longevity for shocks, front and rear

[shadowhawk]

Hey folks- been a while since I was fairly active on the forums. My 2016 has Bils on front and Fox on the rears. I installed the bills almost 100k miles ago, and the fox about 80k miles ago. Thoughts on how long they should last, or and I being dense and should look at replacing them both now that I'm almost 115k miles on the truck?

 

[jws123]

when the shocks start to leak and it starts to feel like your driving a boat you replace them. No need to change them if your not having issues would be a waste of $$$

 

[seems fishy]

I 'd predict your likely coming toward the end of the useful life of the shocks with 80,000 and 100,000miles on them.If you did replace those I am sure you would feel a difference.I agree with jws 123 about the boat.The floating will be obvious if the shocks are dead.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Per Google, pay attention to the normal wear and tear comment.

Bilstein shock warranty varies by product line, ranging from limited lifetime to 2-year or 5-year warranties for aftermarket products, with a lifetime warranty offered for some models, such as the B6, B8, and B14 series. Proof of purchase is required for all claims, which must be directed to the original retailer. The warranty is voided by improper installation, use in racing or commercial applications, and normal wear and tear. If the shocks were installed as original equipment (OE), the claim must be handled through the vehicle manufacturer, not Bilstein.

 

[shadowhawk]

I plan to keep the truck a while longer. Guess it's on my project list. Just replaced both front axles

 

[shadowhawk]

what's the current recommended replacements? still Bilstein 5100s? what about rears- I have the Fox 2.0 on now.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

I'd do bilstein in the rear 5100s, and if you're 4wd, 6112s fully loaded set (springs, shocks and new hats)to your ride height specs in the front. If you are 2 wd, I do 4600s or 5100s. Rears seems to be better with 5100s vs 4600 IMHO.

Or you might inquire if you could have the fox rebuilt. I'm not a fox fan, so outside my experience

 

[shadowhawk]

4x4. Damn have prices gone up since I did it the first time. I have $290 as my cost for the bils up front back in 2018. Bilstein is way more than Amazon, which appears to be where I bought the first time. Same price now on amazon.


Also in my wish list on amazon was the Mevotech front upper control arms. Are they still favorable over stock?

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

To better answer your question of what is the go to option...How do you use the truck? On road only? Any off roading? if so what terrains and speeds and how often? Do you tow? How much weight and how often? Also it looks like you have 1.5" spacers for the rear so you need longer than stock rear shocks.

For UCA's it depends on how much lift you are planning to run up front. Mevotechs are not angle correcting so if you are going to run 2" or more of front lift/level I would advise you to go with an angle correcting UCA.

Message me if you would like more info and a quote. We offer most major brands of suspension and have helped put together lots of packages for customers to fit their needs and budget.

 

[shadowhawk]

mostly on-road ith maybe a week during hunting aeason where I'm off-road but mostly flat trails. slow speeds when I am off road. I tow a boat- standard'ish 17 foot boat less than 4000 lbs. The only lift is the Bils set high to 2.8 plus the 1.5in body lift and the tgc rear spacers for rake.

 

[62Blazer]

From my experience most shocks with that many miles are worn out, or at least at the end of their lifespan. One check is to take one end loose from the vehicle and push the rod in by hand. It should be very hard to almost impossible to push the rod (retract the shock) by hand. Most gas charged shocks should also slowly extend back out on their own. Pretty common for all of the nitrogen to leak out and you lose that function.
Just replaced the rear shocks on my kid's car this weekend with 125k on them and they were completely shot...should have done it sooner but it only gets driven 5 miles to school. One of the front factory Bilsteins on my truck started leaking around 40k miles. The other side that wasn't leaking didn't feel that bad. I have rebuilt and recharged the shocks on my SxS. If the shocks are designed to be rebuilt, meaning you can unscrew a cap off the body to get the piston out, they are not too bad to rebuild. But not something the average home mechanic probably wants to do. Also depends on the cost of new versus rebuilding them. The shocks on my SxS cost over $2k to replace but only a couple hundred $ in parts to rebuild. On the other hand you can get a big name set of shocks for a Ram for $200-$400.

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

I would recommend 5100's or if you want to spend a little more the Eibach pro kit. Either way I highly recommend angle correcting UCA's like the ones from Zone.

Message me if you would like a quote on anything.