Shock life... and testing them...

[shenanigans]

What is the life expectancy on a shock?

Any other test then the push and rebound test?

[Silver 99 Camaro]

F-bodies are different than most other cars out there. These things come with some crappy shocks.
Most cars have struts that can last 75-90,000 miles these days, the f-body shocks are toast by 50,000. My car drove like a boat on the highway so I changed them around 55,000, although there are a lot of potholes around here. Unfortunately, the bounce test doesn't work very well on our cars because the springs are pretty stiff. Only softer suspensions will do the double bounce thing. Mine rebounded fine in the driveway, but if I hit a dip at 70 MPH I was floating on the ocean. So in short, if you have more than 50,000 miles, even if they seem fine, thay are probably shot.

[shenanigans]

alright cool... reason I posted this I have gotten lots of mixed opinons, from no shock lasts beyond 50k, to our shocks are good until tehy start leaking gas...

I was wondering on the push test because my 94 felt"ok" and it had like 100k on the shocks.

[Dominic]

if you push the car down and it does more than just come back up and stop, you need new shocks.

I recommend chucking the Fbody shocks OEM after 30K

[F1GT]

Originally posted by shenanigans:
alright cool... reason I posted this I have gotten lots of mixed opinons, from no shock lasts beyond 50k, to our shocks are good until tehy start leaking gas...

I was wondering on the push test because my 94 felt"ok" and it had like 100k on the shocks.

I've always heard what Silver 99 just posted on these boards. but I have 155k on my car and it doesn't float and is not bouncy at all, feels just fine, granted it's not a super firm ride but it's not supposed to be. And I have other cars to compare to so its not like I got used to it so I don't know.

[Silver 99 Camaro]

A lot depends on your driving too. If you do a lot of city driving on lousy roads (my situation) then they go fast. If the roads are nice where you are and you drive a lot of highway, then they might last longer. My rears were so bad at 55K when I took them off the rod would stay wherever I put it, there was no damping left. So I know mine were shot. Age is a factor too, the seals wear and let the gas charge out. My brother's car had terrible struts at 40K, but it was 9 years old.

[94fbody]

Hmmmm, maybe that's the reason my Camaro rides like Hell! Suggestions on shock replacement, Bilstein, Gabriel, other, what?

[Tru2Chevy]

Originally posted by 94fbody:
Hmmmm, maybe that's the reason my Camaro rides like Hell! Suggestions on shock replacement, Bilstein, Gabriel, other, what?

I would say that Bilstein would be one of the best overall shocks out there. There are others that would be better for race-only cars and such, but Bilsteins are great overall (relatively cheap too).

- Justin

[98goldbird]

I'll probably be getting rid of my Bilstein HD's (set of 4) soon. They only have like 800 miles on them. I dropped my car an inch, so now I need adjustable shocks. Let me know if interested.

smilinluigi@yahoo.com

[still-asleep]

98gold.. if no one else is interested, I am. Let me know when you have them for sale.

[hockeyman]

Originally posted by Dominic:
I recommend chucking the Fbody shocks OEM after 30K

OUCH! Then I won't mention how many miles I have on my stockers...