How to tell if the shocks are bad?

[KenVan]

I took old my front driver side shock thinking it was bad but when I compress the shock by hand, to test it, it expanded on its own with no problem (a little bit slow).

The main reason why I thought the shocks were bad was because the LCA rubber bump stop seems to be hitting the UCA a lot. To a point where the metal area is polished smooth.

So now I'm confused . Is it possible the shocks are bad without any visual indication.

Kenny.

[toad]

Okay, this is an old post, but it wasn't answered and is a common problem. Only one bad shock will make for a bouncy ride.

If you jack it & remove the front wheel, remove the 2 lower shock bolts, then use a second jack to bring the lower control arm back up enough to allow you to grab the shock from underneath. You can then test the shocks by expanding and contracting each one (i.e.: pushing and pulling), and compare resistance to that of a new one. All gas shocks should also automatically extend to their full extent by themselves, and if they don't then it's a no brainer. Testing the back shocks is even easier because there's room to crawl under and there's only one bolt securing the bottom of the shock.

I just noticed that my van had started bouncing more than usual over bumps. The drivers side shock had very little resistance and gurgled when I was pushing up to compress it. I swapped in one cheap Monroe gas-matic to get me for a while and it rides like it should again.

BTW, if your van is riding on the rubber bump stop too much, it's either overloaded or the torsion bars have sagged and need adjustment. If you adjust the torsion barsyou'll need to get a wheel alignment.