Shocks

[Christophe Salvain]

Hi

I hit 70k miles and i wonder if it time to change both F&R shocks ?
- how to know if there re dead (I find my Venture riding like a boat)
- Rockauto provide a lot of parts : any advices is welcome : Factory (ACDelco/GM), Monroe, Gabriel ...

Regards.

Christophe.

[cdru]

Usually if you bounce on a corner and it takes more then 1 bounce to come to a rest, the shocks are shot. This is just a rule of thumb. Ride handling, presence of oil, etc all can also indicate a problem. How many miles does your van have?

The rear shocks are pretty simple. If you have the auto rear levelers, the Monroe MA824 (??) shocks are a direct replacement. Just two bolts to pop them out and back on. Straight forward. The only problem you should have really is if the lower bolts are rustwelded to the nut. A grinder takes care of those.

The fronts are a serious bitch to change. You must remove the entire wiper linkage to get access to them, and then you only have a little bit of room to get to the 3 bolts. Then you will have to wrestle with loading the springs to loosen the nut. Spend the extra and replace all the rubber and bearing. It's much easier now to do it then have to do it 6 months from now (trust me). Plan on a day to do the fronts.

['97ventureowner]

If you decide to purchase shocks at rockauto.com I have a discount code which entitles you to an additional 5% off your purchase. Here is a copy of the text of the email I received with instructions on how to get the discount. Anybody is welcome to use this code for a discount.
"Thank you for being a www.RockAuto.com customer! To show our
appreciation, we have a special discount for you.

Your discount code is:

432029292444

Here's how to use it:

* In our Java Catalog, enter your code in the "How did you hear about
us" line of the shopping cart.
* In our non-Java Catalog, enter your code in the "Discount Code"
field of the Shopping Cart and click "Calculate Discount."

**NOTE: We sometimes get calls from people who put the word "discount"
in front of their code and do not get the discount. Please enter ONLY
the discount code, no other words or numbers.**

The discount takes 5% off our already-low prices, and there's no limit
on order size or the number of orders. Use the code for your next
order, and share the code with friends, neighbors, relatives, the guy at
the corner garage--anyone you know who works on cars or trucks.

This discount code expires on July 25, 2006; so don't wait! "

[Christophe Salvain]

Thank you very much for the discount code.
I will order and ship parts to my mechanic.

Christophe Salvaing