A Shocking thread, A1 Monroe 65456

GeneralDisorder said:

They aren't nitrogen filled shocks. I've never seen one fail that wasn't rusted out. And in any case they are all over the place being used on A1P2's manufacturered up through 2021 and will still be used on the A2 wrecker that is staying with the A1P2 LTAS cab layout. So these will be literally everywhere with production dates into the 2040's. They will be available for the price of shipping if the day ever comes that I need some.

I predict they will, in all likelihood, outlast my ownership of them. Either they never fail and I never get around to swapping them or I toss them for some mag ride if I find something surplus that can be adapted for example.

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Keith Knight said:

So the other day I bought one Monroe 65456 shock. Took one of my front shocks off of my 2003 truck. The Monroe compressed and rebounded way way easier than my old original shock. So I returned the Monroe and reinstalled the original shock. Next I would like to get my hands on a NOS shock and compare it with my old shocks.

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GCecchetto said:

I spoke with HD Shocks this morning, their shocks are Kings and the nice thing about them is that they actually create part numbers for the shocks making it easy to order when someone else wants the same shock. King doesn't do that, they just make custom shocks for a customer which is why, even though they have made shocks for these trucks before, no one knows anything about it if you call and talk to them. HD trucks is also a king service center and does rebuilds/revalves with a couple day turn a round. They're located in Bakersfield Calif.

Anyway, I have given them all of the dimensions for the front A1R shock and will pull a rear shock and do the same. I believe the rear on an A1R 2 axle truck would also fit the front on A0 and A1 trucks. If anyone is potentially interested in shocks, I will forward the info along to you.

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Dokatd said:

Just FYI, HD Shocks to my understanding does not custom valve shocks. They just use general specs and get them close enough. They are still good shocks, but they are not hyper specific to your truck like custom Kings are. Though it's reflected in the price so there is that. To get true Kings you have to take your truck into king directly and let them tune the fit and valving in house.

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GCecchetto said:

Well, not sure that’s true. When I spoke with them the first time he told me they revalve in house if any fine tuning of the shocks was required. Even without custom valuing, these Kings will be far superior to any of the off the shelf options people are using.

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Dokatd said:

I spent almost 2 years trying to get custom shocks from them for Unimog's. He will use a "Stocked" valving based broadly on vehicle weight. Where King themselves actually dyno existing shocks and put in effort to get it right first try. Thats why you have to take your vehicle into King and leave it for tuning.

HD will certainly revalve them to suite your needs, but that's after you tried his one size fits all valving and you remove them and ship them back to have them revalved at your cost.

I'm not knocking King and not even HD Shocks necessarily. HD is just a different model than King direct. Ideally someone would take in a truck form custom fitting at King and then maybe HD can duplicate later. But if you're really concerned with shocks then you must understand that the shocks on a light M1078 will be very much different from a fully loaded 6x6 with a habitat etc. One size fits all is a poor choice outside of the military system. Especially if you're going to spend good money. That said, King HD Shocks are relatively cheap in comparison to having custom fitted shocks from King direct. I want to say HDs are somewhere in the $300-$400 per shock range where real legit kings will be in the $1500 per shock range if not much more.

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Keith Knight said:

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I spied these at Acela! They are getting them made for them but Fox isn’t selling them to anyone else!

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GCecchetto said:

Yea, I understand about valving, have had custom shocks done for a variety of vehicles, 2 and 4 wheeled. If I was building a Dakar truck with an unlimited budget, I would absolutely take my truck to King for them to fit/valve. The reality is, I am on a budget, to a degree, and am a long way away from having my truck built out for that fitting/valving process to take place. My use case will be slow driving when offroad, not ripping down washboard roads at high speed of whoops. I also know that when it's done, and fully loaded, it will be pretty much at GVWR. So for now, that's how I will move forward with the setup of the shocks. The valving is important, but it's a cargo vehicle, not a race truck.

Relative your comment about a light M1078 vs a fully loaded 6x6 you should keep in mind two things, 1) there is no way to have a shock perfectly tuned to an empty truck and at the same time perfectly tuned to a fully loaded truck. You can get close with an adjustable shock, but there will always be a compromise. 2) when comparing a 4x truck to a 6x truck, yes you essentially have double the load capacity in the rear of a 6x, but you also have two axles and four shocks, so it isn't like the rear shocks on a 6x need to be radically different than what is used on the 4x because you are using four shocks instead of two.

Anyway, I have no interest in getting into a debate about this. I'm looking for shocks that are a correct fit and capacity for my truck vs taking a Monroe that isn't proper fitment and tiny compared to the stock shocks and dealing with it. If what comes out of this persuit isn't what you're after, you don't have to buy them.

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Dokatd said:

You should reach out to Iron Man 4x4. They make custom shocks for Unimog's. Not sure how they operate, but they seem to do a few funky applications. Worth an ask anyways.

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