Do stock OEM springs fail under normal driving conditions?

I'm assuming, unless your hauling a ton of cement (or fat girls) around all day, that OEM springs will not deteriorate over time.

About a year ago, my stock SS ride with 50K miles started handling like a waterbed on roller skates.

I suspect the stock shocks are cooked. My tires and tire pressures are fine. How do you check shocks? Push down on the chassis and watch the car re-bound? If it goes up and down and up and down and up and down ...the shock is shocked?

Are Bilstiens (HD???) a good choice for SS OEM springs? My car is plain-old street vehicle and I like the stock ride height with LT headers.

Until this was outlawed, Jeff Gordon from NASCAR used to put nitrogen in his tires instead of the "straight air" that all other teams used. Should I fill my tires with nitrogen? It must be good stuff! Hey, Gordon used to win a lot but he does not win much anymore; right?

Please help; Thanks...

 

Robert,

You seem to rely on the wisdom on the net. But you get very limited and sometimes not relevant answers.

Short answer, your springs I can guarantee are fine. Your shocks might not be "shot", but are very poor. I know this because they sucked stock and the miles don't help. And you CAN'T test shocks without a shock dyno. The bounce test is a joke unless the shocks are so far gone that they have literally NO damping left. And FWIW, you can't move the shocks fast enough just pushing on the car to get into the damping anyway.

Your question about "Are HD's right" is asked I think everyday by someone. And I know you've been here since you have about 3 times as many posts as *I* do. Plus you had asked the same thing, basically, in a thread on 1/17. I think you know that they are valved for stock springs. And are competent. However, I feel they are too soft for my tastes (and all that's involved in that). Nobody, nobody can *guarantee* you they are right for you. We can only tell you what changes and our opinions. Which, hundreds have posted, thousands of times before. I think you are looking for someone to tell you that they are ABSOLUTELY the best answer. Someone might, I won't. They might be just the ticket, but I can't know that based on some internet chat. And not to be harsh (really, I'm just laying it out for you), the same recycled question time and again won't get you any new information. I'd suggest a search, and barring that... I think it's time to pick up the phone for new information.

 

It is sometime difficult to put your 2 cents in after Sam, generally there's not much more to add. If you call him, and I recommend you do, "shot" or not I guarantee Sam will sugest you get rid of the decarbons. And I will sugest the same. Good dampers will make you think you have a totally different car.

 

FWIW I replaced my stock shocks with HDs and Sam's bar package at 24,xxx miles, Huge improvement, I couldn't be happier, I got better handling and a more comfortable ride, exactly what I was looking for. I had 2 conversations with Sam before figuring out what I needed, he spent a lot of time teaching me, layinng out all my options, and giving me the pros and cons of each one, he really knows his stuff. You really should give him a call.

 

LoL Nitrogen in the tires... lets hear some more about that!

And Sam, I'm going to print this out about testing shocks by pushing on the car and show it to my dad (mechanic) ..... Of course I wont give him any way to contact you, but I have always thought that pushing on the car was a BS way to test a shock.

 

Lots of folks believe in that...

It's simple. The car is 3400+ pounds. over 1000 lbs on each front corner and 700+ on each rear. Even if you were the world's largest person you can't get that kind of force built up. And you certainly can't move that mass at upwards of 13 in/sec (or more) which is well into the high-speed valving.