# Does this mean the old shock was bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [July 29, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/does-this-mean-the-old-shock-was-bad/80620 "2013-07-29T21:28:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UsedEconobox\_2\_UsedBMW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/8491ac/32.png) [@UsedEconobox\_2\_UsedBMW](https://community.cartalk.com/u/UsedEconobox_2_UsedBMW)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/does-this-mean-the-old-shock-was-bad/80620/1 "2013-07-29T21:28:33Z")
I replaced my shocks today just because I felt like it. I am not sure the old shock was even bad. It was just rusty on the outside. When I compress the old shock with my hands, it seems to have the same amount of resistance as when compressing the new one. But, I did notice the new shock expands/decompresses much quicker than the old one. Does this mean the old shock was bad? Or does that not matter? ---
**Author:** ![knfenimore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9fc348/32.png) [@knfenimore](https://community.cartalk.com/u/knfenimore)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/does-this-mean-the-old-shock-was-bad/80620/2 "2013-07-29T21:32:40Z")
If you can move it faster it means it is bypassing quicker and is worn. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/does-this-mean-the-old-shock-was-bad/80620/3 "2013-07-29T21:40:32Z")
If these are gas charged shocks, it means the new ones are expanding as they should, and the old ones either weren’t gas charged, or the charge had leaked. I’m assuming you’re compressing the shock, and then just letting go (not pulling it apart). The real question is whether the new shock is harder to decompress with force than the old one. It is the decompression motion that defines the shock’s effectiveness. But a difference in gas charge could make this difficult to determine. What brands are the old and new ones? ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/does-this-mean-the-old-shock-was-bad/80620/4 "2013-07-30T00:06:16Z")
Passed a 318ti on the hwy the other day. His front tire was bouncing noticeably. Hard to yell out the window at 60mph his shock is bad. He probably already knew. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/does-this-mean-the-old-shock-was-bad/80620/5 "2013-07-30T00:43:28Z")
The old shock was fine, rusty, but not leaking. What you are experiencing is the very low speed damping control that is different between your old shock and your new ones. The new ones may use a different type of valve design that the originals so they don’t react the same as the old ones while hand stroking. Since you can’t test them on a shock dyno, you have no idea the damping force they develop at all speeds compared to the originals. They likely have higher force at slightly higher speed than you can extend the shock. Your new shocks will work fine, don’t worry about the hand stroking forces. They don’t really matter. Just for reference, I spent 20 years as a shock absorber engineer. ---
**Author:** ![UsedEconobox\_2\_UsedBMW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/8491ac/32.png) [@UsedEconobox\_2\_UsedBMW](https://community.cartalk.com/u/UsedEconobox_2_UsedBMW)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/does-this-mean-the-old-shock-was-bad/80620/6 "2013-07-30T18:54:00Z")
texas, I was just letting the shock go after compressing. The new one extends almost instantly. The old one would take extend very very slowly. The old shocks were 15 years old, so I replaced them. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/does-this-mean-the-old-shock-was-bad/80620/7 "2013-07-30T19:18:36Z")
OK, so it’s because of the gas charge in the shocks. It’s not an indicator of how well the shock was working. What brand shocks?