I have a four door 2WD 2001 Blazer with 65K miles. The shocks suck. They are noisy and very "bouncy". I want to replace all four of them. I drive 70 miles a day on in town and on the interstate. About once a month I haul a small trailer but it's not very much of a load. Also about once every month I drive on dirt roads to go kayaking. I'd like to have a smooth ride.
TIA,
Phil

 

If you look and read the responce to my question.The Monroe Sensatrac seem's to be the most recommended.That's what I am going to try.
Check it out!
The subject was rough ride.
Peace..................TJ

 

His thread was here

 

I don't know how good the Sensatracs are for towing a small trailer or driving on dirt roads, as Phil said he sometimes does. They might be fine, for all I know, but I also read about a heavier "load sensing" version of the Sensatrac for the rear, and Monroe also makes the Reflex, which is stiffer but not as stiff as some shocks people use for mainly off-road purposes. One person told me he liked the ride of the Reflex. Phil, you might want to call Monroe and/or visit their website for more info on their different shocks and their advice for how you use your vehicle. And there are other brands you could research on the web, such as Bilstein, Gabriel, and others, that might have some models that are good both for general driving and rougher conditions. If a smooth ride is your priority, I can certainly recommend the Sensatracs, but I really have next to no knowlege about the differences in shocks. You don't say what shocks you have now; maybe they were good but are just worn out?

 

I have Monroe Reflex shocks on the front of my Bravada and the Monroe Sensatrak load assist shocks on the rear. I wouldn't recommend the load assists for the rear unless you are loading up the truck often. I noticed a large difference in how the rear tracked over bumps in the road when going to the load assist shocks in the rear. The load assist shocks have a coil over design and add an additional 250-300lbs worth of spring rate to the rear of the truck. In my case, that is about what I haul around in tools on a regular basis. I also have access to a small utility trailer that sometimes gets loaded up more than it should and the load assist shocks shine with loads.

If it isn't something that you do regularly, then I'd have to say go with just the reflex all the way around. I find that even with the load assist, you feel just the initial bump (which isn't that bad) and then nothing else.

If the loading is something that you rarely do, then you may want to go with a good air assist shock for the rear and get yourself a cheap 12v air pump. The nice thing about the air shocks is that you can air them up or down depending on what you are doing. Aired down and you have a conventional shock with no added springrate. Aired up and, depending on the air pressure, you have added spring rate to the rear to compensate for the load. A former co-worker installed air assist shocks (IIRC, they were Monroe Max-Air) on the rear of his 2k Blazer and really likes them. He always carries a small 12v air pump with him to air it up, but a bicycle pump would do the trick, just air them up before you put the load on.

Oh, one more thing. If you want good ride going down the road, don't get gas-filled shocks. They are more meant for the offroading and soaking up large bumps and do worse over small bumps found on most roads (even dirt roads).

 

You recommend Monroe Reflex all around if you are only loading up occasionally. What about the regular Sensatracs (not load assist) all around? Would Phil be better off with the Reflexes just because of his occasional small trailer use and occasional dirt road driving, or for any other reasons? Would it be as smooth a ride as he'd like for his general driving? Is that kind of occasional use OK with the Sensatracs, too? I'm asking because I have the regular Sensatracs and wasn't planning on doing either of those things, but you never know, I might want to someday. Seems I have seen much lighter weight vehicles than my Blazer, such as Japanese wagons or small pickups, towing small trailers, and I have occasionally driven such vehicles on dirt roads myself. It never occurred to me that any of them had or needed shocks other than those they came with, which I would assume were pretty basic and nothing special.

As I said, I'm happy with the Sensatracs all around because of the comfortable ride for daily driving, and what seems to me to be pretty good handling, but I'm wondering how much I may have limited myself in what I could do with the vehicle in the future. If I had gotten the Reflexes, would I be likely to notice a big difference in the smoothness of the ride?

 

Just purchased & had installed 4 Monroe Senatrac shocks on Friday and been driving the vehical reguarly...Dont get me wrong it's a rice ride a bit on the too soft side for me & my style of driving...But Monroe offers this 90-day trial ride......Most of my driving is city & freeway...occasionally off road (weekends)....Think I'm gonna have to up-grade to the reflex shock hopefully not to stiff of a ride.

 

I have the Reflex in the front and sensa-trac w/ load assist (coil over) on the rear. I like the ride, but it is stiffer than most.

**EDIT - Ok... I feel stupid... Ofcourse I have the reflexes on front... I said it in an earlier post in THIS thread! LOL. I thought you had started another thread.

 

just thought i would add my two sense about this. thisafternoon i installed air shocks on the rear of my 2000 blazer 4x4. the result is great! a 3 inch lift at 100 psi. the instruction say it can hold 200 psi, but that is wto much for me. the ride quality is even better than before. the rear doesn't have as much travel, however the travel that is does have is very firm and smooth. i expect a rock hard rear end, and i was very wrong. also the presure can be adjusted very easily with any compressor or even a bike pump! and they only cost $45 at auto zone. it anyone has any questions just ask!

 

The reason I went with the spring assist shocks on the rear of my truck was because they have been proven to last longer than the air assist shocks do. The one thing that I do miss about air assist (having had them on previous vehicles) is the adjustability. My Sensa-trac load assists are lifetime warrantied, while the airmax or whatever they were called were only 1 year warranty.

We have a lot of salt, sand, and general dirt in my area and when it gets up in around the air bladder of the air assist shocks, it will eat right through the rubber in a matter of 2-3 years. The shocks are still good, but the air bladder leaked.