Do new shocks make a difference?

[navychaps]

Replacing 14 year old shocks, Absolutely!

[deandec]

95,000 miles on Koni adjustables.

Still rides like a Gillig bus, which it is.

Smooth and quick bump recovery in one cycle.

Maybe Peralko is right given his equipment?

[Peralko]

Originally Posted by GULFSTREAM37

Now your just being argumentative.

You can't disassemble your shocks so My point is valid, you can't tell when they are bad, you must change them at regular intervals.

Ted.

I can certainly understand why someone in the shock business would recommend regular changing of shocks.

[Gary RVRoamer]

"Porpoising" is one of the signs of a bad or mismatched shock. The early years of Workhorse Wxx chassis were infamous for it, even when new. Later years switched to a different shock to get better rebound control. Ford F53 chassis had a better match up, but they tended to wear out fairly early, maybe 30-40k miles, so a periodic replacement made sense. I think newer motorhome chassis generally have decent shocks and chances or improvement with a shock change are slim.

Gerryl's 2000 Ford is probably due for new shocks because of age as well as miles, but at best it will restore the original ride. I get the impression he is looking for more than that, though.

[Reelgator]

Not to hijack the thread, but when getting new shocks do I need to go to a truck shop or can any tire and wheel dealer handle the job?

[Thor3650]

My RV is a 1997 with 35k miles (F53 chassis) and, based on looking at the shocks under the RV, they appear to be original. However, I think the RV rides great. Nice and smooth and no bouncing. I was planning on changing the shocks, but can't see a reason why. Is there a way to tell if the shocks are original? They are very "dirty" looking and I don't see a color or any stickers/graphics. Thanks.

[TeJay]

There is a very simple way of determining if shocks are working as designed. It may not be a perfect way but it does give you an indication of their status.

Their only function is to dampen the oscillations of the suspension after hitting a road dip, bump etc. When a bump is encountered the leaf spring compresses. Now it has become stored energy. As the law of physics states," Energy can neither be created nor destroyed merely changed form one form into another." Now you have stored energy in the compressed spring. What is done with that stored energy?? It is absorbed/dampened by the shock and converted into heat energy.

On a car it's very easy to check to see if the shocks are working. You simply bounce the front fender up and down several times by leaning on the fender compressing the shock and suspension. If the shock is working as designed when you stop the bouncing effort the fender will rebound once and maybe go slightly above the original level position then come down and stop. The shock has done it's job of absorbing the stored energy.

On a MH we can't rock the suspension, unless 400 LB Bubba rocks your MH, but we can find a good dip or bump in the road, traverse over it and notice how long the MH keeps moving/rocking after it goes over the bump. If it settlers almost immediately then the shocks are working. If it continues moving even a little then they are going bad. Yes it is a little more difficult but it can be done. When you hit that dip you are also going to impart some energy to the twisting of the sway bars as well. The shock will also help in reducing that stored energy.

As GULFSTREAM37 stated shocks go bad over a long period of time and because of that gradual degradation the driver does not really notice it until they are changed.

Another perfect example of energy conversion are the brakes. Your 24,000 LB MH at 60 MPH is energy in motion. You step on the brakes and create heat energy equivalent to the energy in motion and you stop. If instead you hit a brick wall at 60 MPH you would also stop but the energy conversion would be a lot more dramatic than using the brakes. I think you get the idea.

Now you drive off, and the stored heat that was absorbed in the rotors pads etc is dissipate into the atmosphere. We can't change the laws of physics but it helps to understand how they important they are and how it applies to things that we drive and repair.

TeJay

[Peralko]

Well put, Tejay!