the weight and mass of the rotors, calipers, and axles that typical shocks may not be designed to properly dampen and likely exceed their capacity to do so. 

 

My 19.5" wheels and tires are 125lbs a piece and the 5100's do a great job. They have just under 50K miles on them. 

What wears out in a shock that stops it from working?  Obviously a fluid leak would be a good sign, but I've replaced plenty of leak free shocks that just didn't work anymore. 

Often the gas leaks out. 

My Ranchos still dampen the bounce because the oil was still there. But... The gas was long gone.

I have used the Monroe Magnum (Napa) for years, now the Gas Grande (Napa). However, I am looking at these now (Reflex) the specs sound good.

 

https://www.napaonline.com/en/search?text=shocks&q=N%3D5002000%2B5002200%2B200220100%2B10200100%2B50200300%2B50299900%2B1000021600%2B2800863%26Nty%3D1%26Ntt%3Dshocks%26Ntk%3DKeyword&isApplication=true&indices=API

I have 5100 on my truck, though I was going to have it lifted a bit more but never did. So they are a little long but still work. 4600 is probably what I should have gotten. 

Forgot to add. 

Aren't the shocks is what limits travel also.... so if I ever hit a bump where axle drops far enough, my coil springs may come out 

Edited November 19, 20186 yr by Dieselfuture

The only shock I would mention is the Monroe shocks are of low quality. I've got those on my 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 now and they are well too bouncy and don't dampen enough.  

51 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

The only shock I would mention is the Monroe shocks are of low quality. I've got those on my 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 now and they are well too bouncy and don't dampen enough.  

Careful now, thats what I have on mine right now. About 20 bucks apiece but they still keep planted and ride about like the originals. I was poor when I bought them but they worked.

I didn't realize it until I called Bilstein today but the 4600 shocks come with a limited life time warranty.

 

https://productdeskapi.cart.bilsteinus.com/media/products/bilstein/limitedlifetimewarranty.pdf

 

The tech guy I spoke with told me that the 5100 and 5160 are designed for lifted vehicles and NOT stock ride height vehicles.  He went on to say that the 4600 shock actually is valved stiffer and will better dampen out axle bounce/articulation but is NOT designed for off road use which WOULD void the warranty.  

I'm going through this right now too to replace my Rancho's. Like @AH64ID I will never buy them again. I bought them to replace whatever was on due to a bounce issue and they were no better than what I took off. I should have sent them back. And the finish was terrible. After 3-4 years  they are rusted worse than the rest of the 20 year old truck. Not impressed at all. So after thoroughly confusing myself with the many choices on Rock Auto I narrowed it down to KYB and Gabriel Max controls. I went with the Gabriel because it looked like a better shock for the money IMHO. Time will tell how they work out.

6 hours ago, LiveOak said:

I didn't realize it until I called Bilstein today but the 4600 shocks come with a limited life time warranty.

 

I have 73,000 miles on four Bilstein 4600 shocks and they are still working vey well today. 

 

- John