What would happen if you got shocks that did not have enough dampening force? How would you know there wasn't enough dampening?

 

Shocks that are too light for the application usually result in the vehicle bouncing multiple times after hitting a bump. You usually see this on old vans or sedans going down the highway with their fronts or rears bouncing like it's going out of style (and NOT due to hydraulic or air suspensions).

 

Can it also result in the suspension bottoming out when going over a big bump without a whole lot of bouncing?

 

There's a limit to what shocks can do. If you stiffen the springs and shocks up too much, the ride will be unbearable. Suspension tuning is as much art as science.

If you're bottoming out too often and too harshly, look into progressive air or hydraulic bumpstops such as those from Teraflex or JKS.