Thank You All,
👏 L/W, it's walnut ply with hardwood only on the faces.
Barb, I like the springs because you can add or subtract the number of them to dial in the tension, and I don't worry about having to go back to replace a shock.
That said, I have never used the shocks so I couldn't make a fair comparison between the two.
Figuring out how to do something you have never done is what makes a good challenge.