Shock Replacement-When??

[larry bud]

I have 170K on my car, and I've never replaced the shocks. How do I know when this is required? What symptoms should I look for when driving?

 

[c4cruiser]

At 170K your shocks have lived a long and useful life and it's time to retire them. Because the springs are fairly stiff, you probably don't notice the longer time it takes for the car to rebound to a level height or those bumps you feel seem to be deeper.

Do you know if your car has the Z51 suspension?? Z51 cars have stiffer shocks that the stock ones. If you have the Z51 package, get a set of Bilstein Z51 shocks You should be able to find good deals at Van Steel.

If the car has the standard suspension, a set of KYB Gas-a-Just shocks are a great replacement shock. Summit Racing has them for about $28 per shock. If you want standard Bilsteins, Van Steel should have them as well as the Z51-specific shocks.

 

[Edmond]

I've heard that the TPIS shocks are good as well. Don't know if they cost as less as those KYB's, though. At 170K, it wouldn't hurt to change them.

 

[WNH]

At 170K your shocks have lived a long and useful life and it's time to retire them. Because the springs are fairly stiff, you probably don't notice the longer time it takes for the car to rebound to a level height or those bumps you feel seem to be deeper.

Look at it this way: If shocks were meant to last 170K miles, then all the shock absorber manufacturers would be out of business.

 

[grapeknutz]

I've heard that the TPIS shocks are good as well. Don't know if they cost as less as those KYB's, though. At 170K, it wouldn't hurt to change them.

I have the TPIS shocks, I would recomend these shocks.

 

[larry bud]

At 170K your shocks have lived a long and useful life and it's time to retire them. Because the springs are fairly stiff, you probably don't notice the longer time it takes for the car to rebound to a level height or those bumps you feel seem to be deeper.

Do you know if your car has the Z51 suspension?? Z51 cars have stiffer shocks that the stock ones. If you have the Z51 package, get a set of Bilstein Z51 shocks You should be able to find good deals at Van Steel.

If the car has the standard suspension, a set of KYB Gas-a-Just shocks are a great replacement shock. Summit Racing has them for about $28 per shock. If you want standard Bilsteins, Van Steel should have them as well as the Z51-specific shocks.

Yes, I have the Z51. I'll look into replacing them.

 

[tnovot]

I have 170K on my car, and I've never replaced the shocks. How do I know when this is required? What symptoms should I look for when driving?

You don't say whether you are the original owner and have put the 170K miles on or if there was a previous owner(s). Could someone else have installed new shocks before you had the car? That kind of miles on a set of shocks sounds incredible.
If not and the original shocks actually have that many miles, replacement is way past due.
Symptoms might include wallowing and sway in corners. excessive noise and jarring when hitting a pothole, excessive bouncing after a dip in the road, and/or oil leakage at the shock piston or tube.
The shocks have probably degraded so slowly that you didn't notice the gradual changes. The ride with new shocks will be very noticeable.

 

[Edmond]

From what I understand; from shocks are easy? You don't need to even take the wheels off? How about the rear shocks?

 

[vader86]

Well since shocks are done usually by 75K, id say yours are toast.

You can do the fronts without even jacking up the car. Total job shouldnt take more than 2 hours.

 

[larry bud]

You don't say whether you are the original owner and have put the 170K miles on or if there was a previous owner(s). Could someone else have installed new shocks before you had the car? That kind of miles on a set of shocks sounds incredible.
If not and the original shocks actually have that many miles, replacement is way past due.
Symptoms might include wallowing and sway in corners. excessive noise and jarring when hitting a pothole, excessive bouncing after a dip in the road, and/or oil leakage at the shock piston or tube.
The shocks have probably degraded so slowly that you didn't notice the gradual changes. The ride with new shocks will be very noticeable.

I know the shocks have at LEAST 130k on them, as I bought the car with 40K. I would be surprised if the original owner replaced them after 40k.

 

[Edmond]

I know the shocks have at LEAST 130k on them, as I bought the car with 40K. I would be surprised if the original owner replaced them after 40k.

According to the CAC information center; there was an option for Delco Bilstein shock absorbers. Does yours say that?

Is it a Z51?

 

[jsinga]

The yellow bilstiens can be rebuilt for about 1/2 price Here's a phone number.

(800) 537-1085

They have a web page, just search for Bilstien America.

I don't know how to tell if they are bad. They are high pressure gas shocks, if you take them loose they will expand all the way out.
Factory manual says they don't need replacement unless they get a leak to the point they have drops on them.
If they get a leak and loose pressure you should see that corner drop some.

I know the shocks on my 87 have at least as many miles as yours and exactly how worn out they are I don't have a clue.

JS

 

[tyrel]

Holy cow, at 170,000 miles I'd say your shocks are long gone. I replaced mine last year with KYBs from tirerack.com. One of the best purchases I've ever made, they perform beautifully on my car.

 

[WhalePirot]

Replace or rebuild....overdue, as you'll experience

I eventually had my stockers rebuilt by Bilstein but heard that they were no longer doing it. Might be worth a call to San Diego and a post, here.

I have a pair of rears that have virtually no use, in the original boxes, should you need. They were mounted for a short spell when I was seeking alternatives to the stock Z-51 Bilstein shock 'ride'. I'd have fronts, too, save the screw-up by Coast Corvette.

 

[Skant]

At 170k, replacing the shocks seems pretty obvious.

But how would you figure it out otherwise? I have 50K on my vette. Seems like that's in the range of 'maybe yes and maybe no'. How could I tell if they could use replacing or not?

- Skant

 

[tobijohn]

I eventually had my stockers rebuilt by Bilstein but heard that they were no longer doing it. Might be worth a call to San Diego and a post, here....

As of a couple months ago they were still doing it and I believe for regular and Z51 shocks it was around $60 a shock plus any parts they might need to replace. However, considering you have to pay for shipping both ways, it's cheaper to just buy a new set from Van Steel. However, if you have specific auto-cross or other suspension intensive needs, as part of the rebuild process, they can revalve them which would then would make it worthwile. One note, if you have the FX3 option, while I don't recall the exact price, it IS cheaper to have Bilstein rebuild rather than purchase them new...

 

[larry bud]

Replaced the shocks, almost killed during test drive...

No, I didn't almost get killed because of a screwed up installation... read on...

Well, I put new shocks on my '86 vette. Everything went together well, and I took it out for a test drive after I was done, at 11pm last night.
I live in the burbs of Detroit, very nice area, and am in the middle of heavy suburban traffic and 5 miles from farm land. There's a great road for testing driving out in Rochester/Oakland Twp, called Orion Road which I live near. Lots of elevation changes, winding road, and it goes from 50 to 35 mph, back to 50.

So I'm enjoying my new ride, everything feels great. I'm doing 50 on Orion, as I come over a hill/turn, and I see a glare of eyes in the roadway. I just slam on the brakes as hard as I can, I hear the antilocks kick in, and I stop literally 3 feet from two deer, just strolling across the road.

I've tested braking in this car before, under controlled conditions (i.e. I was planning on slamming on the brakes, and at a lower speed, knowing nobody was behind me), but this is the fastest I've ever gone to a complete stop in the middle of the roadway. If someone was behind me, I would have been rearended, unless they had the skill to swerve around me, and if I was in my Saturn, I would definitely taken out the 2 deer, and probably myself. I imagine even the shock replacement helped in the stopping distance. Wish I had a tape measure to find out how quick I stopped. All the crap that was loose in the back hatch went flying forward!

No moral to this story, except stay alert!