Thoughts on Monroe Sensa-Trac vs Rancho 5000 vs Tokico Trekmaster

[cal30_sniper]

Hey all, here's the deal.

I have a 1986 C20 Suburban (3/4 ton, 2WD), that I put KYB Monomax shocks on, and it's beating me to death. It is terribly stiff, and rough dirt roads, washboarding, etc, are a nightmare to drive on. It's fine as long as you keep it really slow, but at any speed it feels like the truck is being jarred to pieces. I had these shocks on a 90 R1500 Suburban (2WD, 1/2 ton) before, and had the same problems there.

I'm looking for something that is going to smooth out the ride considerably, without being underdamped. I'm overdamped now, the worn out Monroes that were on there before were underdamped. I'd like to find a happy medium.

I'm reading really good reviews on the Monroe Sensa-trac, and several people have also recommended that I look into Rancho 5000s. I can't find much information on the Tokicos at all, but the 3rd Gen F-Body community loves them.

I occasionally load the vehicle down pretty heavy (2k lbs of passengers and cargo), so I'd like a shock that can still handle that without shaking my truck apart unloaded. I do a lot highway driving, a little towing my boat, and several long offroad trips every year. I'm looking for something that's going to perform well across the board, and the KYBs aren't doing it for me. It's a factory height suspension, and I have no plans for a lift. The only thing I plan on adding is a set of Air Lift Air Springs that I have laying around to help out with the heavy loads.

Thoughts, inputs, suggestions? Am I just asking too much from one shock?

-cal30sniper

[69gmcc10]

I have both the monroe and the rancho shocks on different rigs and I love them both. my 03 silverado has the rancho 5000 all around and it is a soft comfy ride. When I throw a 4 wheeler in the back or hook up to the car trailer, like I do every week or two it handles the load just fine. But, I am even more impressed on hw controled the sens a tracs keep the rear of my 69 gmc on it's best behavior, they are soft over little bumbs but seem to get more firm the further from static they go. I dont think you could go wrong with either one.

[claytonisbob]

I just put some Sensa-trac's on my truck a couple days ago and they are an amazingly smooth ride for how little I spent; got them from RockAuto for ~ $100 after shipping (AND there's a buy 3 get one free with mail in rebate on them, so it will be like $80 total). But even with them being soft, they're definitely not overly under-dampened. Though I was going from some pretty worn out fronts and crappy rears.