Which shocks?
 

I tried my favorite Bilsteins and got a sad story for my trouble. Absolutely the best ever shock I have ever used on my Winnebago, Land Cruiser and Lexus but NOT my Ranger. A few years ago I went thru 3 sets of Bils for my truck. They were all harsh and the factory rep down in Poway Ca. dinoed all of them, 12 shocks, and replaced all and finally refunded me my purchase price. SAD! Recently I installed another set given some had reported my superb response historically. These arrived "dry" and were immediately removed and sent back. I then tried Gabriel's top of the line Max/gas/extra? I need a kidney belt to use this shock. HORRID!

I wanted what Bils used to deliver:superb ride and control on the street. No off road wonder, just smooth ride. I had KYs on it for a few years and they were soft and not really well dampened. But they only hurt with a really sharp pot hole.

Ranchos I have tried and they were about 70% of a Bilstein. They are spendy. Does Rancho make a less expensive shock that performs well on the street?

Thanks,

John with the aching back

I am running KYB's and I really didn't notice much difference from the 90k mile stock Ford shock and the new KYB's when I swapped them out 2 years ago. I had one rear OEM shock that was shot - the other three still were doing working somewhat. I have a fairly stiff suspension that gives a rough ride.

If you have replaced the rubber bushings with urethane in your sway bars that will make it a bit stiffer. Another area to look at is what type of tire are you running? If you have a light truck tire it will have thicker/stiffer sidewalls which will also give a stiffer ride. If you are running a touring tire it should give a smoother ride.

The only Ranger I have been in that had a smooth ride was one of the torsion bar models that had a mono leaf rear spring with a helper spring.

I just purchased some Rancho 5000 X-series shocks for my '11 Sport. It had the normal RS5000's on it stock.

Like you, I thought I loved Bilstein's. Both of my 2002 FX4;s had them on there. Both rode hard as hell. The last one I had I swapped to Rancho's and it made it so much better. I used Monroe OE Spectum shocks on the Dakota I recently got rid of. They were nice as well.

From what I understand on Bilstein's, they're meant for heavier trucks and not our little Rangers. At the same time, they're trucks. Unfortunately we'll never get them to "ride like a Cadillac".

I don't expect a Cadilac but I don't expect to have to wear a kidney belt either. That is not that much of an exaggeration.

Bilstein tested every shock I sent back, all 16 of them, and determined that each was defective before finally telling me that they would be more comfortable with refunding my money. i learned on the forums that Bil was having a terrible run of factory rejects during that period. My most recent set apparently had never been charged with any fluid. And I LOVE THE BILS THAT I HAD IN THE PAST. At 75 years young I have had many many shocks from a host of foreign and domestic mfrs. and the Bils that worked put them all to shame. I thought the things must have batteries in them to work as superbly as they did.

Oh I know, that's why I swapped them out on my last Ranger. Speed bumps were horrible. I had to make sure I went slow and braced myself.

My '11 has stock Rancho's on it. They ride okay but I can tell at least one of them is bad. Hopefully the 5000 X's are decent. Not sure when I'll install them yet.

I just installed KYB's on mine, they fixed the bobbling i was getting at the rear with Monroe Spectrums which had <30k miles on them.

I will say that KYB's might be worth another look, reason being, the ExcelG's are the OEM replacement, but there are two models higher up in their range, the middle one (gas-a-just) being specifically a truck shock, and might actually suit your needs.

I might have tried the gas-adjust had I read your post in time. I got the ExcelG s and never saw anything about a "truck specific" shock.

Thanks Max, I am more confident about my choice meeting my min needs.

So what are you running now? Or about to run?

I installed the Gabriel premiem Gas Mag ???? Whatever. Thery have nice slow speed dampening and take a body slam dip with grace. City chop and pavement seams are a horror and actually a reason to walk.

As I said I have ordered the Execell G's OEM quality shocks.

Ahh yes, well, mine seem ok so far, but certainly not tested properly at all.

The next step up look way more interesting than the ExelG's so if they don't work out for you, i'd highly suggest those - my friend ordered and just fitted them to his truck.

I installed Gabriel Ultra's in the front of my 04 Edge with torsion bar front. Thought I would feel more of a difference from the old rusted out units but not so. They seem to do ok job in city driving. Cost is an issue for me so no Bilsteins here!

Hey, I hear that. At almost half the cost, the Rancho's will do me just fine!

Just for interests sake, this is KYB's description of the Gas-a-just shocks, which they consider as upgrades from the OE shocks and OE replacement shocks (ExcelG)

Damn...maybe I shoulda checked those out.

First off, one of the main problems you are having is the Gas Shocks always are stiffer than Hydraulic.
Second is... Each truck is a little different and what works on one doesn't work on the other.

I had been having shock problems since I had the Coil-Oversand installed in the front, new rear shocks and the Superlift, Lift Kit. The Lift Kit Shock lasted about two months, then I tried the variable unit that sucked, moved those dials all over the place, I tried Munroes, KYBs and finally a friend told me about this guy at the Off-Road Warehouse in Murrieta, CA, near where I now live.
I went there, asked for this guy and wham bam, WTF happened to my truck, it actually ride like a truck, no more bouncing, no more bump steering, actually a good ride.
What he did in a nut shell is, changed the Coil-Over Shock to a lower rating, and tried to replace the rear shocks but found I needed two different length shock. The front and rears were replaced per his recommendations other small items were replaced but all in all, what I am saying is, have a Suspension Specialist take a look at what you have and what you do with the truck and JUST maybe you will end up with a truck that ride good !

