Is there any easy way to tell if my shocks are still good? My 96 has 57k miles but was thinking that the ride may have gotten a bit worse over the past couple of years.... (I've still got the stock Z51 bilsteins)

 

when shock absorbers go bad, they leak...a shock that is leaking a little, will have a minor amount of moisture around the intersection of the piston and the chamber, and once they go altogether, youl be able to tell because road dirt will stick to it, and the shock (or strut) will appear to bbe covered in mud. it is usually best to replace them as a set, because if one has gone bad due to age, it may not be long until it happens to the others.

 

I replaced my front shocks at 60k miles on my 96 LT1 and it made a difference. You cannot simply do the bounce test as with other vehicles. Patrick is correct in that the leaking indicates shock life. Mine were pretty bad. Whether or not it was just me or the shocks but I noticed better braking and much better cornering after they were replaced. I watched the mechanic that replaced them and thought how easy it was and how I should have done them myself to save the labor cost.

Hope this helps.

 

yes they are definitely easy to change out yourself with a jack and some simple tools, 57k isint bad most factory style shocks have a life of about 40 to 50 k depending on driving habbits. and as far as telling if they are bad, you just described the most effective method, driveability .



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I took my newly acquired 87 convt in for front end work today at a local front end shop. The car has 102,xxx miles and the shocks have never been replaced. I am replacing with Bilsteins. Wednesday we are going to replace all rubber gromets and bushings with parts from JD Corvettes . These are the upgrades from factory installed rubber, and the owner of JD stated these are guaranteed not to squeak. I love having an older Corvette to "fix".