Picking up from the discussion in Dad's Truck Build re shocks, but posted here to close the loop, I just called Monroe's tech support line and talked with Adam. According to him the better shock for this application, meaning quad shocks and on-road driving, is the Sensatrac. It is set up to give smooth response until you hit dips/bumps, at which point it will firm up. The Reflex will firm up things at all times, and having four of them will make it much stiffer.

Given that I'm ordering Sensatracs for the front and Gas-Magnum's for the rear.

 

Good choice. I've towed and run empty, rides great. When I drive it to work it's 80+ miles so I've had some time to evaluate...

 

That's why I said I don't care about RA, at under $10 a piece I would get the closeouts.

 

In the under $10 category they have one Gas-Magnum for the rear of a half-ton and one for a 3/4 ton, both for non-4wd. But their price on the right part # for Gas-Magnums is close to Amazon's.

 

(Maybe I'm wrong?)
Gary,
Look under 'factory ride' or whatever.
Wholesaler closeouts/
The Sensa-trac's are as I posted in #13.


The target is an '81/ F-150/ 5.8/suspension/ shock absorber/ original ride quality/ 4X4
Monroe Sensatrac, Wholesaler closeout #37095= $9.58

***edit; the 37036 seems to be $27.79
But the Reflex 911036 is farther down at $19.68***

Do I need to take a screenshot?
I can't seem to copy & paste from their drill down page.

 

Maybe I started at the wrong point, but I dialed in 1981/Ford/F150/351 engine and went to shocks. Then I checked "choose for me to minimize cost" so it sorts things in ascending cost order and there's nothing there for those prices.

OOOOOPPPPS! I hadn't scrolled far enough down! Found them! They don't fully sort by price, but have categories of HD, Original Ride, etc and sort by price w/in those categories. The Sensatracs are in Original Ride Quality. However, I need part #...36 & ...95, and they don't have the 36. I think the 34 is for non-quad setups, but I haven't checked. Anyway, I found them. Thanks.

Headed out now for a day in T-town. James just called from Inland and the drive shaft is ready, so we'll pick it up today. Anyway, I'll order later today, hopefully.

 

Post pic's of the rebuilt shaft in Dad's Truck thread!

I edited my post above yours...

 

Love this thread....just ordered front struts off RA today thanks to this thread, now I have to make a decision on rear shocks

 

Jim - Driveshaft's mug is posted, as requested.

GF - Glad it helps. Keep reading.

This was also posted in Dad's Truck Build, so if you think you've already read it you may have. But, it needs to be here as well for posterity.

I talked with Adam at Monroe again this afternoon, this time about rear shocks for the truck. His recommendations were:

• Gas-Magnums: Best if the truck is going to be used loaded more than 75% of the time. They'll handle the load very well, but will give a harsh ride when unloaded.
• Reflex: Give the best handling the truck is capable of and would be good if the truck is loaded a lot of the time. But, will not have a smooth ride when unloaded.
• Sensatracs: Best for trucks that aren't carrying heavy loads frequently. Will give the best ride and good handling as well. And, when the truck is loaded and the rear sags a bit the valving will move into the "firm" position and it will handle the load quite well. Given what I told him about how I use the truck he strongly recommended them for Dad's truck.

I also asked him about using just a pair of shocks instead of four on the quad-shocked trucks. He said that isn't a good idea because the positions and mounting points for the quad shocks are different front & rear and the engineers set the valving for each shock expecting the other shock to be there. And, when I asked if we could use the shock from the dual-shock setup, meaning the non-quad setup, he said that won't work either as neither the front nor the rear position in the quad setup is the same as the dual-shock setup. At first I wasn't sure I believed him on that because Rusty's single shock up front looks to be the same as Dad's rear shock on the front. But, looking at the Monroe & KYB catalogs and part numbers I see that there are three part numbers: One for the front and one for the rear of the quad arrangement, and one for the dual setup.

So, I guess I'll go with Sensatracs all around.

 

Just finished reading your posts in your thread looks like the sensatracs all around is the best route for me as well

 

Just ordered 6 Sensatracs from Amazon:

• 2 ea
  Monroe 37037
  Monroe 37037
  for the rear @ $30.58/ea
• 2 ea
  Monroe 37036
  Monroe 37036
  for the front ahead of the axle @ $30.58/ea
• 2 ea
  Monroe 37095
  Monroe 37095
  for the front behind the axle @ $27.52/ea

I'll have them Tuesday.

 

I think he might have his info mixed up on what the engineers did. All of the catalogs I have show the radius arm shock being the same, regardless of quad shock or single shock. There are differences between LD and HD, but they mount the exact same way on both.

From what I see, there's a part number for the front shock exclusive to Quad Shock trucks, there's a part number for the radius arm shock that is the same between single and quad setups, there's a part number for the rear axle shock on a 4x2, and a part number for the rear axle shock on a 4x4.

I physically do not see how removing one shock from the quad shock equation will matter at all, aside from a change in ride quality. He makes it sound like the primary shock is gonna fall out of the truck if you remove the secondary shock.

 

No, that's not what he conveyed to me, so I've said it wrong to you. He wasn't saying it would fall off but that it wouldn't work correctly.

As for bolting on, he may well have been wrong about the rear shock of the quad and the shock from the dual setup being different from a length standpoint. And, I may have interpreted what he said incorrectly. However, Monroe has a different part # for the rear shock of the quad as opposed to the dual setup. Ford may not, but they do.

 

He gave you a claim, but he didn't give you any supporting info on why that claim is true?

I'm not entirely sure why Monroe has a different part number for the radius arm shocks. I just played with the "Does It Fit" function on Amazon, but instead of choosing 4x4, I chose 4x2. It gave me the same part number for the radius arm shock as it did for your 4x4, 37095

 

No way for me to tell. His claim is that the two shocks are valved differently and that collectively they work like the dual shock. But neither of them are valved like the dual shock, so w/o both you don't have the proper setup.