Shocks (?)

[Jerrys95vette]

What are the best, reasonably priced shocks I should consider for my stock 1995 C4?

 

[hcbph]

Being noone has responded, I'll throw out some thoughts. Alot depends on your driving and driving style.
I have an 86 with white Gabriels on it when I bought it almost 2 years ago and they've worked fine for cruising. In fact I think Rockauto has a rebate on them right now.

Just what I've experienced.

 

[Jerrys95vette]

Thank you hcbph.
I'll take a look at RockAuto. I've purchased many parts from them in the past and had good service.
I mainly cruse (Sunday Driving), no rat racing, etc...
The roads where I live are not the best. Many poorly patched pot-holes and rough areas. I noticed when in a turn (and sometime striate away) the car will hop slightly when I hit a rough area. I don’t think its real bad yet, no control loss, but I’m wondering if new shocks would help. It currently has Bilstein shocks on it. I don’t know much about shocks, but I do know that Bilsteins are pricy. I’ve had the car for about five months and I don’t know how long those shocks have been on it.
Also, a second question… While looking up shocks, I notice a lot of talk about adjustable rear shocks. How can I tell if I have adjustable rear shocks? As I said, I know little about shocks.
And, should I even need adjustable shocks for cruising?
Thank you kindly for you opinions…

 

[hcbph]

If you're driving straight and at a constant speed and you get hop on a pothole or in a turn, it's up-in-the-air. If it's a little pothole the tire should roll over, then the shocks are suspect. If it's a deep hole, why are you driving through it as there's potential for alignment and parts damage? Any hole deep enough can cause handling problems. Add speed and it can be worse.

How to check, well back when I was young there were 3 basic methods. 1st was jump on the bumper and if it rebounded more than once, the shocks were shot. The other required removal of the shocks and you worked them and saw if there was less resistance one way or the other. There was a third, if they're on over 50K and you see a lot of potholes, they're suspect but you said you don't know the history on them.

The first would be hard to do without potential damage to the body IMO. The 2d has potential but will take some time to remove them. Third - don't know.

One other thing. I think it's Bilsteins that I've read can be sent into the company to be rebuilt. Other than reading about that, don't know anything further.

Personally, I'd consider changing them just to be done with it and start at a known point. If you're cruising, I'd look into any of the major brands like Monroe, KYB, Gabriel, Bilstein and what they recommend for your style of driving and your car.