Quick question about rear shocks

[gedmeyer]

How much effort should it take to compress a rear shock? I'm in the middle of changing the leaf cushion bolts and I noticed that the rear shocks seemed pretty easy to compress. Laying on my back, I can move the rear trailing arms up and down fairly quickly/easily. The shocks on there now are Monroe Gasmatics or something like that.

Hopefully my description makes sense. It's sorta tough describing a "feel" online. They just seemed real soft.

-gedmeyer

[wishuwerehere82]

The Monroe Gas matics have a Nitrogen charge over the piston and should have some spring to them. Most shocks like the Sensatracks don't have any pressure on the piston. They can be moved in and out fairly easily by hand. If they are gas filled, they may have lost their charge. If you can push and pull the piston shaft easily then the O-ring seals are blown and it's time for new ones. They should offer a lot of resistance pulling out but not much pushing in.