Don't know what is in the Truck for Shocks, so don't ask.
All I know is I can now drive it without leaving a lot of space between me and the next guy, and I can actually drive over bumps now without worrying about going all over the rode.


Good Luck with your shock problem, it may take a little more than buying a set of shocks at your local Auto Parts Store.

So to sum it up (Scrambler) you were having problems with bouncing, bump steering and generally an expected ride?

Unlucky - and whilst trucks are slightly different, it's not enough to change factory like for like releases; if it's a gen 3 with the same config from the factory, the same shocks will rider the same on all of those trucks.

Anyway, non of that really matters, it does seem like shocks either go early, don't perform from the factory, get fitted incorrectly, all sorts. Also, gas Vs oil, shocks work differently, it is not the case that gas are always stiffer, that's down to valving, not damping material.
If you're running a lift, you've already massively compromised the chassis handling/design and no off the shelf replacement will work as you expect/want it to, hence why the custom guy got it working for you.

This is good info, too bad I live in a tiny town! I wouldn't mind getting everything measured and weighed to ensure the best possible scenario.

It looks like you summed it up nicely, MaDMaXX, thks, but not an expected ride.
My Ranger rode really nice before the mods, and I expected it to ride the same after !

I was at whits-end, ride sucked, a new F150 was going to run around $48K... NOT, I started thinking four link, SAS, anything to correct my Ranger's ride.
At the time my Truck had 75K on the Odometer, the old girl had a lot of miles left in her. I didn't want to give her up and didn't want to spend 48K.
Now the ride is GOOD, I have stopped thinking in the suspension direction, for now.

Now to get in an hour or two a day to get her mod'd up !

RiggerWings,
Small towns don't have the available Off-Road Performance Stores that are around here in SoCal, my hometown back in MA, didn't have any of the BIG Stores but a few smaller ones that just installed what comes out of the box and if problems arise they wanted to be paid for that too. Off-Road Warehouse has high prices, so I did hesitate but I am glad I just went for it.

Oh ya, my Ranger is a Std Cab, Short Steppie Bed, Short Wheel Based vehicle. I had put in a large tube 31 Spline D35 from an FX4, Coil-Overs in the Front, a kit from the Ranger Site, and the Super Lift 4.5" Lift Kit but with 6" Skyjacker Rear Spring to eliminate the Blocks, so things weren't a stock swap. ORW wasn't my first choice but it turned out to be my best choice in this application.

Good Luck to you guys that have ride problems, they seem like they can't be fixed but they can !

I don't mind a truck like ride, I just don't want to chip a tooth when I hit a bump.

I bought some pre-keys off of a member on here and earlier rear blocks from another member on here. I have a feeling the pre-key mod will make my front end pretty stiff. Unfortunately, shocks don't have much say in the stiffness of the torsion bars.

I have not experienced Bilsteins being too stiff. In fact, I thought the original Bilsteins that came on my 02 FX4 were a little soft. They did OK on the pavement but a little too soft for off-road. At around 100K miles the dampening was starting to deteriorate and I bought new Bilsteins with Bilstein tuning instead of the Ford tuning. The new shocks were just right for off-road and still good on pavement. I am still running them with 225K miles on the truck. I have noticed one of the rear shocks is showing a little sign of getting damp with oil. I am guessing they will need to be replaced before too long but they are still performing like they did when new.

That's awesome. You make a good point about buying aftermarket Bilsteins vs the factory "Ford tuned" lots that they contracted from Bilstein. Aftermarket units are probably a little better.

My '02 FX4s (both of em) rode really stiff. Then again I had a mild torsion bar crank too.

Dear Lord, i know i didn't mean to write "expected ride" - but now i have no idea what i *did* mean to write :( Sorry.

IN2, I am truly happy for you. My bils. that worked truly left nothing to be desired. Perfect shocks. But be advised that I had a terrible time with the Bils for my Ranger. Total 16 shocks were returned and all checked bad on their dyno. Serious stuff like hydo lock like ride, empty shocks that allowed the truck to me "dribbled" like a basket ball at the curb with one hand and these malfunctions repeated. I hope all will give them another try as they are truly amazing when they work. Be prepared to exchange them, however. I am old enuf that I had a shop install them so I lost $150 on this recent dose. Does this give you any idea as to how perfect the ones were that I had on my Toy Land Cruiser if i am still recommending them?

Dear friends and fellow travelers....the saga has come to an end.

With $150 invested in the God awful Gabriel Ultra +++ I had the truck in a shop for an emergency clutch master replacement. While it is in there i thought I might as well have those KYBs that have been rattling around in there installed. Been raining here for two weeks and I lost my garage so the driveway was OUT. Shop started the work and then told me I had 4 front shocks and wanted to have a plan. I talked to the "order lady", a really sharp young woman, and KYBs were a day out but she could get MONROE LT OEM shocks for a price that indicated that they were full competition. Lucky move on my part as these shocks are just superb around the city and pot holes. So I have trashed the kidney belts.

Not saying this is anything other than a great street shock but I am out an awful lot of money just trying to get a good street ride.

I was disappointed in the @$180 each Mich street tread 31's I bought recently. They corner like a race car but they rode terrible over tar strips. It was the shocks. now, with the Monroe's, they ride superbly and I expect them to last the life of the truck (40+K) and me. Mich. has always been a superb investment regardless of the vehicle in my experience.

I can attest to Bilstien Shocks as I had used them on several of my BMWs over the years and they were fantastic. I even got my work to install them on my Work Van a Chevy Astro at the time and they were incredible on that van also. I have not tried them on my Ranger and now not sure if I want to after this discussion.