I have new tires and the truck rides a ton better, thanks for your help. So now I have another question. I have been doing a little research on new shocks for the beastie. The truck has 20 year old Monroes on it and I can gently push down on the front and make it bounce up and down and similar for the rear.

I would like to put new shocks on it and I am very interested in your advice. The truck is a 1976 F250 SuperCab with a 460 in it. Presently the rear has been lowered with an axle flip and a 1 inch spacer block. The front was lowered by cutting coils out of the springs and it looks to be about 2 inches. One of the previous owners had the truck dropped a ton and it almost ran on its bump stops. They had the I-Beams bent to improve the camber at a lower than 2" drop, so now I am running about 2 degrees of positive camber in the front. I am planning on putting dropped I-Beams on the front as my budget allows to get everything under control again.

The stock shocks seem to work well as to range of stroke, so replacement stock shocks seem to be okay. I am looking for a shock that offers a good level of damping control and I am willing to live with a stiffer than stock shock for better handling. The truck will not do any offroad and will be operating most of the time towing trailers of around 5,000 lbs.

Suggestions?

Eric

 

Can't beat Bilstein if they are available for this generation. I just put 4 on my Dodge 1 ton and made a world of difference. Keep us posted on what you do. I have a set of Rancho's that I may end up using just because I have them.

Doug

 

I'm happy with Rancho.

 

I got Bilsteins on my SuperCrew and Lemans, KYB Gas Adjusts in the Mustangs, and my PT is gonna get KYB GR2s. My F-100 has Rancho 5000s only cuz that's what came on it.

Visit Shockwarehouse.com. Reasonable prices and fast delivery.

 

Dug into Bilsteins web site and I find nothing for these trucks. Dang

 

Can you just order them according to the length, or do they need a special bracket or something?

 

ALL IS NOT LOST!

FYI... the PO fabbed up some front mounts for dual shocks and the tabs were welded to the C-bracket. I traced the numbers on the shocks (in fact, I traced all of them) and the all four front shocks were for a Toyota 4Runner. So, the moral of this story is that there are shocks out there that can cross over and be used on our dents. The caveat is that the valving and travel (rebound and compression) may not be appropriate but might be "close enough". Besides, shocks only dampen oscillation. To me, the spring rates matter more.

In order to determine the length of the shock, you'll need to determine full compression and full extension and then contact Bilstein and ask them what fits your needs. . For a 2WD, I would choose more compression since full droop isn't likely to happen unlike on a 4x4.

 

Just a thought, the lifetime warranty on the Monroes is still in effect...Takem off, go into any parts store in America and get new ones. No receipt necessary...

Find some open-minded manager and maybe he will credit you for the originals and you can only pay the difference for some upgrades.

 

I found the same thing on the Bilsteins, so I did some digging and found the Rancho RS 9000 XL. They have owner rebound adjustment and are a decent price. Any opinions?

I may take your advice and contact a local Monroe dealer and see if they will honour the lifetime agreement on the present shocks. Granted that they may be over 20 years old, lifetime is lifetime, right?

Thanks for your help so far and if anybody has some brainwaves let me know.

Eric

 

Bilsteins and Edelbrock shocks have served me well over the years.

PK

 

I used Monroe Gas-Magnums on recommendation from a friend. $40 each. Stable ride, good with a load, and not harsh-riding.

However, given how much your truck is lowered, you might want to look into specialty shocks for lowered vehicles. You might get some odd effects running a factory-length shock outside it's "normal" compression range if it has funky compression-dependent valving.