Here's my senerio:
In the fall of '03 I put on Monroe Reflex all around which gave me a pretty nice ride on our '01 job 2 4x2 with no other mods; then in the spring of '04 I put on TOYO Open Country A/T's (35 psi max) and the Explorer Express anti-sway bar, and the side-to-side sway came back. In the fall of '04 I discovered that one of the rear Reflex shocks went south, so it was suggested that I put on KYB Monomax on the rear which was very nice until I added an ARE MX cap in June of '05, because the cap raised the center of gravity I added the Roadmaster Active Suspension with new OEM sway bar end links with poly bushings on the rear in the late summer of '05. Last spring I put on KYB Gas-A-Just shocks on the front and after about six month I came to the conclusion that they were just too soft; also last spring I put on Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza's (44 max psi) and I run 33 psi front & 35 psi rear. Also, last spring before going to Louisville I put on the '03-'05 front 4x4 stabilizer bar with new OEM end links with poly bushings which helped some. Now a few weeks ago Paul Arkett (TracketPaul here) loaned me his rear Monroe Reflex - which confirmed my suspisions; so shortly after that I put my old Reflex's on the front and found the ride I was looking for, also reinforcing my suspisions. I had been debating which shock to go with next (Bilstein HD's or Edelbrock IAS Performer's or Monroe Reflex Monotube). Because I've heard pro & con on the Edelbrocks, already tried Monroe Reflex, and this sounds kinda stupid but I just couldn't see baby blue & yellow Bilsteins on a Red ST. So, after looking on the internet and talking to resellers of Tokico (which I found out are a twin tube shock) I sprung to a full set of Tokico Trek Master R/T's and OH MY - YES, YES, YES.
My conclusion and what I discovered over the past 3 yrs. that if you are looking for a comfortable yet controlled ride in your gen. 1 ST:
1. If you are running stock springs with or without the Explorer Express rear anti-sway bar a good monotube shock is worth it, and give you a good controlled ride.
2. If you have added to the rear springs (i.e. Rancho Add-a-leaf, Tokico composite overload leafs, or Roadmaster Active Suspension), as I have done then I feel monotube shocks on the rear are to stiff and do not give a comfortable ride.
3. The KYB Monomax were good on the rear until I put on the Roadmaster Active Suspension which, in my opinion, made the ST ride to stiff (no bounce to maybe 1/2 bounce after going over a bump). That led me to search for shocks that were not too stiff, but not too soft; and I found that in the Tokico Trek Master R/T.
4. In communicating with Shockwarehouse.com they said that none of the shock manufacturers give out their valving info., but do give out the gas pressure for their monotube shocks. But, the gas pressure of a monotube shock is meaningless without knowing the valving info. which is probably why Shockwarehouse pulled that info. off it's site.
5. It is my opinion that the gen 1 ST is best suited for LT (light truck) rated tires, not P (passenger) rated tires.
What I have done over the past few years is found a good combination of tires, springs and shocks that give a comfortable yet controlled ride. Now if I can just find stiffer front torsion bars, that would top it off.
In the fall of '03 I put on Monroe Reflex all around which gave me a pretty nice ride on our '01 job 2 4x2 with no other mods; then in the spring of '04 I put on TOYO Open Country A/T's (35 psi max) and the Explorer Express anti-sway bar, and the side-to-side sway came back. In the fall of '04 I discovered that one of the rear Reflex shocks went south, so it was suggested that I put on KYB Monomax on the rear which was very nice until I added an ARE MX cap in June of '05, because the cap raised the center of gravity I added the Roadmaster Active Suspension with new OEM sway bar end links with poly bushings on the rear in the late summer of '05. Last spring I put on KYB Gas-A-Just shocks on the front and after about six month I came to the conclusion that they were just too soft; also last spring I put on Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza's (44 max psi) and I run 33 psi front & 35 psi rear. Also, last spring before going to Louisville I put on the '03-'05 front 4x4 stabilizer bar with new OEM end links with poly bushings which helped some. Now a few weeks ago Paul Arkett (TracketPaul here) loaned me his rear Monroe Reflex - which confirmed my suspisions; so shortly after that I put my old Reflex's on the front and found the ride I was looking for, also reinforcing my suspisions. I had been debating which shock to go with next (Bilstein HD's or Edelbrock IAS Performer's or Monroe Reflex Monotube). Because I've heard pro & con on the Edelbrocks, already tried Monroe Reflex, and this sounds kinda stupid but I just couldn't see baby blue & yellow Bilsteins on a Red ST. So, after looking on the internet and talking to resellers of Tokico (which I found out are a twin tube shock) I sprung to a full set of Tokico Trek Master R/T's and OH MY - YES, YES, YES.
My conclusion and what I discovered over the past 3 yrs. that if you are looking for a comfortable yet controlled ride in your gen. 1 ST:
1. If you are running stock springs with or without the Explorer Express rear anti-sway bar a good monotube shock is worth it, and give you a good controlled ride.
2. If you have added to the rear springs (i.e. Rancho Add-a-leaf, Tokico composite overload leafs, or Roadmaster Active Suspension), as I have done then I feel monotube shocks on the rear are to stiff and do not give a comfortable ride.
3. The KYB Monomax were good on the rear until I put on the Roadmaster Active Suspension which, in my opinion, made the ST ride to stiff (no bounce to maybe 1/2 bounce after going over a bump). That led me to search for shocks that were not too stiff, but not too soft; and I found that in the Tokico Trek Master R/T
.4. In communicating with Shockwarehouse.com they said that none of the shock manufacturers give out their valving info., but do give out the gas pressure for their monotube shocks. But, the gas pressure of a monotube shock is meaningless without knowing the valving info. which is probably why Shockwarehouse pulled that info. off it's site.
5. It is my opinion that the gen 1 ST is best suited for LT (light truck) rated tires, not P (passenger) rated tires.
What I have done over the past few years is found a good combination of tires, springs and shocks that give a comfortable yet controlled ride. Now if I can just find stiffer front torsion bars, that would top it off.
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