Dodge Repair: Shocks, rubber bushings, fuel mileage

Question
I have a 97 Dodge pickup, 2 wheel dr. I don't haul hardy any weight in the bed. It has 167,000 miles on it. Recently I put 2 new tires on the front and 4 new shocks on it.
The truck was very rough riding due to the tires was really worn out, the shocks also.
What I want to know is shouldn't new tires and new shocks give me a better ride ? It helped some but wow I thought it would be better than it is ! I bought the shocks at auto zone, is it posible that shocks at auto zone is not very good quality ? I wonder is original equipment that much better ?
Thank You.
Doug.

Answer
With a vehicle with the amount of miles on it as yours does, replacing the shocks and tires does help with ride quality issues. The type of shock and tires selected can further affect how the truck rides. Gas filled shocks will tend to increase load capacity at the expense of ride quality, you really have to pay attention to the specs for the shocks and decide what you want based on what you've read. Tires also influence ride quality. Since tires act, in part, as springs, selecting the right tire is crucial. A hard tire will give you long wear but ride quality and fuel mileage tend to suffer. A tire with a soft compound will soften the ride and lessen the interior noise level of the vehicle but this is at the expense of having the tire last a long time, Now with that said, your vehicle has many miles on it and there are more components in play at this point. All the rubber bushings and isolators have been working for a long time to cushion the ride, As a result they have lost their elasticity and can no longer perform as they did when new. The choice is yours at this point, spend a ton of money so it feels like you're driving a luxury car instead of a truck or accept that you have truck and it rides like one.