New Sachs shocks No Pressure!
- Thread starter Hongster
- Start date
marklg
Well-known member
Bought them from where? The OEM Sachs are pretty sucky even if they are not counterfeits.
There is a good shock thread.
///// Recommendations for Shocks and Struts /////
HI All, When I drove my friends 140" T1n I noticed that his van felt "better" driving than my 158" van ..... At first I thought it was because it was smaller and therefore "sportier" BUT then I noticed when I went over a speed hump in a parking lot that his van absorbs the impact with no after...
As well as others you can find with a search. I only have experience with pretty dead used ones I pulled off. I don't remember any pressure.
Regards,
Mark
Midwestdrifter
Engineer In Residence
Sachs aren't gas pressure charged if memory serves. They are pretty bad though.
Zero pressure doesn't mean the shock is bad. My original sachs had no pressure, same as Koni reds. Stock sachs are lousy, Koni reds are great. Pressurized shocks reduce oil cavitation. Evidently sachs and koni have a different design that doesn't require pressure. No pressure means it's a lot easier to install. It's a little challenge installing pressurized Fox shocks. First off, it takes all my weight to compress the shock. Then you have to quickly get under the vehicle, install one of the two mounting bolts and hope there's enough time to install the other bolt as the shock expands.
I've found that a ratchet strap greatly assists installing rear shocks. If you loop it longways around the shock so that the bolt holes are free, you can use it to compress the shock most of the way, get the top bolt in, and then tighten it click by click until the bottom hole is aligned and the bolt can be slid in. After the bolts are in, the strap can be undone and pulled through the top mounting bracket. No need to struggle!
marklg
Well-known member
Irwin clamps are your friend, rubber jaws, figure lots of ways to use them. They don't mar pistons, for example.
The aforementioned helper is also good. Sometimes you need three hands. If the struts included a spring, you'd need a spring compressor. Consider yourself lucky they don't.
Regards,
Mark
The aforementioned helper is also good. Sometimes you need three hands. If the struts included a spring, you'd need a spring compressor. Consider yourself lucky they don't.
Regards,
Mark
jrod5150
Well-known member
I was thinking the same thing at the tme but didn't want to deal with installing possibly bad shocks meaning double labor. Plus I agree, sachs are junk. Billstein & kyb are my go to. 3500 shocks were a pain to find last time I needed a pair I think monroe was the only option
bill in tomahawk
Active member
I'm under the impression that the original shocks on my "02 2500 were Sachs, I removed them and installed Koni Reds front and rear. The Reds worke a little better in the front and less roll in the back. There are no miricles for the Sprinter front end in my opinion.
After 50k miles I pulled back the rubber mats up front and got on the shock mount bolts with my 'new' battery op rattle gun. I got a few turns on each side.
Bumpity bump.
The Sachs still work and don't leak. I wrote the whole thing up somewhere here but I havent seen the post in quite a while..
Rattle rattle.
Sweet Jesus...here it is...https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/98970/
Bill
After 50k miles I pulled back the rubber mats up front and got on the shock mount bolts with my 'new' battery op rattle gun. I got a few turns on each side.
Bumpity bump.
The Sachs still work and don't leak. I wrote the whole thing up somewhere here but I havent seen the post in quite a while..
Rattle rattle.
Sweet Jesus...here it is...https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/98970/
Bill
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marklg
Well-known member
At that price I wouldn't have high expectations.
@calbiker's data and graphs, some of it as far back as 10 years ago, showed just how much less rocking and wallowing you get with the better shocks. Unfortunately, it is not all in one place for easy access. If I remember correctly the order of best to worst was:
Fox
Koni Red
Bilstein B6
Bilstein B4
Sachs OEM
I expect the Gabriel to be at the bottom of that list. Yes, the better ones are expensive, but you generally get what you pay for.
@calbiker , if there is a mistake above, please let me know and I will correct it. Any chance of a new posting gathering up all the info in one place? It would be very useful for new people to make informed choices.
Regards,
Mark
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marklg
Well-known member
Here is @calbiker's data:
sprinter-source.com
Clearly the Koni's are not the same as stock Sachs.
Regards,
Mark
Suspension upgrades to improve handling in gusty winds
Just for another perspective -- Like most people here -- I doubt we have too many millenials on the forum -- I have a significant amount of experience driving in all sorts of conditions. I've driven approx 800,000 miles in just about every sort of vehicle short of semis and dump trucks. In...
Clearly the Koni's are not the same as stock Sachs.
Regards,
Mark