Uploaded August 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
0:00 Intro
0:43 The White Truck
2:18 This is a nice Truck
4:10 The Shocks are Blown
6:03 Ordering on Shock Surplus
7:32 Bilstein B8 5100 Shocks
8:47 Installing Front Shocks on a Silverado
10:07 Installing Rear Shocks on a Silverado
11:19 Installing a Bilstein Sticker
11:27 New Shock Performance
12:17 Conclusion
Hi, this is Mike, and today we’re going to put new shocks on this old truck and see what a difference it makes.
While this van is off, getting some cool stuff on the inside, Danielle needed something to dive around town, so my dad loaned us THIS truck. If you’ve followed this channel, you might remember seeing this truck around in a few videos.
It’s a good truck overall, and if you were to buy something used like this in our area, you could get it for under $10,000. So, it’s not a bad thing to do if you’re looking for a truck to haul loads, go camping on the weekends, or even build up a budget overlander. But you might have to do a few things to make it nice and safe to drive and the first thing is to put new shocks on it.
Shock Surplus
Ordering new shocks for a truck like this is pretty simple. We’ll go to shocksurplus.com and enter in the year, 2001, make, Chevrolet, model, this is a half-ton or 1500, and drive type, 4 wheel drive. Then hit search.
Right away here at the top you’ll see some good options.
I’d recommend selecting the option to show the full sets here. then you can just get all 4 at once, they’ll match and you’ll get a better price ordering them all together.
The next thing you’ll notice is some of the options have this “Length Options” call out. If your truck has a lift kit installed, like ours, you’ll want to choose one of those because you’ll need longer shocks.
If you have a stock height truck and you just want to use it for dump runs and hauling wood from home depot, I’d just get these Bilstein 4600 shocks. They won’t break the bank and they’ll be solid and long lasting.
Dad still likes to take this truck off-road sometimes, so I really like these Bilstein B8 5100 shocks. They are affordable, high quality, long-lasting, and perform really well on bumpy dirt roads.
Some more premium shocks would be these Fox 2.0 Performance Series Shocks. These will give you a really good ride on and off road. Or these Rancho RS 9000 XLs that are adjustable and would be good if you are carrying different kinds of loads around for longer drives.
I’m just going to go wth the Bilstein 5100s. I’ll make sure I have the front and rear lift set to 4-6 inch, because dad’s truck has the drop bracket lift.
Final thoughts
So, the footage of the shocks in action isn’t really all that helpful. You can’t really see anything in the go pro shots from under the truck, and even the dirt road shots are hard to tell any signifant difference. It’s pretty disappointing.
The shot of the truck on the freeway we can’t really replicate because they fixed the bump!
The one that I was really hoping would prove the point, is still sort of hard to tell. If you look at the footage here, the tires rebound off the ground still in both tests. From the drivers seat, the new shocks do really help both comfort and control.
And at the end of the day, this is still a 24-year-old truck. What do you want? A desert racer?
To be clear: Overall, the ride improved a lot with the new shocks both on and off the road, and I’m really happy that driving this truck is a lot safer for Dad and the rest of the family. I’m just disappointed that I wasn’t able to capture the difference better on video.
Thanks to Shock Surplus for making this possible. Check them out for all your shock and shock service needs.
0:00 Intro
0:43 The White Truck
2:18 This is a nice Truck
4:10 The Shocks are Blown
6:03 Ordering on Shock Surplus
7:32 Bilstein B8 5100 Shocks
8:47 Installing Front Shocks on a Silverado
10:07 Installing Rear Shocks on a Silverado
11:19 Installing a Bilstein Sticker
11:27 New Shock Performance
12:17 Conclusion
Hi, this is Mike, and today we’re going to put new shocks on this old truck and see what a difference it makes.
While this van is off, getting some cool stuff on the inside, Danielle needed something to dive around town, so my dad loaned us THIS truck. If you’ve followed this channel, you might remember seeing this truck around in a few videos.
It’s a good truck overall, and if you were to buy something used like this in our area, you could get it for under $10,000. So, it’s not a bad thing to do if you’re looking for a truck to haul loads, go camping on the weekends, or even build up a budget overlander. But you might have to do a few things to make it nice and safe to drive and the first thing is to put new shocks on it.
Shock Surplus
Ordering new shocks for a truck like this is pretty simple. We’ll go to shocksurplus.com and enter in the year, 2001, make, Chevrolet, model, this is a half-ton or 1500, and drive type, 4 wheel drive. Then hit search.
Right away here at the top you’ll see some good options.
I’d recommend selecting the option to show the full sets here. then you can just get all 4 at once, they’ll match and you’ll get a better price ordering them all together.
The next thing you’ll notice is some of the options have this “Length Options” call out. If your truck has a lift kit installed, like ours, you’ll want to choose one of those because you’ll need longer shocks.
If you have a stock height truck and you just want to use it for dump runs and hauling wood from home depot, I’d just get these Bilstein 4600 shocks. They won’t break the bank and they’ll be solid and long lasting.
Dad still likes to take this truck off-road sometimes, so I really like these Bilstein B8 5100 shocks. They are affordable, high quality, long-lasting, and perform really well on bumpy dirt roads.
Some more premium shocks would be these Fox 2.0 Performance Series Shocks. These will give you a really good ride on and off road. Or these Rancho RS 9000 XLs that are adjustable and would be good if you are carrying different kinds of loads around for longer drives.
I’m just going to go wth the Bilstein 5100s. I’ll make sure I have the front and rear lift set to 4-6 inch, because dad’s truck has the drop bracket lift.
Final thoughts
So, the footage of the shocks in action isn’t really all that helpful. You can’t really see anything in the go pro shots from under the truck, and even the dirt road shots are hard to tell any signifant difference. It’s pretty disappointing.
The shot of the truck on the freeway we can’t really replicate because they fixed the bump!
The one that I was really hoping would prove the point, is still sort of hard to tell. If you look at the footage here, the tires rebound off the ground still in both tests. From the drivers seat, the new shocks do really help both comfort and control.
And at the end of the day, this is still a 24-year-old truck. What do you want? A desert racer?
To be clear: Overall, the ride improved a lot with the new shocks both on and off the road, and I’m really happy that driving this truck is a lot safer for Dad and the rest of the family. I’m just disappointed that I wasn’t able to capture the difference better on video.
Thanks to Shock Surplus for making this possible. Check them out for all your shock and shock service needs.
