TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Are Shocks Really Needed
During my trip to San Juan de la Pilas I broke the right front shock, I mean like broke it into two pieces. It was a new KYB that had been on the
truck only a few months. The truck is a 04 GMC Z71. After removing the shock in Mulege I drove back north and into Mike's Sky Ranch coming off the
Observatory road and later into Ensenada. In Ensenada I purchased a Monroe shock and put it on. The next day back up the Observatory road to chase
Tunaeater in the 500 race.
Interesting thing is neither I nor my brothers could tell the difference whether the shock was on or off. I'm thinking of disconnecting both front
shocks the next time I take a trip off road in Baja to see the difference. Maybe go down the Gonzaga Bay road with them on then return with them off.
By the way, the most improvement on suspension I ever felt was when I disconnected the front anti-sway bar on my Toyota during the Pole Line Rd run a
couple of years ago.
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Geronimo
Junior Nomad
Posts: 91
Registered: 6-12-2005
Location: Salome Arizona/San Felipe BC Mex
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TW, your Torsion bar suspension is most likely the best to handle this situation, and most likely the remaining shock was doing the work. The work is
dampening the spring or keeping it under control. Remove both shocks and your truck will resemble a pogo stick. I broke a shock mount once also, on
the portocitos (sp?) road. I didn’t know it until I as back in SF, this was on a solid axle Jeep. You will see extreme tire wear, due to the tire
bouncing on smooth pavement. We did a trip to Cocos for the 1000 with a Toyota with both shocks broke in the front; 20mph was a stretch for it.
Shocks are a good thing.
Sway bars have nothing to do with suspension; they simply keep the body from moving over the suspension. They often limit the travel of a suspension
which is the only benefit of having them disco. Most race vehicles have them; they are just designed to not limit travel.
\"The only cure is to be perpetually South Bound\"
~Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers from the song Mexicosis
Geronimo
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Geronimo
... I broke a shock mount once also, on the portocitos (sp?) road... |
Since you asked, PUERTECITOS 
It is one of the top mis-spelled Baja place names (right up there with Guerrero Negro, Alfonsina's, Los Barriles, Santa Rosalillita, etc.), so don't
feel bad! 
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joel
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Posts: 361
Registered: 2-2-2007
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So we're all in agreement they are necessary....
How useful are they in dampening the chatter from a washboard road? If so, any recommendations on what will make those roads smoother?
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Diver
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 11-15-2004
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Speaking of sway bars;
I was at the tire shop with my '04 F350 and noted the huge difference in the size of the sway bar in my '04 vs the '05 and newer. Mine are double the
diameter of the newer ones. '05 is when Ford went the way of all the others and did a coil suspension instead of leafs....bummer. I always thought
they had the toughest truck suspension out there; until now ?
I think I'll keep my '04 unitl they come to their senses.
.
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elgatoloco
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 11-19-2002
Location: Yes
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Every truck I ever had the first thing I did was replace the factory sway bar with a heavy duty Hellwig sway bar.
One year (96-97?) I had an F-150 and I put in two brand new Rancho 9000 shocks in front and I had air bags in the back. Smoked the ranchos on the
road in to Abreojos. I went to town and they sold me a pair of Monroes to get home on. I ended up getting the Rancho's replaced under warranty as
they were only two weeks old. Put the new Ranchos back on and transferred the Monroes to my 86' F-250 and ran that truck until it got broadsided and
totaled a few years back.
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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TMW
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Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Food for Thought
I agree shocks are for dampening the spring. However on a stock truck I think they are more usefull on the hwy than off road. I've broken lots of
shocks and never noticed the difference. It use to be that to tell if a shock was bad you pumped the vehicle up and down to see if it continued when
let go. I've done that to my GMC and Toyota (it has heavy duty torsion bars) and you can't tell the difference whether the shock is on or off.
As to the sway bar, it's purpose is to eleminate swaying or roll on a turn. This action reduces the wheel travel especially on IFS. I've never removed
it on the GMC but on my Toyota I've driven off road with it off and drove it back to Bakersfield from San Felipe and around town and never noticed any
difference. Granted I never tried to swerve quickly around something on the hwy at 70mph, that may be a big difference. My old work truck was a 2001
Dodge 3/4 ton and it had a sway bar on the rear. I could never understand what use it would be unless I had a 3000lb camper on it.
[Edited on 6-21-2007 by TW]
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TMW
Select Nomad
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Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Thanks whistler that's a good point. On my 91 chevy I broke off the right rear shock and blew out the left rear while off road in Baja Sur. I had a
cabover shell loaded with stuff and the backend bounced like crasy.
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
Posts: 17388
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Hot n spicy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by joel
...any recommendations on what will make those roads smoother? |
Only thing to make a washboard road smoother is regrading. I have observed that washboards are at their worst on noncohesive soils. I think they
need to build road beds with a higher clay content.
Washboard solution: air down your tires a little, and go very fast so your tire flies between tops of bumps (take care to slow before curves and
blind spots, because not much steering ability at hi-speed when floating atop humps [little tire contact]). Optimum speed is 40-60 mph, depending on
your vehicle. Of course, any local or stopped car will hate you for this because you leave a massive dust cloud that coats all surfaces within
several hundred yards of the road. Don't try this with a heavy trailer.
Removing shocks on washboards would likely cause more wheel vertical travel, causing more wear/tear on your car, and probably making the washboards
incrementally worse for the next driver.
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Gadget
Senior Nomad
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Tom
I think you post in jest  Seriously, lets look at what some of the most highly
engineered, tested and designed vehicles running around on dirt at this time do, ie: a desert Trophy Truck. The shocks are not just along for the
ride comfort, they are one of the most critical components on that vehicle to keep it in contact with earth safely.
Expotentially based on speed, weight, terraine, vehicle configuration etc the same would apply to most vehicles, with the exception, of course, of the
1972 Ford LTD coupe with 9 passengers that just arrived at the coast on the same trail that challenged me for the last 4 hours with no suspension of
any kind, defying all logic or concepts of physics 
MT I think someone else made the decision long ago as to what the soil composition of any given dirt road in Baja consists of. Just a thought 
"Mankind will not be judged by their faults, but by the direction of their lives." Leo Giovinetti
See you in Baja
http://www.LocosMocos.com
Gadget |
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