I have run into the same problem with gas shock verses oil shocks. I too was dealing with Eaton Spring trying to soften the ride. I went with four new custom made springs with a lot less spring rate at each corner, it then came to shock choice, like with you, they suggested getting rid of the gas shock and going back to plain old oil filled, trouble with that is, no one makes that type of shock anymore. I hunted for weeks on the web and never could find anything. I have a short travel shock so my choice was pretty narrow. One of these days I am going to raise the upper mount and find a different shock for the front. This time I will hunt for a car with the same weight and wheel base as my truck, and go from there.
I have been down the road you are traveling, I had three of the seven leaves out of the front and four out nine removed from the back. Each pack had teflon liner full length, and tube shocks on each corner. It rode pretty good, but I had some money to burn from a side job I did so I went four new springs, plus it gave me piece of mind since I had old springs with a lot less leaves in them. It rides much better all around town and really helped at highway speeds. At slow speeds, the front bounces more then I like so I hope a softer shock will take some of that out.
Back in the day, all shocks were oil filled, I don't know for sure when gas shocks came about, maybe when the radial tire came around? Now they are all about stiff ride for better handling.
Joe
