I had no way of knowing if new Bilstein shocks would make a difference in the ride quality of my 62k '91 coupe as I had nothing to compare it to. The ride seemed excessively harsh over surface irregularities, i.e. manhole covers, etc. with the originals so I took a chance and shelled out the $300 for four shocks. Testing them on a bathroom scale, I wondered if I wasted my money. The old ones took about 40#'s to compress and 12 to rebound vs. 60# and 25# for the new ones. The biggest difference was that the old shocks took about 6 sec. to self extend vs. 1 1/2 sec. for the new. After a road test I knew my money was well spent. It feels like a different car, much smoother and stable. The ride is actually pliant. No more clenching of teeth on irregular road surfaces.

Excellent!

Good stuff! I am thinking about doing the same with 56K on mine and have the same deal with the surface irregs. I'm glad you posted your findings.

Want to hear a shocker? Shocks start to degrade after 30k. If you put a new shock on a shock dyno, its numbers will be off, measurably, by 30k.

I have Koni's on mine, and they feel fine so far, but they are firmer than most.

The oil starts to break down, the seals inside start to break down... you name it. When I took my old KYBs off, they were so bad, I could compress them with my bare hands... and they wouldn't rebound worth a damn.

Congrats on getting your ride quality back!!!

Great to hear, congratulations! Mine had twice the miles on them when I replaced them..... they were really bad.

I didn't realize the shocks played such an important role in smoothing out the little bumps, like road joints. I was thinking that softer springs were in order. Good thing I didn't "fix" something that wasn't broke.

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Yea, or even less.

Are your street Koni's rebuldable?

I'm running Koni's om the FF, had the rebuilt a few times.

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Most guys don't. And the percentage of shot shocks on the street is very high.

It certainly doesn't hurt to do the bathroom scale thing but, it doesn't tell you a lot. When pushing them in by hand you're only working the low speed circuit in the shock, moving oil thru the orifices, simulating slight body roll.
The high speed circuit in the shock is active when you hit those small bumps. Oil is deforming and passing thru the shim stack. And you can't simulate it without a shock dyno.

The time for the shock to return form being compressed is controlled by the nitrogen pressure. It will eventually leak past the seals thus the return is slower even though the shock has free movement because of the worn seals.

At least GM put decent shocks on the C4's to start with.

I have been putting off shocks on my Xterra for four years. They are the factory shocks and have 100,000 miles on them. The truck bounces on some roads if the frequency of bumps or humps in the road is just right. If driven over washboard dirt roads it will jar your brains loose.

The Vette needs them too, but not nearly as bad.

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My Silverado was like that. I put some Gabriel shocks on and it was a huge improvement. Why Gabriel? - They were cheapo and they has a buy 3, get one free sale.
I have 40k on them, probably due. I have to ckeck but they might have a lifetime warrenty. Either way, they were worth the money for a pickup.

Getting the Monroe's off my vette is on my list of winter projects.