It has been a busy week taking care of Ugly Betty's needs and wants. Changed oil and filters, flushed the radiator and cooling system and filled with a 50/50 mixture of CAT antifreeze/coolant. Those were the easy ones.

Set out to repack the front wheel bearings. After dis-assembly, I found one of the outside bearings was just starting to pit so I decided the prudent thing to do was replace all the front wheel bearings and seals.

Next project, Replace the 20+ year old shock absorbers. Called Gillig to price new shocks. Quoted $245 each for the rear and $400 for the front. If you remember, my rear suspension has 4 shocks in the rear. That's over $1,800 with shipping for shocks. The shocks from Gillig are Koni. I found the same Koni shocks online for about $100 less per shock but that is still $1,200. I found Monroe Gas-Magnum shocks locally at a major truck part supplier for a total of $307 for all 6 shocks. Want to guess what is on Ugly Betty. Shocks were not to bad to install but it took a 1 1/8 socket and a 4 ft breaker bar to loosen the bolts on all 4 rear shocks.

Next project to be determined.

Nick

Nice job saving money. Back in the day there were only a few people actually making shocks and people just slapped their brand on them. Price was all over the board for the same thing.

Nick, I ordered mine direct from Koni distributor in Hebron, KY. I believe the four were $600. Shipped

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Originally posted by Kevin:

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Monroe Gas-Magnum

Nick, you can let us know how the Monroe compares to 20-year-old Koni's when you get to Milford? Then in 2024 we need an update of how they are doing again??

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20 Years?? You mean 2034?

Nick

Shocks?
Aren't they like U Joints ... leave em till they fall off?
I chuckle when I'm behind a vehicle bouncing up and down while going forward down the road.

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Originally posted by Kevin:

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I chuckle when I'm behind a vehicle bouncing up and down

If the shocks are bad there are likely to be many other dangerous problems lurking.

Yeah, but they alway look like their texting to get professional advice about their maintenance problem

Shocks are like tires, The best they are is when they are new. An old mechanic told me if a customer came in and had him check their shocks he installed new shocks. They would come back later and tell him how much better the ride was.

quote:

Next project to be determined.

Easy: Replace driveshaft universals...

Now that's funny

There is no such thing as low maintenance or high maintenance, just a bunch of women hoping for a capable mechanic.

Liz Vassey