Road King Shocks a rip off!!

Ride HIGHT .... there is a sensor attached to a lever that tells the air bags how much air up or air down is needed to achieved a certain ride height.

 

The bigger and heavier the vehicle as compared to the smaller and lighter the vehicle , the more shocks play a bigger role. Then on top of that if you have 40,000 pounds of dead wight on top of the large heavy slower moving vehicle that pushes the vehicle down. .... bmw , porsche , corvette off road racing dune buggys need more damping force because they are lighter and faster. Forget trucks for a minute and think physics. You drop a 10 pound solid iron ball off a 10 story building and you drop a 1 ounce cotton ball off at the same time which item will touch the ground first ? And will the solid lead ball do a lot of bouncing up and down ? Or will it bounce up and down a very few times ?

What effects ride more than shocks ? Springs and airbags. Springs and air bags effect ride COMFORT more than shocks. Compare the ride between a cadilac and a bmw or porsche. Ride quality is very different. The performance car will have shocks with more damping force , the luxury car will have shocks with less damping force.

 

I wouldn't mess with the leveling valve unless you suspect its out of adjustment, making driveline noises etc. Not sure what your running but on Airliner suspension there is about a half inch of adjustment within spec.

 

Actually according to Galileo, if it weren't for aerodynamics , they'd hit the ground at the same time. Apollo 15 commander David Scott proved this to be true.

 

I have a little over a thousand miles into a new set of leaf springs on my drives, in addition to new steer tires and a three axle alignment. Less than three thousand miles before all that I replaced all my shocks with Monroe on the drives and Gabriel on the steers.

My old leaf springs on the steers were SHOT. I could easily bend a spring with my body weight. The originals had one million miles on them, the last 400K were HARD miles.

The difference in handling and comfort is an eye opener. Rough roads I know we'll that used to beat me up aren't a problem anymore.

Perhaps for those folks seeking a better ride you need to think about your springs before you pony up for over priced shocks. I drove gusting broadside winds with noticeably less cab sway.

I had to recalibrate the speed I had to drive on washboard dirt roads. It used to be the "sweet spot" was 27 mph to level out the tooth breaking experience of washboards on dirt roads. I had to up it to 35+ mph to find the smooth zone.

I-55 north from Memphis today many trucks got into the hammer lane, blocking traffic, because the travel lane was beat up. I felt fine in the travel lane.

Shocks aren't the only part of the suspension equation. New leaf springs, et al cost me about the same as a full set of "Road King" shocks. I will be willing to wager a month's gross revenue that that your rough ride has less to do with your shocks, than your overworked and past their prime springs.

 

X2.
I felt a big change in driving comfort when I replaced the springs on the steer axle.

Changing the ride height on the airride die not change the stiffness of suspension.

 

As a mechanic for a long time, I have had a chance to talk to a Monroe field rep. He told me the main reason for shock absorbers was to absorb the shock from the road surface to help keep the vehichle under control by keeping the the tires firmly on the road surface. Any ride comfort coming from that was secondary. It is mainly the suspension components and design witch interpret the ride and the shocks just dampen it. Just saying. Not so much a truck but have you ever noticed a car with a rear tire bouncing up and down violently, that is a bad shock or strut..

 

Head on.