jury

i just got some new shocks there procomp 3000s, anyway when i opened the box they were compressed and i can expand and compress it by hand,all the way, shouldnt there be enough pressure to resist me pushing on them??? and shouldnt they be fully extended just as they are?? thanks for any help

chroad

Basing this response on my Bilsteins-- If you are reasonably strong, you can compress a shock fully. You will exert a fair amount of effort to do it, but it can be done. However, you should expect the shock to rebound into position. Not immediately spring back, but return to neutral at a controlled rate. This is due to the damping, yada, yada... you probably know all this. In the second picture, the shock appears to just be sitting there, fully compressed with no external help to keep it compressed. I would say that's a problem.

jury

yeah i dont have to push hard at all, im sure they would stay compressed as long as there left like that. i think ill call procomp tommorrrow see what the deal is, and they were supposed to come with boots too....

traben27

Thats completely normal. Only the gas powered shocks (OME, Bilsteins, More expensive versions of most brands) will expand by themselves. Those aren't gas powered and so you should be able to compress and extend it by hand.

Jay351

My es3000's would stay compressed. They are supposed to do that But mine where "fairly" hard to compress by hand.

Oh, and don't run any shock boots

chroad

Huh, so one should only expect that response out of the gas shocks--thus my experience with the Bilsteins. Sorry, didn't mean to lead you astray. We learn something new everyday...

jury

oh really, humm doesnt seem like there would be much of a cusion, how do they expand just by the suspension flexing back?

I go to the sand dunes every once in a while, i would think the boots would help keep the sand outa the piston, or do they tend to keep more inside it?

chroad

I'm guessing that for a non-gas charged shock, there is just some compression/expansion rate, but you won't see a rebound back to a neutral position. So, if the suspension flexes in one way or the other, the shock controls movement at the same rate in either direction. Therein lies the damping effect of the shock. I'm not sure what the damping medium is in a conventional shock, but that might helps understand exactly what to expect.

All in all, we should really look this up and find out more about how shocks work. I would, but I'm in the middle of reading a book. Or, we wait until daylight when someone with more knowledge about shocks is actually awake. As you have already seen, I am liable to lead you astray.

I got covers on my Bilsteins, not boots. I know nothing about the benefits of either, but I would think that boots would be a potential dirt and debris trap.

traben27

Yeah basically, it just dampens the movement of the springs. There's nothing wrong with the non-gas powered shocks...I ran them for 7 or 8 months.

With the shock boots, sure they're "supposed" to keep crap from getting in the shock body and all but usually what happens is it ends up just trapping dirt and water inside there and making it all worse. Most people around here don't run 'em.

MMA_Alex

Its just oil lol.

yeah they're not supposed to rebound back, just to resist movement/pressure you put on em

ks_yota

there is a sale on procomps at 4wheelparts.com, comes with steering dampener

i should be getting some soon

dirtyXplorer

I just got the ES9000's, 4 shocks and the steering damper for 149.99ish. Make sure you have time because it took like three weeks because the front shocks came form flordia and the rear shocks were in california. Also the order didn't go through right away so I ended up calling them multiple times to get thigs going.

If you do get them I would recommend going into s store and ordering them in person IMO.

ks_yota

did you do the in store pick up thing? and how is the ride now

jury

i should of just got those, if there a better model, i got mine off ebay for about 120 shipped.

thanks for the help..

Jay351

Shock boots can also lead to premature failure from rust.

I had mine on for a few months and when I ripped them off, there was a ring of rust around the edge

Tacoma750

i didnt take the time to read this..buit if nobody else said this..dont run the boots. They trap water and cause rust