I'm doing my rear trailing arm bushings, and as I'm pretty certain that the rear shocks are original, I decided that I'd do the rear shocks at the same time. I figured that the originals would provide little resistance when I tried to compress them off of the car, but they seem to have as much resistance as the Sachs Advantage Turbo Gas shocks I bought from Groton. The only difference is that when I compress the Turbo Gas, they gradually return to full extension, whereas the originals stay in whatever position I put them in. Both shocks have about equal resistance to movement in all positions and directions.

I believe the originals are Boge Automatic which are stock hydraulic shocks (no gas). Is this what the difference is between stock hydraulic shocks and gas shocks - that the gas shocks return to full extension, whereas the stock hydraulics don't - or is this an indication that the stock hydraulic shocks are indeed worn?