Single shock vs. Dual shock

[Gummi Bear]

Ranchos are still the same basic technology as the shocks you mentioned. The differece will be that the ranchos are a larger piston, and firmer valving. All of the major shock manufacturers, monroe, gabriel etc. have higher end shocks that are in the same ball park as the Ranchos. All are certainly better than oem shocks, but not in the same league as even bilstein 5100s.

The Ranchos offer longer travel shocks than the others, but the actual performance isn't any better in my opinion. A set of Bilstiens will make a huge difference in the ride of your rig. Ranchos will make your rig ride firmer, but once the shock warms up it won't be that much difference. Bilstiens will make it handle and ride better.
Tom

Tom nailed it. Rancho's are crap. If you're going to buy them, save yourself the money and head over to pep boys, get the cheap ass shocks, and use the saved money for some yosemite sam mudflaps. At least then you have a converstion piece for your money spent. :flipoff2:

 

[VBH289]

%) ooooooooooooook

 

[68ford]

bilsteins might be better than rancho 5000(comparring non adjustable ones like bilsteins), but ranchos are 40$ and bilsteins are 100$ so they need to be 2.5 times better for there price. they arent. they ridr nicer because they arent as stiff, and heat doesnt feel to make a difference because theyre under about 200 lb presure, softer valving also means oil doesnt flow through such small ports and has lighter valve shims, this means less heat. i liked james duffs for streat and general offroad, if you want to go a little faster maybe spend the money on bilsteins, but if you go across the desert like i push mine and like my freinds do bilstein 5100 are good for about 2 min. if you want to go, got to spend the dough ;D

 

[Daddy4zack]

So what is the perfect shock for Street and trail?? I have dual in front and single in back. I dont mind having single all around. What shock is soft for flexing and good for street??

 

[68ford]

u dont need to wory about anything but length for flexin, needs to extend enough when the tire is all the way down and compress enough to let the tire go all the way up. the rest is personal, my shocks are very soft until the last 4 inches of compresion, so they are very soft and smooth on the street and for small bumps and washboard offroad, but it gets a little more body role. you should take your rear shocks off and go drive it, if you think its better, then you should get softer shocks, if you hate it,leave it. when my WH shock hoop broke off i ran some james duff 70/30s for a bit, they were pretty good, thats what i would get for the back. as for the front, try taking one off each tire and see if its smoother, i would think james duff on the back side of the coil would be good, the shock has more leverage back there and needs to move less so it wont limit your flex. im not as good on front shocks because mine are opposite of normal coil application, my spring wieght is on about 150 lbs, i can lift my bumber about 5 inches and then push it down about 7 inches, i run a stiff shock to keep it from bottoming(not the 2 coils per side) and the rebound is super soft to actually let it rebound with soft springs.

 

[68ford]

there are so many things you can do to make bronco suspension better that i dont know why bronco stores dont do, for instance i run 4.5 lift WH leaf minus the 11 leaf, i romoved the bumpstop completely because the springs can easily go up that far, my axle housing is also .5 inch from frame rail at compressed point, but that means i have about 4 inches more compresion than if you run those extended bumpstops(mine are in the shocks). same with the front if your still running coils let them be the bumpstop(let the coil bind all the way) it wont hurt the spring and make sure your not limiting yourself, just make sure the coil binds before the shock does ;D and making a trackbar with heim joints, so much better! track bar has horizontal bushings, so as you axle drops or twist it twist the trackbar, if its using heims it moves nice and free, and makes the steering and handling ALOT better.

 

[feitctaj]

I started a new thread , not to hijack this thread, it is symilar to this subject, please read.

 

[Mark]

there are so many things you can do to make bronco suspension better that i dont know why bronco stores dont do, and making a trackbar with heim joints, so much better! track bar has horizontal bushings, so as you axle drops or twist it twist the trackbar, if its using heims it moves nice and free, and makes the steering and handling ALOT better.

