Different shocks front than rear OK ?

Hello All:

I've been lurking here a while, enjoying your posts and comprehensive knowledge of Dodge Vans. I'm a newbie to Ram Vans, though I've had my '97 Ram Cummins 4by Pickup since new.

Our Van is a '96 B-2500 Conversion Van with a medium high top (to accomidate TV & VCR & for headroom), 318 V-8 & 46 RE trans. Due to high gas prices, I've done every fuel saving trick I know to this rig and it gets about 13-16 mixed highway, or 15-18 interstate cruising.

Overall, we're happy we switched to this from the Grand Caravan minivan - way more room for the whole family. It can double as a cheap hotel, too !

(PS: we strongly considered a new Sprinter, but decided to wait for them to depreciate - got this B-2500 Ram Van for $ 6500 in mint condition !)

Anyhow, to my question: the shocks it had were shot, so I installed 4 Gabriel Load Carrier shocks - coil-over type.

The improvement was dramatic - confidence and control returned. (for a while...)

Now after about 10,000 miles, the rears still seem fine, but the one of the fronts gave up recently - I wondered why the ride had gotten so choppy, porposing when hooking up a light trailer with minimal tongue weight. Looking at the A-arm assembly showed the driver's side shock to be soaked in it's own oil - a blow out !

Recalling how much effort changing the fronts were, I ponied up the $$ for Bilsteins, which seem to get top reviews from everyone in terms of their performance. The only complaints seem to be about how much they cost.....

Autozone ordered them, and will have them in a couple of days, but I'm wondering if it's kosher to have the Bilsteins up front, while still running the Gabriel Load Carrier's on the rear ?

Do any of you Ram Van pros think that will cause funny handling ? We run full with passengers, towing only occasionally, but are about to embark upon a cross country trip with a 2,500 lb trailer to from CA to Texas and want to be safe - my wife will be driving with the children.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and ideas !

David B. - Ram Van Man

Personally I think Gabriel shocks suck, but that's neither here nor there. I really don't think it's going to be a problem. Keeping the heavy duty shocks in the rear is a good idea since you do tow a trailer from time to time. Bilstein makes a good shock. I would say that once you intall the new front shocks, take the the van for a ride on some various types of surfaces and see how it feels to you.

Adding a rear sway bar will really help handling as well.

Originally Posted by Dodgevanman

Personally I think Gabriel shocks suck, but that's neither here nor there. I really don't think it's going to be a problem. Keeping the heavy duty shocks in the rear is a good idea since you do tow a trailer from time to time. Bilstein makes a good shock. I would say that once you intall the new front shocks, take the the van for a ride on some various types of surfaces and see how it feels to you.

Adding a rear sway bar will really help handling as well.

Hello Nate:

Thanks for your helpful reply !

Your opinion that 'Gabriel Shocks suck' is likely correct, witness my totally blown out front DS 'load carrier' (ha !) in just 10 k miles.

When I saw that, I knew I shouda gone with the Bilsteins from the get-go. On the Dodge Truck forums at TDR, the hands down opinion for shocks on the Dodge Ram Trucks is either Bilstein or Rancho 9000X's - (the 9 way adjustable).

But, the vans are not exactly the same creature, hence I appreciate your input.

I will do like you say and test the result (maybe with the loaded trailer, too) and see if the rear Gabriels hang tough.

They do appear to be much larger and more heavily made than the fronts, which looked like the shock rod and piston was way undersized to allow them room for the 'spring over', while still fitting inside the lower A-arm / stock Dodge spring. Upon installation, this concerned me - considering the substantial weight of the van and that itty bitty rod & piston.

The trucks would appear to get loaded much heavier on average than the vans, but maybe a worthwhile question to post here would be to ask those who tow heavy with their vans what shocks they prefer. Have you seen that discussed here before ?

Thanks for the sway bar idea - I have the large gas tank that I think interferes with the rear sway bar, too bad !

On another note, I did grab a link (you may have posted it..) on the company PST that sells the entire front end rebuild kit in 'Polygraphite' bushings & ball joints. Are you aware of any here who've installed that kit ? I'd love to hear of the difficulty or ease of doing such a thorough rebuild. Bet the Van would be able to carve the turns like never before !

He's right, I have never had a Gabriel that held up. I have ponied up for Bilsteins..never regretted it..But I have a set of KYB's on my 1 ton...a year now(45k)..so far they are great

The Hellwig rear sway-bar kit will not fit vans with the 36 gal. tank, but the ADDCO bar will.

One of these days I will add one to my '94.

Good to know ! I'll look up the Addco site real soon - I forgot to check them - I've used their bars on my Autocross Datsun 510 years ago - if only the Ram Van can match that one in the corners !

Forgive me if I repeat myself, but do you know anyone who's used the PST 'polygraphite' kit to rebuild / rebush their front end on a Ram Van ? I sure like the looks of their bushing/balljoint kit....too bad my rubber seems perfect still - can't justify it just yet. I'v heard these vans can be tough to align and eat the front tires when the stock rubber bushings give up.....

Take Care, David B Ram Van Man

You can get a larger front sway bar and rear bar from Summit Racing as well.

I haven't had to replace any bushings yet, so I'm not sure. Dodge vans can be a bear to align, but it's all in what shop you take the van to. The kids at a Goodyear or Pepboys ain't gonna cut it. I took my van to a place that specializes in trucks and RV's and had them align it. She tracks straight...except on highways that are crowned or pitched right or left. The van is sensitive to those surfaces.