The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop shocks for my '65 Chevy LWB stepside ?

Hiya Bolters...

my truck kinda floats and bounces a bit, on the highway... which makes me ponder getting new shocks... but um, I do not know anythign about shocks... and this being my first truck... I thought I'd come ask around in here for some Shocks eduMakshun.

So... places to read about shcoks, suggestions for a good shock for my type truck...
It is jsut a plain 65' lwb step with a v8...
I have not crawled under it yet to see what is on there currently...

thanks folks!

-W

My advice is to avoid Monroe. kind of like Midas mufflers, they have a lifetime warranty and depend on you selling the vehicle before you put 40K miles on them.

I have Gabriels on my 52, got em at my local parts store. Had to order classics for the rear, he had the fronts in stock. They seem to work pretty good.

I'm putting nitrogen shocks on my 69, ended up ordering the rears from Bowtie Bits, the fronts I was able to buy Gabriels. It will be another week or so before she's back on the road, I can't work very fast or long.

I second Fred T on the Gabriels. I have a set on my 1966 shortbed stepside. No floating on the highway whatsoever and a really nice ride over rough terrain.

Only trouble is if your old shocks are old it could be a royal PITA to break the nuts on those old rusted bolts. Hope you have an air compressor. If not plan on taking it to a local garage.

-ftyler

I just finished putting new shocks on my 89 F-150, the PO never thought about replacing them. So it was a bumpy ride considering it has almost 200K miles. I went with Napa shocks, but if i would have had the money, i wouldve gotten Bilsteins. Im not sure, but they might have the right shocks for you. Of course, these shocks give you a stiffer ride, which gives you better performance out of your pickup.

Drew

Thanks everyone for your two cents...

-W

ftyler,
which Gabriels shocks didja put on yer truck?

-W

Get the Monroe big heavy duty shocks for the front. They give great handleing & control. Napa handles them. It seems like any good shock works good on the rear. Flyer is right. They can be difficult to remove especially if you are in the rust belt.

I got pb blaster, liquid wrench, elbow grease and an impact wrench.

Maybe I can get 'em off.

Here is some info. I got from a guy(ozzyracing) with my kinda truck over at 67-72chevytrucks.com:

Here are the front shocks:

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GABRIEL_MAX_CONTROL
MONOTUBE SHOCK 77355 LLT $49.99


Here are the rear:
GABRIEL_ULTRA G63306 LLT $28.99

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Again, I got these from Auto Zone. The fronts were in stock at one store and the rears are just about everywhere.

Also, my truck is not lowered but I do have a 454 up front and I love these shocks. My old shocks were completely worn out, I could compress them easily by hand and they would not expand on their own.


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-W