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.

I've got kyb monomax on the rear and bilstein 5100s on the front.

 

The 5100s replaced a set of lessschwab shocks that were leaking. I haven't be to impressed with 5100s replacing leaky shocks didnt improve ride or handling much. I do have a 1500lb welder right behind the cab at all times and trucks full of tools.

 

I do have a set of kyb monomax bought for the front of the truck. I ended up reworking the mou tshirt on my jeep and used them on it. The improved the jeep handling a ton. This got me to thinking that they're all the same cookie cutter shocks.

 

Though j have a welder on board I feel the truck should feel more planted it does rent wollo around. I've also got 35" tires but on aluminum wheels. And am running a 2" space for looks. I have thought about some 2" coils to stiffen it up some. But fear I'd get more than two inches lift. 

 

For now I'll live with it. But will at some point get rid of the bilstein 5100s for fox 2.0s pr something similar.

 

Getting picky I guess. But was glad to swap the jeep over so it can share shocks with the truck and seems to do very good with the truck shocks on it.

 

Crystal drives the jeep alot and commented on how much better it rides with truck shocks on the front. I drive it on trails and it feels like it is planted in the dirt better. It also has no swaybars and does alright on the street

 

 

Edited April 5, 20196 yr by Evan
..

Installed a set of KYB shock on my truck and love them.

 

Edited April 5, 20195 yr by Andrey

Well, I took the plunge & ordered the KYB's, I skipped the OEM match & went up just one notch to Gas a Just..  I wanted the 25% increase in performance/control instead of the Monomax line with 40-45% increase over OEM that I read multiple times daily drivers thought they were 2 stiff.  I really don't tow/pull very often mostly job to job with multiple ladders, building materials, etc..and then their is the camper. Should work out great, we shall see. 

So I haven't been on much for over a year, lots of family issues and such but my 01 is still truckin. I have parts lined up to do a refresh on the front end, but I have not identified shocks yet. I just read this thread and I am still not decided. I have the original shock towers with a spacer, my truck has what I think is 4-6" of lift. I need to figure out how much exactly. I would like to take some lift out, but I want to ensure my plow mount doesn't get too close to the ground, I like the clearance I have currently, just not the ride or the effect on the suspension parts. Anyone here grab a set of the shock plates that replaces the original shock tower? If I get a set of those plates, how will I go about measuring for the proper length shocks? Any easy method to measure my truck to see how much the current lift is without removing the front spacers? Thanks gents, good to see the forum still doing well. 

5 hours ago, jlongjohn said:

So I haven't been on much for over a year, lots of family issues and such but my 01 is still truckin. I have parts lined up to do a refresh on the front end, but I have not identified shocks yet. I just read this thread and I am still not decided. I have the original shock towers with a spacer, my truck has what I think is 4-6" of lift. I need to figure out how much exactly. I would like to take some lift out, but I want to ensure my plow mount doesn't get too close to the ground, I like the clearance I have currently, just not the ride or the effect on the suspension parts. Anyone here grab a set of the shock plates that replaces the original shock tower? If I get a set of those plates, how will I go about measuring for the proper length shocks? Any easy method to measure my truck to see how much the current lift is without removing the front spacers? Thanks gents, good to see the forum still doing well. 

What if I gave you stock height? Would that help? Tell me too, is it a 4x4 truck?

Edited July 19, 20195 yr by JAG1

I have the Bilstein 4600s ,,, yellow with blue boot   ... Nice shocks... several years old now

 

I had KYBs on a jeep many years ago.... Back then the were a pretty good shock lower priced than bilsteins ... IIRC years ago they were known to leak after a year or two, not as good as bilsein's reputation

Edited July 21, 20195 yr by GSP7

My 5100s feel like they arent doing much seem to be getting softer every day.

Been looking into fox shocks 2.0s I need want more control.

Between the 5100s on the front and kyb on rear my truck is all over the place. Just not enough control with a almost 10,000lb truck giving them hell.

 

Also thinking about dual shocks on the front get another pair of cheap shocks. Or  fox 2.0s performance series are bolt on

I have the KYB Monomax on the 2002 slide in camper truck. They are fine when loaded at around 10,000, but they are too stiff when unloaded. Believe it when Katoom says they'll shake out your kidney stones.

 

On my 2001 I put on the factory replacement KYBs' and they are still very nice ride even after running down two mile long gravel roads everyday for a year..... I've had the shocks on almost 2 yrs.

After less than 60k miles, I think my front Bilstein 4600s are needing replaced, but am not sure.  When given a solid "jounce" on the front bumper I quickly look through the wheel well and the shock is oscillating - is this a solid indicator the shocks should be replaced?

For a truck that rarely leaves the pavement, I expected them last a little longer, even with the heavy engine up front.  I am a curb crawler, not one that goes flying into driveways, etc!