New shocks on my Jimmy

[87Skier]

I thought I would share my experience with the shocks I put on a few months back.

I bought KYB GR-2/Excel-G for front and rear. They were about $100 for all 4 and had a $40 mail in rebate. They replaced some old oil filled shocks. I don't know the history of those shocks, but had at least 50,000 miles on them and are at least 20 years old.

Overall the ride is nicer and the handling is better. It still feels top-heavy, but rolls slightly less than before. Low speed ride quality has definitely improved. The shocks don't handle bumps at high speed very well. There is a bad road by me that I usually test stuff on, and the new shocks handle this much worse than the old. This is probably due to the limited travel of the front springs.

When I hit the bumps at high speed, it felt as if it only hit the first part and that the front end wasn't even on the ground any more. This is completely different than my 96 Suburban or even my car. The 96 Suburban with original shocks (I'm assuming), will just kind of bounce through these bumps. The car with 2 year old Monroe OE shocks makes the bumps feel like nothing more than a small patch of gravel.

These shocks just aren't stiff enough for my liking. I like a good soft ride, but I also need shocks that can handle bumps on the highway. I would look for something different.