Well I guess I have jumped head-long into the fray. I just bought a 2000 EB 4X4 with coil spring suspension. It has 83K and the shocks appear to be original. There is a fair bit of body roll and nose dive. I have done searches on shocks over the past 2-3 weeks and have gotten a tremendous amount of information. In reading the posts in a lot of cases it wasn't clear whether the shock recommendations were for 2WD or 4WD, LLS or coil ect. so that is why I am asking for info on a specific shock and specific suspension.

I know that Bilsteins are far and away favored, but my situation is this. This is a second vehicle and will only be driven 4K - 5K a year. I am looking for an improved ride obviously,but not overly aggressive. Something to help with the roll and front to rear movement. The ES9000's are nitrogen stabilized and appear to be a better shock. If after they were installed the body roll was still an issue, I could add a Hellwig sway bar for the rear. I can get all 4 of the ES9000's for $105.00 shipped so that makes it pretty attractive from that standpoint and if they were to only last for say 20K-25K
it would be 4-5 years before they would need to be replaced.

Please give your opinion so that i will know if my thinking is justified.

I really appreciate the fact that there is a forum like this because it helped to ease some questions about my Expy before and after I bought.

Thanks

 

Welcome Dukman! I am of the opinion that shocks don't do much to abate body roll. That's what the sway bars are for. Rather shocks dampen suspension ocillations. JMHO!

 

I've had my set of ES9000 on my '98 4X4 Expedition EB for about a year now. The ride is firmer than stock and the body roll was improved slightly, highway ride is great! If you want to improve the body roll more I would either change the swaybar bushings to Energy Suspension ones or swap out the swaybars completely with either a Helwig or Hotckis setup. I will be doing the same in the next few months.

 

Jeff, Thanks for the reply. When you say change out the sway bar bushings are you talking about the ones which hold the rear sway bar to the axel? I have looked at the greaseable replacements, but was going to wait until I have installed the shocks. Did you install them on your Expy, and if so were you able to notice the difference afterwards?

As a matter of fact, I am about to go install the shocks now so your timing is perfect. I just bought the truck. It came with Sensatrac's so I will probably notice a good bit of difference. I will let you know how it goes.

 

dukman22, I have not installed the Energy Suspension bushings on my Expy, but my wifes cousin has them on his silverado and he said it made a noticable difference. The best thing about this option is that a complete set (front & rear) is under $80 bucks at AutoZone. I will be installing them in the next few months, first I need to put new rotors and brake pads on the front.
If you plan on going offroading these shocks are great!!! Let me know how it goes.