Recommended 3/4 ton shock absorbers?

[kipps]

The truck is a 1987 3/4 ton, standard cab, long bed 4x4. Oversize tires, no lift. Will be used for some limited, but heavy towing; 16 foot gooseneck cattle trailer, which will be stuffed full of either cows or a skidloader. The rest of the time it's to be a typical farm truck and personal transportation.

The engine is out of the truck; I assume it's a lot easier to replace shocks now rather than once the engine is back in. Can anyone chime in on this? How hard is it to replace front shocks on a complete truck?

Do I pick up whatever shocks are recommended by the auto parts store, or do I shop for a specific brand, type, whatever?

[sweetk30]

off the shelf cheeper i go yellow monroe shocks .

best off the shelf these days bilstien shocks might have to order tho . the 5100 series .

2wd or 4wd there easy 2 bolts each . but yes faster with a engine out but not required .

if you not in a hurry www.rockauto.com for great prices .

[DieselSJ]

Shocks are super easy and there is nothing that gets in the way if the engine is in or out.

Bilstein.

[tucsonjwt]

I bought my 83 C20 with yellow Monroe shocks installed 17 years ago and they are still good - about 45K miles of use and some of it was fully loaded with dirt. I don't know if Bilsteins would give you better handling. I would be more inclined to look at Helwig helper springs with that heavy load. I would also make sure that your floating rear axle is up to the task as well as the differential. I you do need axle seals (aka wheel seals) on the rear I would make sure you get later version OEM GM 2 piece axle seals. The one piece axle seals leak.

I am guessing that 16' of cows weigh a lot, so I would think a 1 ton dually would be a better choice. Of course, I have never hauled any cows.