My 90 Dakota has some very old shocks on it, they may well be the originals. The outer protective shell on the top of both rear shocks has rusted off, None of them are leaking, and they do not allow more then one recycle on a jounce.

That said, I do not get any excessive bouncing out of the truck. It handles dips in the roads well, and the front seems to handle bumps well. The rear seems to lift off the ground when the bumps are above the road surface. It bangs down like its jumping off a ramp with the back end, on larger road patches.

I've been contemplating buying new shocks, but for the most part the truck rides pretty smooth, except for that banging in the rear. My questions are, will new shocks solve the jumping/banging in the rear and give me a smooth ride, or will they exaggerate the bumps on the front end, giving me a more harsh ride? Its been a long time since I've bought new shocks on anything.

I just replaced teh ORIGINAL shocks on my 96 Suburban 4x4 at 176,000 miles! No, I didn't own the truck since new!

What a HUGE difference in ride quality and handling!

As for the rears on any truck, I don't think you'll feel any improvement, as the rear springs tend to be heavy on trucks and the rear end is just bouncy unloaded. The sound you hear may actually be your worn shocks clunking around up there, or maybe the tail gate, or even a bolt or two that holds the bed to teh frame either loose or missing.

Just an idea.