Back East Don Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Been an expensive couple of weeks getting my 87 Itasca ready for summer and I'm still not done spending money yet. No doubt the old rigs shocks are worn out but what to replace them with? I took a look at the available choices. Monroe, KYB, Bilstein and Gabriel. Price range for 4 is between $120 to $300. This week I bought everything to redo the roof, 7 new tires and both batteries. I've also ordered parts to do the front brakes and am thinking about finding a company that does trucks repair to do the rear. So I am a bit price sensitive this week. The KYB is in the middle but the reviews online are mixed. They also have a monotube heavy duty but have not found confirmation they are suited to this specific application. In researching parts online, I've also found it handy to find at least two different confirming sources for what ever part I'm looking at and some notation that it is for the 1 ton chassis. Gabriel. Lists front part numbers 61509 & rear G63492 for the one ton application but in searching this site Gabriel doesn't come up. Bilstein is $300 a set. Gets lots of praise and good reviews. In for a penny, in for a pound. I'd either go the $120 Gabriel route or pony up all the way to the Bilstein's. How much of a difference will it make? That is the $64 question (Ok $180 question). Then I still have to figure out steering stabilizer. Choices only seem to be KYB, Monroe or Toyota OEM with pricing ranging from $25 to $170 for the Toyota original. The only reviews of the KYB are all negative but don't know if this is from the Toyota truck off road crowd but lots of complaints of short life and oil leaks. Going to order something next week but really interested from others with some experiences. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrel Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 I put KYB on a 84 Dolphin years ago and liked them. Put 50,000 miles on them. Sold that rig and bought a 94 Warrior. Put Bilstein on it. Very much like them with 19,000 miles so far. look at www.eshocks.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 Going with the KYB. Went to shocks.com and they have bundled listing that have both front and back and clearly state which are specific for the 1 ton chassis. Not as much luck with the steering stabilizer as I could only confirm the dimensions and application of the Monroe. At $25 bucks it still has to be better for the summer than what is on there now. Total out the door with shipping is $156 which is about the same as Gabriel and Monroe. These are the Gas-a-Just series. Just needed to slow the bleeding of cash a bit so going with this. Glad I did yet another search of the KYB online. Some of the site listings searches are difficult at best to confirm application and proper shock. This one is only one step up from OEM but lets hope for the best. Next lunch then spending the afternoon getting some work done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 I have KYB Gas-ajust on my camper and they were there when I bought it 11 years ago. Probably ready for replacement but definitely not completely shot. Good shocks in my opinion Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passman Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 I went with the Bilsteins $280, no regrets. Swapped the fronts out yesterday and they sure needed it, I'll probably do the rears tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 I went with the Bilsteins $280, no regrets. Swapped the fronts out yesterday and they sure needed it, I'll probably do the rears tomorrow I saw those on the what have you done post. Mine don't look that far gone but still figured it was time. I'm quietly resigning myself to just spending way too much money on this. Will likely add Bilsteins to my Ford truck. Had this very same conversation with the wife this evening. Had the day off so made a home made sauce and pasta and picked up a bottle of Chianti. I laid out what I've spent so far and the remaining work I want to get done this year. That and started figuring out the camping schedule for the summer and fall. Now if I can only get my schedule and weather to sync up. Today was pretty wet around here but the 3 Fan-Tastic vents came in so I have everything I need to do the roof. Picked up the 7 new tires on Saturday. Ordered front brake pads and stabilizer bushings to go along with the shocks. Got one of the exhaust hangers that rotted out but the good news is the rest of the exhaust is solid. Found the OEM available at Amazon and will add it to the next order. I've got a new spray gun on the way and picked up some paint I had matched at the auto body supply shop. This weekend I scrapped off all the old roof coating on all the edge trim and with gloves, scotchbright pads and paint thinner got the cleaned down to the old paint. Got enough paint to do all of them along with some touch ups here and there. I priced out some custom cushions as I plan on taking out the couch and rebuilding the dinette. That will be last in this seemingly never ending saga except that this summer is going to be a lot of day trips and a few weekends mostly involving family outings. I carry a small gas grill but thinking of supplementing that with a few chuck wagon style additions off the back. I extended the back a couple of years ago and added this box. Got a pelican cooler to go on one side and perhaps a two burner stove in a fold up box on the other in place of the black storage box. Looks like I'm all in for a while still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 On several RV forums they recommend $2 tie rod ends but insist on Michealin tires, K&M air cleaners and Bilistien shocks, color me confused. If I were going to go off roading with my Toy or had plans of keeping it 40 years, or maybe the micro mini Baha 500, I might consider the Bilstein's I live in the real world and saving over $100 is not a trivial matter. I doubt in a blind road test that the promoters could tell one from another? Kyb is a perfectly acceptable shock has a good reputation and will do everything I need! They are way better than the useless hunks of metal that I was carring around. I used the Monroe stabilizer as they were in stock at the local parts store and I get the mechanics discount Name brand and discount are the deciding factor in many purchases. My opinion and worth what you are paying for it (no discount). Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shibs Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 new shocks will help with the sway during driving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 you might be shocked at the difference bad shocks are dangerous and yes lead to sway .. many years ago I had a 1969 ford country squire wagen a huge boat car weighed almost as much as a toy home. on a winding road you could hardly keep it on the road what a difference a new pair of front shocks made. the ones I took off my dolphin were junk. you get them off compare to a new one you will see a big difference. put 4 very stiff carquest bruser shocks on my other Toyota extra cab 4wd no more wallowing very very stiff . got kyb on the front of moter home. most likely yours are totally dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back East Don Posted April 24, 2015 Author Share Posted April 24, 2015 On mine I know the stabilizer is completely shot. Looks to be original. Purchased this with mid 50k sort of miles. The shocks are probably not completely dead but the RV seems like it could probably stand to have new ones. I'm doing a bunch of other work, might as well change them while in there. My understanding of shocks is that its primary job is to keep the tires planted on the pavement for both stopping and steering control. There is a spring and according to the laws of motion, an object in motion wants to stay in motion. The shocks resist this and dampen the rebound energy. Going to anything from totally dead shocks is often startling. I learned the hard way though that what you go with is important. I had a Toyota FJ landcruiser. I changed out the entire suspension for Rancho shocks and springs. Great for rock climbing, not so much for on road. Ride was stiff and jarring. I tend to prefer stiffer to float but there are limits to what I find reasonable. My F250 has a Rancho suspension and I'm thinking of swapping it out for something less severe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
payaso del mar Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 what most folks don't understand about worn out shocks is that they don't go bad uniformly between shocks, and the damping doesn't go away uniformly on each individual shock. so you could have one shock that has no compression damping but most of the rebound, one that has compression damping through upper 1/2 of stroke, one that has no rebound damping and has compression damping on bottom half of stroke, and one that's completely lost all damping. when you hit a bump, this makes your car do the rumba. or is it the lambada? I watch cars doing this all the time. if you think your shocks might need to be replaced, they do. on the $ end of things, I'm still on the Bilsteins I got for my taco over 120K ago and they still damp great. I've never had a set of KYBs last anywhere near that long. so the $ thing needs to take into account not just initial cost but how long you'll be using them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtdave2 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 i am a fan of Bilstein's, I replaced mine and was amazed how much of a difference they made! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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