Rancho 9000 vs Rancho Regular vs Bilstein Shocks

[Guest]

I wanted to ask about the ranchos...right now I am down to rancho 9000s or a simpler rancho....or the bilsteins....i have a 2001 EB 4WD no LL....the current stock rear shocks are leaking and i have 40k miles on the car.

I want most to improve the roll of the vehicle around corners...i will be taking the truck on easy to moderate 4wd roads in the rockies (over passes, logging roads, deep fly-fishing locales) but this is on occasion/weekends

I have a 3000# pop up that I will be towing as well

mainly to ride to work and three hours trips up to estes park from colorado springs...I want to stiffen up the roll but not lose the very comfortable ride (wow, what an improvement from 93 Explorer!)

Part of me wants the adjustability of the rancho 9000, but i am not sure if i can expect that much difference from level 1 and the highest level...i would love to be able to set for cadilac ride during the week, and then stiffer 4wd ride on the weekend or for towing the trailer

as far as the regular ranchos (no dial adjust), or the bilsteins, i suspect that i won't get the range (or control of the settings) of the 9000s.

i quess that part of me does not trust the 'auto adjusting' claims of some of the shocks.

Also my rear are leaking and fronts are fine...i will likely replace all four, but first doing the rears now then the fronts later would make the $$ easier to handle for the higher priced units.

Your feedback greatly appreciated.

 

[rwinch]

Going to the aftermarket shocks will make a world of difference!!! I had the Rancho 5000's, but moved quickly to the RSX's, which gave better performance. The auto-adjust (progressive damping), does work, but I can only imagine the 9000's would be better still.

I have heard a lot of good things about the Bilsteins, but don't have any first hand experience.

In any case, if you do the shocks, do them on all four corners at once to really appreciate how much better and safer the ride will be.

BTW - if you go with the Rancho 9000's, they have a really neat in-cab adjuster system to add onto the units so that you can adjust on the fly, and not have to go to each shock and urn the knobs.

 

[Guest]

I had the exact same experience you are having. My rear shocks started leaking at 45,000 miles. I went with Rancho 5000's. I found them online buy 3 get one free with free shipping. They made a massive improvement. Also, check your sway bar links. I had a broken one. I replaced that and within 2 days the other broke. They are about $8 each and I highly recommend that everyone check and or change theirs out. Since I changed the second one, I have had no issues with them.

 

[Wapiti]

I too have moved up from a 94 Explorer to a 99 Expy.
And tow a 3000lb popup.
On the Explorer I had the 9000's with in-cab controls.
They worked great. It was nice in the curvey mountain roads to be able pump them up for a stiffer ride and reduce roll.

I will be doing the same for my Expy. But due to costs will probably going with manual adjusters.

 

[Guest]

wapiti,

did you notice a great difference between the lowest and highest setting? What were you 'numbers' (front and rear) for, say, comfortable highway driving; city/go to work driving; and thirdly, towing?

appreciate any info.

 

[Wapiti]

dalfollo,
I do notice a wide difference between the lowest setting and the highest.
Mine are the older 9000's, that on the manual version had 5 settings.
But mine are adjusted via an aircompressor that changes the staging. So the adjustment can be fine tuned.

The newer ones have 9 settings. But I don't know if that means an increased range or just finer tuning between min and max.

At the lowest setting the ride becomes quite bouncy with increased rebound.
The highest setting, without much load in the vehicle, becomes very tight and one feels all the little bumps and pebbles. But I found hitting the highways in the hills that the higher setting really helped in limiting body roll.

Around town I have it set at about 2.5 on the guages. Up in the hills on the curves, around 4.5. Towing, about 3 up front and 4.5 in the rear to keep the rear end bouncing to a minimum.

 

[Guest]

That's real good info and more than i have been able to get from other posts or reading old posts.....I am just about sure to go with Rancho 9000...or bilsteins....i just don't know that Bilsteins will be soft when i want that and harder when I am on rough road or towing...


thanks

 

[nstyle]

I replaced my shocks last week (I bought the Expy used and can only assume that the shocks on it were original - looked very used). I had been sold on the Rancho 9000 adjustables and was going to pay approx $280 incl tax for 4. My only holdup was how often I would really go around the vehicle and adjust the settings. I would probably have loved the control to be inside the vehicle as rwinch mentions above.
My buddy at 4wheel parts recommended that I should just go with the Rancho RSX self adjusting. Cost and lack of changing the settings being the major reason. Total cost was about $180 including tax. Before changing the shocks I was very aware of the "rolling" that the Expy did around corners.
After driving the Expy for a day I started noticing how awesome it was handling around the corners. I won't go so far to say it feels like it is on rails, but it does feel much better. The overall ride is far superior to what it was a few weeks ago.
Good Luck.

 

[Bigtop]

I have a 98 Eddie Bauer Expy and was wondering how you can tell if your shocks are leaking? The vehicle does feel a bit wallowy around the corners but I am not sure if it is my imagination and not fact the the shocks are leaking. This thread is very interesting if I do need to replace them.

 

[rwinch]

If you have never changed your shocks, will be in for a big surprise when you do!

The Ford factory shocks are super soft, and they allow quite a bit of lean. Get some aftermarket shocks (any of those mentioned above), and enjoy the ride of the NEW Expy!

 

[Guest]

I am really excited to see the postings. I have a 99 exp and have loved it ever since we purchased it! Now that we have finally paid it off everything seems to start breaking! I am in the market for shocks but not sure what to get.

From the postings it looks like the Rancho 9000 and RSX's are recommended. Still looking for the right shock, so here is what I an wanting. This truck is mainly used around town and on an occasional long trip with the wife and kids. I do pull jetski's and an occasional boat. I would appreciate your opions. Also, any suggestions on how to install?

 

[nstyle]

csjacobs9-
As I mentioned in my post above, I have just turned 100000 miles and so I replaced the original shocks (no leaks) with Rancho RSX's. I chose those because it was unlikely that I would actually be changing the setting on the 9000's. The RSX's are supposed to auto adjust (I really don't have any idea if they do though).
I do mostly around town and highway driving, and very light towing. I am extremely happy with the RSX performance and notice that cornering feels tighter.
With regard to installation, it is simply a matter of jacking (use stands and blocks) the truck and removing bolts. The upper rear shock bolts are the most difficult to get to, but even they are not very hard.
My only suggestion would be to make sure you tighten down the bolts good once your new shocks are in, or you will get this rattling noise at low speeds.
Good Luck.