68ford, I would like to see photos of this. Maybe start a new thread so as not to hijack this one ;D

 

[Mark]

I started a new thread , not to hijack this thread, it is symilar to this subject, please read.

feitctaj, where is this thread?
Thanks! ;D

 

[Mark]

Tom nailed it. Rancho's are crap. If you're going to buy them, save yourself the money and head over to pep boys, get the cheap ass shocks, and use the saved money for some yosemite sam mudflaps. At least then you have a converstion piece for your money spent. :flipoff2:

Gummi Bear, I cannot tell by your ambiguous response here, what's your opinion of Rancho shocks? ;D

 

[feitctaj]

feitctaj, where is this thread?
Thanks! ;D

I would like to have 68 elaborate on my thread

http://www.classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56973

 

[Socal Tom]

In my opinion Bilstiens are the perfect shock for trail and street. If you can't step up to the 7100s, then get a set of the 5100s. They are soft when the axle is moving slow, and firm when the axle is moving fast.

Tom

 

[Socal Tom]

I've gone through, at least 3 sets of Ranchos, 5000s and 9000s. They last about 1 trip to the desert. I've spent more money replacing ranchos, than I did buying my only set of bilstiens.
I play in the dunes, as well as rock crawling. I see lots of Baja Racers running Bilstiens, how many do you see with Ranchos?
5100 Bilstiens cost about the same as Rancho 9000s, but they don't require adjustment, because the technology is better.

I put a set of Bilstien 5100s on my stick XJ daily driver and took it for a run to competition hill, and it prevented the bottoming out I had with the stock shocks, and stopped the wheel hop I had before.

Ranchos work good for 5 minutes, then they get hot, the oil boils and they don't work. Bilstiens, don't boil because the oil won't boil under 200 lbs of pressure. With ranchos my bumpstops showed evidence of bottoming out every trip, with Bilstiens, they don't bottom out. The shock catches the rig and slows it down before I bottom.

I've tried both shocks, and clearly preferred the Bilstiens. Have you ever tried Bilstiens?
Tom

 

[68ford]

ive seen 5100s turn into pogosticks within couple of min in the desert. they might be alot better than ranchos though, but the guys with race trucks dont run 5100s ever, usually not even the resivior 7100s with heims, they run the 9100 which are about 700 per shock(over a 1000 for a pair of coilovers) and well about 1000 each for the bypass version

 

[Socal Tom]

It was the desert racing buggies in the 70s that discovered bilstiens. One thing about them though. If you use them for bump stops or limit straps ,you can trash them in no time. The shocks can't be the limiting factor on either end of the travel.

One big problem with the rear end of the bronco is that you can't run a very long shock unless you install longer bumpstops, or make a shock mount that goes way high.
Tom

 

[68ford]

thats why i run hydrollic bumps and limiting staps, and the bypass' do go way up into the cab, it works awsome but cost alot ;D

 

[67halfcab]

I have (2) Duff 70/30's on all four corners and street or trail it rides rough. I have the duff 3 1/2" lift also.
The front end isn't too bad but the back rides like there is no suspension what so ever and it doesn't matter with the hard top or not, it's rough.

Once I get it back on the road I'm going to keep the duals up front and go with only singles in the rear.

My suggestion for daily drivers/weekend off-roader is duals up front singles in the rear.

If you're desert racing or strickly off-roading or rock crawling I have no experience here but you may want something different then my suggestion.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Brewbro21]

I have Rancho RSX's all around, doubles up front, singles in the back. I thought that they were good, I had no complaints about ride quality on or off road. Are we talking the same shocks because the RSX's are nitrogen gas charge, and everyone keeps saying oil. Now I'm no suspension expert and I don't pretend to be one, but for the ride quality I got, plus the lifetime warranty, with the $49.99 cost I don't think you can beat that. If you f$#% up a shock go exchange it for a new one.

Mine is a daily driver with about 40% offroad most weekends. So I'm not in any way a hard core wheeler, but that was just my 2 cents.

 

[68ford]

theyre oil filled cans with a tiny charge to try to keep them from foaming, but i didnt think 5000s were charged but i definatley could be wrong

 

[Gummi Bear]

Gummi Bear, I cannot tell by your ambiguous response here, what's your opinion of Rancho shocks? ;D

I was shooting for subtlety. ;D




Let's just say, I should have gotten the Yosemite Sam mudflaps for myself.