Looking to do new shocks on my 02 350 dually. Mine are heavily rusted and look like originals with 174k. Not doing any off roading even thought I have 4 wheel drive. No lift ether just wand a good ride pulling my 5th wheel camper which i don't have yet ether. Any advice? also steering stabilizers.

Looking at past posts and not having much luck. On Advance site and so much to choose from. Reading reviews most say there great but some throw up concerns.

 

Well, Bilstein, Rancho do the most advertising and therefore most run one of them. I’ve run both in the past, the last time I opted for something else, KYB Monomax shocks for my F350 Dually. The KYB are a Japanese shock grounded in their heavy equipment industry. I’ve been impressed with both the unloaded and loaded ride of these shocks. I would run these again at this point.

Regardless of what you decide to run, before installing them spray them several times with a clear coat paint. It’ll help prevent chips and the eventual rust that results from them. I did 7 coats over 6 days before I installed the KYB’s and they still look very good 2 years later.

 

I agree. I went with the Rancho 9000XL's but i also spayed them with a couple coats of clear to prevent them from rusting like the originals

 

I have 2000 e350
KYB Monomax monotubes in front
Gabriel HiJackers airshocks in rear
Works for me.

 

There are leveling air bags in the back too. I have a special deal through Advance that ends soon and one of the choices is the Ranchos. The other is Monroe magnum and Reflex.

 

I bought Bilstein 4600HD's for all 4 corners and could not be happier with them. I got them on sale through Amazon and it was a deal I could not refuse.

I have air bags in the rear, so the adjustable Rancho was not appealing to me. My knees are too bad from my service days and I did not plan on adjusting them at all when hooking up our 5th wheel.

Really you will be happy with any of the choices as long as you maintain the proper height of the new shock. I could not believe how much better the truck rode, even my wife commented on it when I didn't tell her I was installing the shocks.

 

I put KYB Monomax on the front of my Excursion and they're really good for the $, got them relatively cheap on Amazon. I was afraid they'd be too stiff, but no. Even running empty with the tires at 70+ PSI it rides nice. They have a pretty good balance of high and low speed damping, good control and fairly soft on jarring little bumps. I can cruise over speed bumps without without slowing and not get any excessive jarring (high speed damping), and roll through a dip or other similar terrain without any excessive rebound/floaty feeling (low speed damping). I think that getting the low speed stiff enough and the high speed soft enough together is probably a pretty big challenge, as well as having them tuned for the vehicle's dynamics, and is why more expensive shocks usually have better control and a more comfortable ride compared to cheap shocks.

I first tried the the much cheaper KYB G2 which were great on my Explorer, but they were way too soft for the Excursion, felt like I was driving on old worn out shocks fresh out of the box. The ride over some small jarring bumps was maybe a bit softer than with the Monomax, it kinda floated like an old Cadillac which is sometimes nice, but the lack of control was downright scary at times.

Your 4WD won't ride as nice as my 2WD, but the right shocks can make it pretty nice. I don't recall anyone disliking the Monomax or the Bilsteins on their 4WD trucks but don't know if the Bilstein is better enough to justify the price difference. There are two series of Bilstens for them, 4600 and 5100 I think. I think the 5100 is generally seen as a more performance oriented shock good for lifted trucks where you want more control and the 4600 is the 'normal' high end replacement shock.

Our resident suspension specialist is Camo something, can't remember his exact screen name, if he chimes in whatever he suggests will probably be right for you.

 

I vote kyb

 

Rancho RS7000MT is what I'm running. Very happy with those.

 

adjustable Rancho was not appealing to me.

Adjustable how ride height or stiffness and what would happen? Saw a post on another forum doing some research and there seems to be a lot that like Monroe Reflex.

 

Rancho RS7000MT are not adjustable.

 

Another vote for Bilstein 4600's here...

 

It's the Rancho 9000XL that are adjustable. Much larger diameter than stock. The response is adjustable. I dial them all the way up/stiff during camping season to help with the heavy load while towing, and dial em down for a soft ride while I'm empty in winter. Not really that hard to just bend over across the tire in the wheel wells for 10 seconds to turn the kn0b, but i still only do it twice a year.

 

I'll share my experience FWIW. Adjustable shocks are only useful if you're going between street driving and off road racing. Very useful racing around on dirt bikes and ATV/UTV's but I just don't drive my truck like that off road. I've had adjustable shocks on a truck and I set them once and never touched them again.

The above is just my opinion, it's free and worth every penny!

 

I used to have Koni adjustable shocks on a supercharged sports car I tuned and modified a long, long time ago. I dialed them in and messed around with them for a couple of weeks until I moved onto the next thing I could mess with. I know this is not anything close to the same thing as the 7.3L SD, but this was just another reason why (besides my bad knees) that I was NOT going to get adjustable shocks for the truck.

Hell, I installed a wireless air compressor for my air bags because I didn't want to mess with the shcrader valve by the license plate.

All that said, talking about shocks is nearly as bad as talking about oil brands...

Just like Paul R7.3, just my opinion and it's free and worth every penny!