Replace Front Struts at 30k?

Factory struts are much better made now and last a long time compared to 20-30 years ago. At the dealership I worked at, we rarely sold them.

-Just a suggestion, my model is a Sport and rides like crap as well. I read a thread where a guy with a Sport replaced ONLY his rear shocks with some cheap oil filled ones and it really helped get rid of the over sensitive jitters that the Sport has. So I bought a couple of Chinese ones from Rock Auto, $20 ea, and it really did help out with the overall ride of the truck a lot! Good luck!

 

-Just noticed you have an SR model which "should" have a softer rear shock, but if it is a gas filled one, my theory would still apply switch over to an oil filled one. Hope this helps.

 

interesting. i didn't think they were bad shocks, just tuned for heavier loads since most SRs are used as work trucks. it rides really smooth with a lot of weight in the bed. i thought most shocks are filled with oil and gas.

 

-You are correct. 99% of the time I have nothing in the back of my truck. When I bought my truck, I really hadn't researched the difference in suspension between a Sport/Off Road/SR models. I just stumbled upon a good deal that I needed to act quickly on. Came to this website and learned a LOT from others about how struts and springs are all different between the 3 models.

-Getting back to shocks, based on my experience with my old cars, a gas filled shock yields a firmer ride than an old conventional oil filled shock. Hence the reason I switch out the rear shocks. With nothing in the bed and going over moderately uneven pavement, the back end of the truck felt like it was bouncing around. 80-90% of that feeling is gone now with the oil filled shock.