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Front shocks...Problems?

02Z71_Tonka

Full Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2008
Messages
84
Location
Grand Rapids, Michigan
I just bought an 02 Av for Xmas and Monday night the front hub broke, so I had it taken to the dealer to be fixed. While at the dealer I had them give me a print out of the service record so that I'd know some history on the truck since the dealer I purchased it from knew nothing about the truck. On the service records the front shocks have been replaced multiple times and only the fronts. They are sagging as of now as well. The driver side more than the passenger. I had to crank the driver side torsion bar all of the way just so that the front sat even, and so that I could fit my 285's. Are the front shocks just that bad or is it just my truck that just keeps killing the front shocks? Are there any heavy duty ones that I could upgrade to so that I'm not replacing the front shocks every year? It was taken to the dealer each time to get the shocks replaced, so they were the factory shocks and not some cheap aftermarket ones.
 
Shocks do not hold up the truck.. they do not support load.
Shocks dampen movement and slow it down.....

Bigger then stock tires CAN cause suspension & steering damage

They were probably replaced due to leaking oil or squeek in top mount..
normally shocks are only replaced if they are leaking... or their inner seals are bad and they do not stop "bouncing"

To test push down on corner of truck and jump off so it rebounds up... it should not bounce up and down like spring but come to a stop after at most going to a max height
 
02Z71_Tonka said:
I just bought an 02 Av for Xmas and Monday night the front hub broke, so I had it taken to the dealer to be fixed. While at the dealer I had them give me a print out of the service record so that I'd know some history on the truck since the dealer I purchased it from knew nothing about the truck. On the service records the front shocks have been replaced multiple times and only the fronts. They are sagging as of now as well. The driver side more than the passenger. I had to crank the driver side torsion bar all of the way just so that the front sat even, and so that I could fit my 285's. Are the front shocks just that bad or is it just my truck that just keeps killing the front shocks? Are there any heavy duty ones that I could upgrade to so that I'm not replacing the front shocks every year? It was taken to the dealer each time to get the shocks replaced, so they were the factory shocks and not some cheap aftermarket ones.

Mr. Negativity say's,
How many times do we have to keep preaching the same sermon?

The truck came with P265 tires and that was all it was intended for.

The Torsion bars are the front springs.  The adjustment was not intended to create lift.

If you wish to achieve lift, you need to buy offset keys, and not crank up on the torsion bar bolts.  The purpose of the bolts is to put a proper amount of load on the suspension.

When you cranked up on the torsion bar mounting bolts, the most amount of lift you could get is maybe 3/4 of an inch.  But you took all the travel out of the suspension.  Now the front end is like a brick.

I guess people that don't know what they are doing, should just leave well enough alone!  What do I care?
 
Monte Carlo Man said:
  What do I care?

Exactly, what do you care?  Why are you even here, aside from finding a way to preach down to every single person you can possibly find a way to do it to?  Oh, that's right - it usually also has to contain a personal story about some past member of your family and an acquaintance.

Your attitude here gets nothing but complaints directed to staff here.  I'd request and suggest an adjustment, asap.
 
Monte Carlo Man said:
The truck came with P265 tires and that was all it was intended for.

Oh, please also send your suggestion on to GM so that they will stop selling "official" upgrade packages to 20" wheels and the like.  I'm sure they are very much in need of your totally misguided wisdom.
 
Monte Carlo Man said:
Mr. Negativity say's,
How many times do we have to keep preaching the same sermon?

The truck came with P265 tires and that was all it was intended for.

The Torsion bars are the front springs.  The adjustment was not intended to create lift.

If you wish to achieve lift, you need to buy offset keys, and not crank up on the torsion bar bolts.   The purpose of the bolts is to put a proper amount of load on the suspension.

When you cranked up on the torsion bar mounting bolts, the most amount of lift you could get is maybe 3/4 of an inch.   But you took all the travel out of the suspension.  Now the front end is like a brick.

I guess people that don't know what they are doing, should just leave well enough alone!  What do I care?

Ya so the truck came with 265's so what. With the 265's the front shocks have been replaced 4 times and the torsion bars were NOT cranked you dip sh*t! The only reason I had to adjust the driver side was so that it would match the passenger side. And for your info I got more than 3/4" on lift when the bolt was turned, so that's NOT the most that you can achieve. And NO the front end is NOT like a brick! I have no problems at all. I love people such as yourself who think their better than the rest and know more. Take your advice elsewhere, I could care less.
 
The shocks going bad was before the 285's were ever put on. It has had the stock size 265 each time that the shocks have gone bad. The truck was totally stock when I bought it. Everything that it has now is recently added parts. So that's why I wanted to know if the stock shocks are crap or what was going on with the truck since it was all stock.
 
Ill join the party  :wave: Since the torsion bar is a spring. Maybe it went bad? That's my first thought. Because if you remove the shock, it would drop maybe 1/2-1" Shouldn't be that much. After you replace the shocks annually (please advise which company, So I can invest in stock) is the ride good?
 
drvortec7081 said:
Ill join the party  :wave: Since the torsion bar is a spring. Maybe it went bad? That's my first thought. Because if you remove the shock, it would drop maybe 1/2-1" Shouldn't be that much. After you replace the shocks annually (please advise which company, So I can invest in stock) is the ride good?
I just got the truck in Dec and when I had it at Chevy they gave me the print out of the maintenance that they have done in the past. I noticed the front shocks being replaced a lot and then I noticed that right now one sags more than the other. I haven't bought new ones for it since I've owned it, just dealing with it for now.
 
I'll add my two cents, but I'm not here to start a fight............................Most chevy trucks with torsion bars will sag on the LH side eventually.  Mainly due to the fact that the LH torsion bar usually has to support more weight than the RH simply because the fuel tank is on the LH side.  I've been an alignment tech for years and have rarely seen a GM that does not require the torsion bars to be adjusted.  If you are maxed out on adjustment, it may be time to keep an eye open for another set of bars, possibly from a heavier duty suspension.  That being said, there is a limit as to how far you can crank up your torsion bars, which is only governed by the upper bump stop.  Additionally, running the front end too high (talking extreme angles here) will cause premature wear on front end components as well as cause some interesting handling characteristics (bump steer and the like).

The following is ABSOLUTELY correct (as if there was any doubt)

 
ygmn said:
Shocks do not hold up the truck.. they do not support load.
Shocks dampen movement and slow it down.....

Bigger then stock tires CAN cause suspension & steering damage

They were probably replaced due to leaking oil or squeek in top mount..
normally shocks are only replaced if they are leaking... or their inner seals are bad and they do not stop "bouncing"

To test push down on corner of truck and jump off so it rebounds up... it should not bounce up and down like spring but come to a stop after at most going to a max height

Going up one size will not hurt anything.  Although the truck WAS originally intended to come with 265/70/16, the height difference to a 285/70/16 is only about 1 inch overall, which is 1/2 inch on the top and bottom of the tire.  A 285/75/16 has approx a 2 inch difference in height, which still won't mean a whole lot (y)

My experience has been that OEM shocks don't like cold winters.........that's when they tend to leak.
 
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