What do you think about Rancho shocks?

[Mr. Goatman]

O'Reilly has $80 off (4) Rancho 9000 or $50 off (4) RS5000. Are the 9000s worth the price?
I have an 87 GW SOA/SF and do not have it on the road yet. I'm getting close and am working hard to get ready for Ouray in July. Does anyone know what size I should get without of flexing and measuring?

[COLORADOCRAWLER]

Haven't heard anything bad about Ranchos, but....Take a look at Bilsteins. IMHO they are the best shock you can buy for the money. I run 5100s on my YJ and they are outstanding. Monotube so they don't get hot/fade off road, slim design and you can mount them either direction. I'll be switching them into my Waggy in the near future as well. My 2¢.

[AwesomeJ10]

I had some rancho 5000's on the rear of the honcho and they were SHOT, so I got some 9000's. They seem much, much better.

I just dropped the coin on some Fox 2.0's for the cruiser (all the way around) and getting ready to drop the coin for some fox or king from the front of the Honcho.

[pcoplin]

Ranch 5000s are rough riding SOBs. They are just cheap nitrogen charged Gabriels no better than cheap Monroe's.

The 9000s are actually pretty good.

[babywag]

Aren't rancho/procomp/monroe/??? all made by Tenneco these days?

x2 on bilstein they are nice shocks and worth the extra $ IMHO the ride quality is superb.

[Dusty]

I have Bilsteins on my 76, and they really are nice.
But on my DD, camping vehicle I have ProComp MX-6's. I really have fallen in love with these shocks. You can adjust them for HWY driving, and then stiffen them up for off road driving. The price was not bad either.

[pcoplin]

Bilstiens are certainly great shocks, I have them on my TJ, but they are very tight, crisp valving. Do you find them overly damped for leaf springs?

[COLORADOCRAWLER]

Bilstiens are certainly great shocks, I have them on my TJ, but they are very tight, crisp valving. Do you find them overly damped for leaf springs?

Couldn't say on that one. My YJ's on coils.

[chief gunner]

I ran Rancho 5000s on my Jeep after I did my SOA/ SF. I got the wrong size, and I ended up having up travel at all in the rear. I just went and upgraded to Bilstiens and I will never look back. The Bilstiens are so much smoother, faster responding, and just over all a better shock. They were twice the price of my Ranchos, but so worth it. If you haven't bought your shocks yet, take the time and get measurements. At the very least, take a measurement of your Jeep at ride height. When I got my Bilstiens, I picked them up for an off road shop here in town. We ttok the measurement of my Jeep as it sat. Then we went inside and he drew out a basic graph that shows where the ride hight was and hash marks the went ten steps up and ten steps down. We broke out the catalog and looked up different shocks, and we could base the up/ down travel using the grapg he drew up. It was very simple, but one of the most in-genious things I have seen. Made things so simple and easy to understand. I say all of this to say two things, 1. take the time and get some meassurements, and 2. go to a reputible off road shop and let them help you pick the best shock for your budgit and driving style. Hope that helps.

[Grand_Wag_85]

I'm running Ranchos on my J10 lifted about 5" and it rides like a Caddy.

[FSJunkie]

Ran RS9000's on my Wag for a few months. Rode like a rock. Talk about a kidney puncher...but it did corner really well and if you're Ok with the unloaded 1 ton truck feel, go for them. Washboarded roads were interesting....

Went to Monroe Load-levelers (Sensa-tracs surrounded by a coil spring) and I love them. My old ones lasted 20 years, so we'll see how these do.

Bilstien is what I wanted, but they don't list shocks for early Wags and i can't get access to a listing of specifications to match up my own, so oh well.

[pcoplin]

FSjunkie,

Here is a short listing of 5125s: http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Bil ... 26817.html

[Stuka]

The 9000's are quite a bit better than the 5000's. I have 5000's on my J10 and won't use them again. I would be ok with 9000XL's (Adjustables), but would prefer bilsteins.

[carnuck]

The 9000's are quite a bit better than the 5000's. I have 5000's on my J10 and won't use them again. I would be ok with 9000XL's (Adjustables), but would prefer bilsteins.

Agreed. NAPA's commercial shocks ride better than the 5000 series

[Flashlight]

I'm not sure what messed up my nice Waggie Ride. I put BJ's 2" leafs and Rancho 5000"s. It looks great but rides like a kidney busting brick.

[pcoplin]

I'm not sure what messed up my nice Waggie Ride. I put BJ's 2" leafs and Rancho 5000"s. It looks great but rides like a kidney busting brick.

I put your problem in Bold. They truly are way too overdamped for anything but a light duty truck.

[AwesomeJ10]

I put fox 2.0's on the front of the Honcho and WOW, what a difference. Then I blew a reservoir hose (tire hit it) and I was forced to put on some brand new rancho 9000's.

Those 9000's are JUNK compared to the Fox. Not nearly as much control and the ride was way to 'squishy'. I can't wait to rebuild the Fox and throw away the rancho 9000's.

[pcoplin]

For those guys that are running a around 3 inches of lift, I found a quality shock for cheap. Rear JK Rubicon shocks, the red ones. 15 inch compressed, 23.5 inches xtended, 8.25 inches of travel. Not the black X ones, they are an inch shorter.

My Waggy with 4 inch BJs springs are 20 inches front and 19.5 inches rear at ride height. So these are a little short for a wheeler, but good for my driver/camping rig. 5 inches uptravel, 3.25 down in the front.

They look to very similar to KYBs. Pretty nice ride, too. Not damped as hard as Bilstiens, more like my OMEs on my XJ. The bushings match with a rubber bushing with bar pin up top, and sleeved bushing on the bottom. Just had to push the upper bar pin out, and hit the lower bushing with a flap wheel as it's a touch too wide for the lower mount. Not bad for $20 each.


I took the plastic covers off, me no likely shocks that are covered.

[FSJunkie]

Those look monotube as well. Nice!