Gabriel Shocks: Review, Pricing, and Overview

Any conversation about ride control on heavy-duty vehicles starts with Gabriel shocks. In fact, Gabriel started the conversation by inventing the first shock absorbers more than 100 years ago. The company’s been manufacturing shocks for lighter-duty vehicles ever since, and has developed a particular expertise over the last 50-plus years in the heavy-duty vehicle parts industry it helped create.

That’s why fleet managers, owners, operators and installers trust their livelihoods to Gabriel shocks. Heavy-duty trucks and trailers all have their own unique set of requirements to operate safely, smoothly and stay on the road longer. The heavy-duty transportation industry stops for no one. Every second a vehicle spends off the road takes money out of someone’s pocket, from manufacturers to drivers, to buyers and sellers, repair shops and maintenance crews, all the way down to the end-consumer. Every link in the supply chain relies on the transportation industry to pull its weight, and high-quality, road-tested Gabriel shocks are proven to make the lighter- and heavy-duty vehicles in your care work harder, last longer and earn more income than other brands.

As important are a vehicle’s longevity and durability, buying the right shocks will keep your heavy-duty trucks and trailers on the road in other ways as well. Ride control means a whole lot more than driver comfort over rough stretches of road, vital as that may be to the end goal of the safe and timely transport of cargo. A poorly chosen set of shocks may not only land your rig on the side of the road or in the garage more often than you like, but it can also compromise the well-being of the driver, the load, passengers and other motorists. The primary function of shocks and struts, of course, is tire control, which we all know will affect the vehicle’s steering, handling and braking.

Gabriel Shocks’ Four Essential Components

Performance, durability, comfort and safety, then, are four critical components to consider when buying shocks, particularly for heavy-duty vehicles. Because Gabriel shocks were the first shocks ever made, the company has had the advantage of participating in and adapting to every step forward the modern transportation industry has taken over the last century. Gabriel continues to make the necessary innovations in design and engineering to stay ahead of the rapid pace of change while maintaining its high standards of quality, precision and customer satisfaction.

So, you’re in the right place if you are responsible for ordering or installing parts for heavy-duty vehicles. Likewise if you own or operate heavy-duty vehicles, if you manage a fleet of heavy-duty vehicles or are in the business of repairing and maintaining heavy-duty vehicles. We already established that Gabriel is literally the first name in shock absorbers, which tells you right off that they’ve been able to stay in business for more than a century because customers keep coming back. In fact, since Gabriel started building its heavy-duty vehicle products business in the 1950s, millions of trucks whose owners chose Gabriel shocks over the competition have traveled billions of miles throughout North America.

That’s a heavy-duty claim in the heavy-duty vehicles industry, one that Gabriel can make because of its commitment to precision performance, brute strength and hardcore durability. Here are today’s products that uphold that long-standing tradition in Gabriel shocks.

Gabriel FleetLine Shocks for Trucks and Trailers

FleetLine shocks from Gabriel are designed to seamlessly replace a rig’s original parts and get it back on the road quickly, matching the OE’s specifications but often exceeding its quality and therefore improving performance and durability moving forward. It’s fair to say the main objective of Gabriel’s FleetLine brand of shocks is to provide some of the industry’s highest-quality, expertly engineered, most durable replacement parts that will perform better and last longer than what they are replacing. All this to ensure that Gabriel’s customers’ fleets stay on the road longer and more consistently than fleets assembled with other parts. That’s the goal, at least, and Gabriel has thus far lived up to its aspirations.

The company is able to make this promise through innovative engineering behind such features as a 10-step, all-coil, spring-valving rate that compensates for initial truck-suspension softening, enabling the FleetLine replacement shock to perform exactly as the OE did but designed to last longer and under more strenuous conditions. Gabriel FleetLine shocks also feature a top-of-the-line hydraulic extension stop to prevent the parts from topping out and the suspension from over-extending, 360-degree end mounts for superior structural strength, and arc-welded eye-ring end mounts for increased tensile strength. Drawn-over-mandrel tubing reduces internal wear of Gabriel’s FleetLine shocks – so they last longer.

Additional features include a pressurized piston ring that compensates for wear, a super-finished chrome piston rod that prevents corrosion, and a multi-lip piston-rod seal, also designed to ensure longer life of the product. The caged piston design enhances Fleetline shocks’ damping abilities, operating within 7 percent of their original damping performance after moving toward more extreme, heated operating conditions, as compared to competitors that lost more than 20 percent under the same conditions during recent “fade testing.”

Gabriel’s FleetLine shocks are specifically engineered for the work at hand, with the 83000 Series designed with a 1 3/8” bore for Class 3-6 vehicles, and the 85000 Series with a larger 1 5/8” bore for Class 6-8 vehicles. Gabriel has also included FleetLine Cab Shocks in the brand family, specially made with a gas-cell design to eliminate noise and vibration from the cab. Sacrificing nothing in the areas of Gabriel’s hallmarks of strength, durability and quality, these shocks are geared for optimal driver comfort that, as anyone in the heavy-duty trucking industry knows, can be an immensely profitable business investment.

Gabriel GasSLX Shocks for Premium Comfort and Control

On the topic of comfort, Gabriel’s GasSLX shocks have incorporated the aforementioned features designed for maximum performance and durability, and added some premium features that provide the highest levels of comfort and control. These premium features include three adjustable settings – regular, firm and extra firm – that make GasSLX shocks completely customizable to conform to every operator’s individual driving preferences, every road surface’s diverse set of challenges, and every payload’s unique attributes.

The shocks’ gas-cell technology reduces fade by preventing aeration with a physical barrier between the high-temperature fluid and gas, which is a full-life premium feature that will keep your heavy-duty commercial truck in business longer. The multi-tip rod seal provides greater fluid retention and increases high-temperature performance, and the custom-blended high-temp fluid reduces wear-and-tear under extreme driving conditions – to make the shocks last longer and give your commercial vehicle more earning potential.

Let’s Get Moving

If you’re sufficiently convinced that Gabriel’s position as the original name in shocks, backed by its commitment to keep your vehicle on the road longer, performing better and riding more safely and comfortably than many of its competitors is enough to get you to invest in their product, now it’s just a matter of how and when to proceed. We don’t have to tell you that time, convenience and cost are at the heart of the transportation industry, but we will tell you that they also set us apart from the rest of the aftermarket heavy-duty vehicle parts industry. Here’s how:

FindItParts.com is a proven leader in aftermarket heavy-duty truck parts with more than 10 million SKUs available at the touch of a key. We are a virtual one-stop-shop where vehicle operators, business owners, fleet managers and repair and maintenance technicians come to find the parts they need to get their heavy-duty trucks and trailers back on the road and earning money. Our prices are more than competitive, ranging from about $35-$65 for this product group, but there are almost always deals to be found at FindItParts.com if you just look or ask online. In fact, it’s our service that really separates us from the competition, and based on our massive inventory and lightning-fast shipping capabilities, there’s a strong chance we’ll have your rig back on the road and earning you money sooner than the rest.