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Best Budget Shocks & Bushings?

N

NorCalAnthony

1/2 ton status
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Aug 28, 2013
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Location
Lincoln, CA
Hey Everyone,

I just picked up my mostly stock '89 Blazer a couple of weeks ago and am starting to go through all the basic maintenance items. It's a running project but it has some pretty bad front end dive and body roll. I want to replace the worn out shocks, sway bar bushings, and leaf spring bushings to help out how it handles (it's pretty scary going around corners and even curves on the highway). I'm hoping to replace everything as cheaply as possible since I'm planning on getting some ORD custom lift springs in a year or so and plan on replacing most everything in the suspension and steering when I do. I've tried searching the forums already but most of the results are either for lifted rigs/custom applications or they're buried somewhere in threads with hundreds of pages and I gave up after the first couple dozen pages :whistle:

Right now the most common options I'm seeing for bushings are Energy Suspension and Prothane and the price varies by website. Is either one better than the other? Also, if anyone can confirm that the ORD greasable bushings will work with the current stock springs and the future ORD springs then I'd rather just go that route and only replace them once. I've been working 7-7 Mon-Fri lately and haven't been able to call them for details so I was hoping someone here may know...

The shocks I'm looking at are all around the same price but I don't know which would be best to hold me over for now or if there are others out there that I should also be looking at. I'd rather not spend several hundred bucks buying new Bilstein 5100's and other goodies only to have to replace them before they're broken in:doah: O'Riley's has Monroe Sensa-Tracs for $178 and the nearby 4 Wheel Parts has Pro-Comp ES 3000's for $168, Sky Jacker Nitros for $171, Rancho RS 5000's for $180, and after that the prices start jumping up quite a bit. Which would be the best option for mostly street driving and real light trail use? All replies and other suggestions are more than welcome.

Here's my new project that they'll be going on. The body isn't perfect but it runs great, is rust free, and only ran me $2300:woot:
 
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The stock springs are ~3" wide at the ends, any aftermarket spring is 2-1/2" so they use different bushings. The bolt and sleeve are the same, but the bushings are different. The bushings are the cheapest part and we can do just those when you change springs.
 
If you are keeping it stockish height for awhile I would just hit up your local oreilly's and get the monroe gas charged HD shock. About $20 a shock and are a good stock replacement. The nice thing is lifetime warranty so if you lift it later you can return them and pay the difference on a set of lifted shocks that they sell. They do sell pro-comp, rancho and bilstein. That is what the manager at my local oreillys told me to do once i lifted it. Bring the old ones back and get credit towards the new lifted ones of my choice and pay the difference.
 
38377k5 said:
The stock springs are ~3" wide at the ends, any aftermarket spring is 2-1/2" so they use different bushings. The bolt and sleeve are the same, but the bushings are different. The bushings are the cheapest part and we can do just those when you change springs.
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Thanks for the info Chris. Are these what I would need then? http://offroaddesign.com/catalog/greasebushings.htm Looks like $90 for the set for the front and then another $90 for the rear is that right?

scottsdale86 said:
If you are keeping it stockish height for awhile I would just hit up your local oreilly's and get the monroe gas charged HD shock. About $20 a shock and are a good stock replacement. The nice thing is lifetime warranty so if you lift it later you can return them and pay the difference on a set of lifted shocks that they sell. They do sell pro-comp, rancho and bilstein. That is what the manager at my local oreillys told me to do once i lifted it. Bring the old ones back and get credit towards the new lifted ones of my choice and pay the difference.
Click to expand...

That's a great idea thanks! :waytogo:
 
If you're planning on installing new springs next year I would look at what is absolutely in need of replacement. I would bet your upper front shackle bushings are shot, poly's can be picked up for $20 at autozone. Hopefully the leafs are OK so you can get by for the next year....

PS- I'm in Lincoln as well :D
 
scottsdale86 said:
If you are keeping it stockish height for awhile I would just hit up your local oreilly's and get the monroe gas charged HD shock. About $20 a shock and are a good stock replacement. The nice thing is lifetime warranty so if you lift it later you can return them and pay the difference on a set of lifted shocks that they sell. They do sell pro-comp, rancho and bilstein. That is what the manager at my local oreillys told me to do once i lifted it. Bring the old ones back and get credit towards the new lifted ones of my choice and pay the difference.
Click to expand...

I ran these. they are good. Not $20, but a good value none the less.

Definitely the best budget way to go.

For a stock vehicle, also look into the Bilsetin 4600's. A little more $, but my favorite shock of all time. Firmer than the 5100's, but only available in stock lengths, or i'd still be running them
 
skunked said:
If you're planning on installing new springs next year I would look at what is absolutely in need of replacement. I would bet your upper front shackle bushings are shot, poly's can be picked up for $20 at autozone. Hopefully the leafs are OK so you can get by for the next year....

PS- I'm in Lincoln as well :D
Click to expand...

Sweet nice to know there's another member nearby:D I'm definitely going to be through all of the suspension bushings and replacing anything that looks too rough to wait. I was under it last week doing an oil change and trans service and couldn't believe how worn out those bushing were. :doah:

dhcomp said:
I ran these. they are good. Not $20, but a good value none the less.

Definitely the best budget way to go.

For a stock vehicle, also look into the Bilsetin 4600's. A little more $, but my favorite shock of all time. Firmer than the 5100's, but only available in stock lengths, or i'd still be running them
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience with them. I think these will be the route I'm going to take as they seem to be the best low budget shock out there. I had the Bilstein 4600's on my Tacoma and Nismo Frontier before I lifted them and thought they were great. After I lifter my Frontier I went with Bilstein 5100's in the rear and will definitely be getting some more Bilsteins for the K-5 whenever I get around to lifting it. Hopefully next tax return...


scottsdale86 said:
They are actually cheaper @ $19.99
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...=Search_C0077_5003190_2688&pt=C0077&ppt=C0035

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...=Search_C0077_5003190_2688&pt=C0077&ppt=C0035
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links. I'm going to swing by O'Riley's tomorrow on my day off and have them order those puppies along with some new bushings to hold me over until I can start getting crazy with it:D
 
Guess I had the gas magnums. More of the Hd version, but also reasonable.
 
Don't replace "everything". Figure out what the biggest source of slop is and start there. Sometimes tearing stuff apart causes new problems and sometimes OEM parts are better than what will end up in there if you're in a hurry. Grab a prybar and start looking for slop. Have somebody else turn the steering wheel while you look for stuff moving around.
 
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