'95 S-10 Blazer, 4 wheel drive, 4 door

I bought my Blazer used and, I found out later, abused. The front end bounced around and rolled right and left when I went over a bump, railroad tracks, dip in the road, etc I put Gabriel Proguard shocks on the front and rear. The truck was nice and tight. Within a month and less than 1,000 miles, the truck reverted to bouncing and rolling. I replaced the Proguard shocks and the truck was tight again. Same thing - less than a 1,000 miles later, the front end bounced and rolled. I upgraded to the Gabriel Ultras front and rear. Same thing again - tight at first, then the front end is bouncing and rolling. The Blazer tracks straight, but the body has an abnormal amount of bounce and roll.

If I push on the front bumper for the shock test, the truck rebounds without any excessive oscillation. None of the shocks are leaking. (Passed safety inspection with no issues.) No lift kit. Tires are 235/75/15 with aggressive tread instead of 235/70/15 the truck came with, but I doubt that would have an impact.

I took a 2 hour trip with a 230 lb guy in the front passenger seat and 420 lbs of people in the rear. The truck, with worn out shocks, handled better with the extra weight.

I spoke to technical services at Gabriel. The rep I spoke to never heard of this problem and couldn't give me any advice other than maybe something on the truck is wearing the shocks out prematurely.

I checked my ride height, and it is low everywhere. The rear is sagging and is out of spec by about 1.7 inches. The front also sags. The driver front side ride height is 3 inches instead of 4.8 inches and the passenger side is about 3.25 inches. I cranked the torsion bar adjustment bolts today - four turns each, 0.8" total per the GM book. The driver side bottomed out, the passenger side bolt still has about four turns to go. So now the front ride height should be about 3.8" and 4.05".

My brother can get two years of everyday driving out of his Gabriel shocks on his '96 and his wife's '97 Blazers, but I can't even get a month. Is the ride height killing the shocks? If so, is there any other fix for the torsion bars other than buy new ones? Can I shim the adjustment bolt so I can torque the bar more and get the front higher? I'm not going to buy new leaf springs if I can't fix the front torsion bars.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but my Blazer has the similar issues. It bounces and pulls left and right over bumps. I tried a set of monroe's and they didn't last very long. They didn't help the ride any. The factory shocks seem to be good, but maybe not the type of ride I would desire. They are extremely difficult to compress compared to what I would consider a normal shock. I think they are good, but do not dampen the ride. The outside edges of the tires are cupped and roar like a bad wheel bearing. I'm assuming it's from the monroe shocks, but could have started with the factory shocks. I will buy new shocks, but I would like your recommendations on what's worth fooling with before purchasing. I'm not hard to please, just can't handle this bouncing around. I don't go offroad enough to let that be a heavy influence. I would like a smooth, somewhat stiff handling ride compared to what I have now.

I'm going to put new lower ball joints in today. I would like to check and/or adjust the ride height on the tb's before getting it aligned and new tires. I can spin the wrenches if someone could give me some info on what or how to measure the ride hieght.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer us. It will be put to good use.

 

Ok. I got the ball joints in and it actually seemed to help the wandering. I'll know more after my trip to work and back tomorrow. I've done some searches and plan on trying to get the ride hieght correct. By then, I should be able to get some new shocks for it. Still up in the air about what kind. I'm considering the Bilestien sport shock over the heavy duty cause I don't want to take a chance of all this bouncing around to continue. Anyone have experience with another shock that would compare?

I hope I can learn something that can be a help to Recycler, otherwise I would've started a new topic instead of Hijacking his.

 

I'm having some suspension issues my self. Have a 2000 4x4 and have notice some bouncing during highway driving and it's quite unsettling. The rear seems droopy and I'm thinking of putting helper leaf springs on the back to stabilize my ride. I recently rotated my tires and noticed my lower control arm bushings are shot as well but not sure that has anything to do with the excessive bouncing around. Wow two pairs of shocks in 2000 miles thats excessive. Maybe go with the helper leaf springs and hope that solves your problem as I hope it does mine.

 

Well, my ill-handling is not completely gone, but is improved. I'm hopefull that the setting the ride height and new shocks and alignment will fix it. Then I have to do the intake gaskets and drivers engine mount. Plenty to work on if I had the motivation.

 

Hey: Idler,pitman,control arm bushings,front hubs,rear stabilizer bushings-no shock can keep up with THAT!
If you find a decent shock Let me know, I'm dis-satisfied with all the shocks I've had for the front of my S-10s! I have tried them all! step66