Shock absorber life

[safari 28]

Just wondering about the life of the Shock absorbers from the factory. I noticed one has some oil on it, no problems just wondering. i would say mine have about 22k miles on them. Heading west and she is performing perfect.

[Airslide]

I was looking at mine and they are gabriels. If these were on a car they would be good for about 25000 miles. I would think its not good for them to just sit either. Most people probably wouldnt worry about it and change them out when you need axles. My trailer is 8 years old now and some would say it needs axles now so maybe i will do it then...

Vin

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, simply put, shock absorbers are shot when all the fluid has leaked out, not traces of seepage; And/or when the dampening effect is no longer there. Remove your shocks and push them in and pull them out [for two way shocks] and if there is little or no resistance, they're shot. Mileage does not determine replacement. [except to the shock salesman]

[safari 28]

Thanks for the thoughts. Currently running I80 west, and no streamers to blink headlights to. But then again that is normal for us, we travel all winter in Colder climates and most are smarter than we are.

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by safari 28

Just wondering about the life of the Shock absorbers from the factory. I noticed one has some oil on it, no problems just wondering. i would say mine have about 22k miles on them. Heading west and she is performing perfect.

Sixty thousand miles or three years which ever comes first. That's how long mine lasted. Then they started leaking. They were replaced early June.

[overlander63]

The "20,000 mile replacement" started innocently enough, as a suggestion to check your shocks at that time. The theory was it was a good middle of the road number for inspection, to head off problems before they occurred. That number slowly morphed into a marketing tool for shock replacement.
It's a very good idea to look at the shocks when you perform your annual bearing repack/brake inspection (oh great, something else to look at!), If you notice oil seeping from a shock you can probably get one more season's use out of them, at which time you should replace all of the shocks on the trailer. If the shock has a lot of oil on it, or when you remove one end of the shock and try to extend or compress it and fin no resistance, you should replace the shocks as soon as practicable.
Shocks should be replaced in pairs, just like brakes, but remember, they've all been on the trailer the same length of time, and if one leaks today, another may leak next month. (the moral of that story is to replace them all at the same time)

[Inland RV Center, In]

Shock absorbers are motion restrictors.

How many times the cylinder moves, dictates their life.

If the running gear was proberly balanced, then the useful life increase.

If the running gear "was not" properly balanced, then the life of the shocks is shortened.

Any signs of leakage, indicated a worn out shock, since a person cannot measure the amount of fluid lost.

Shocks should always be replaced as sets, never one at a time.

Good shocks, along with good torsion axles, help provide the soft ride that an Airstream trailer must have. Those two work together.

Bad shocks, allow greater motions to a bounce, that can cause other problems.

Andy

[safari 28]

All good stuff and thank you to all. Sitting in Omaha at a customer location and some do have oil on them. Damn, it is cold.! Andy, could be in your neck of the woods by late November. My best customer is in Corona!!

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by safari 28

All good stuff and thank you to all. Sitting in Omaha at a customer location and some do have oil on them. Damn, it is cold.! Andy, could be in your neck of the woods by late November. My best customer is in Corona!!

Lunch, dinner, martunies, er, martini's, ah you know what I mean.

Anyone I might know in Corona?

Andy

[safari 28]

Crown on he rocks will do. Big heating and cooling distributor. I suspect he might have heard of you, he goes under the radar and I should keep it that way. I will share him on my visit. thanks again to all...

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by safari 28

Crown on he rocks will do. Big heating and cooling distributor. I suspect he might have heard of you, he goes under the radar and I should keep it that way. I will share him on my visit. thanks again to all...

One of my buddies, Tom, is a sales engineer with the 3rd largest HVAC in California, which is in Corona

The owners name is John. A sort of short guy, but very very nice.

Might that be the company?

Andy