Monroe shock info

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by Topshelf

It is a Gabriel shock absorber made exclusively for Airstream. No one can order it , even with the Gabriel part number, except for Airsteam. The original manufacturer for the shock was Delco and when they stopped making shocks, Airsteam contracted with Gabriel to produce the shocks. The price is more than reasonable considering that it is a one of a kind part, the price is about the same as any multi application shock.

In a previous life...I spent a fair amount of time in the Delco plant that made the shocks...I can say for some of the Delco parts "made exclusively" simply meant a standard part had a new part number assigned to it...you couldn't order 'that part number' unless you were the proper custmer...they did that with several of our products...

Having said that...I would LOVE for someone to disect an "airstream" shock and document the 'difference' between it and a standard Delco or Gabriel unit...I really believe the results might be eye opening...

[eubank]

I shouldn't read threads like this one. Shocks installed upside down. I'm sure I installed ours right. At least, I think so. Jeez, it's been over a year now! Did I do it right or not? Dang, I can't remember.

(I went out and checked. They're correctly installed.)


Lynn

[Colin H]

Having said that...I would LOVE for someone to disect an "airstream" shock and document the 'difference' between it and a standard Delco or Gabriel unit...I really believe the results might be eye opening...

I cut open an "Airstream" shock, along with the Monroe Gas-matic that I use, & guess what.................you're right I'll post some photos of both of them soon, along with the rest of the info that I discovered.
Colin

[dznf0g]

Top, get over it. Nobody makes their own shock, not GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota....nobody. There are only a couple of shock mfrs. There have been many buyouts over the years and although there are a lot of BRANDS, there are only a couple mainstream manufacturers. There are some specialty shocks for off road and racing, etc. These are Airstream specification built and therefore AS shocks just like Ford OEM engineering spec shocks are Ford shocks.

You can cut them all apart and compare, but what won't be apparent is: do they dampen on only compression or extension, or both. What are the fluid specifications? What is the rate (valving) of the dampening? Is it a constant rate or a staged rate? Etc...etc.

Point is, they are spec'ed specifically to a particular suspension type. In cars this is VERY carline specific...probably not so much with AS, but I suspect rubber suspension behaves very differently than coil or leaf springs dynamically.

[dznf0g]

IIRC the AS shock has virtually no resistance to compression and a lot of dampening on extension (rebound). That's pretty unusual in the automotive world.

[Lance M]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Top, get over it. Nobody makes their own shock, not GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota....nobody. There are only a couple of shock mfrs. There have been many buyouts over the years and although there are a lot of BRANDS, there are only a couple mainstream manufacturers. There are some specialty shocks for off road and racing, etc. These are Airstream specification built and therefore AS shocks just like Ford OEM engineering spec shocks are Ford shocks.

You can cut them all apart and compare, but what won't be apparent is: do they dampen on only compression or extension, or both. What are the fluid specifications? What is the rate (valving) of the dampening? Is it a constant rate or a staged rate? Etc...etc.

Point is, they are spec'ed specifically to a particular suspension type. In cars this is VERY carline specific...probably not so much with AS, but I suspect rubber suspension behaves very differently than coil or leaf springs dynamically.

dznf0g,
What exactly should I "Get over"? I purchased genuine Airstream shocks from Out of Doors Mart. They were stamped "Gabriel" The only reason I bought them was because I didn't feel like repainting yellow Monroe shocks black.

[dznf0g]

Didn't mean to offend...I just don't get why folks seem to always think that the engineers somehow designed to a lesser standard than the aftermarket. Sometimes new technology allow for a better mousetrap when that technology wasn't available at design inception. If length and stroke were the only parameters for shock design, there would be a LOT less part numbers out there. I am suggesting the yellow shock is very different in it's internal design. If there's no cross reference number, use the OEM number. That's all I mean.

[cojer]

Originally Posted by Colin H

I cut open an "Airstream" shock, along with the Monroe Gas-matic that I use, & guess what.................you're right I'll post some photos of both of them soon, along with the rest of the info that I discovered.
Colin

the suspense is killing me colin whatcha got!?! because i'm not so sure the gasmatics i installed with my new axle really do much of anything

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

IIRC the AS shock has virtually no resistance to compression and a lot of dampening on extension (rebound). That's pretty unusual in the automotive world.

Hi, that is actually very common in the automotive world. Most of the factory shocks on Fords, that I know of and have owned, have very little dampening on the down stroke for a softer ride and more dampening on the up stroke to prevent more than one and a half oscillations per bounce or bump in the road. I prefer to have the shocks dampen in both directions because my vehicles tend to bottom out on some dips.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, that is actually very common in the automotive world. Most of the factory shocks on Fords, that I know of and have owned, have very little dampening on the down stroke for a softer ride and more dampening on the up stroke to prevent more than one and a half oscillations per bounce or bump in the road. I prefer to have the shocks dampen in both directions because my vehicles tend to bottom out on some dips.

I'm not saying that there isn't a difference in compression and extension on some auto shocks. I just remember being surprised at how little there was on the AS shocks. I always check for and purge air out of shocks before installation and the AS was much lighter on the compression than I recall any other shocks, at least in recent history. Certainly the "freeway floaters" of yesteryear are a different story.