Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hay im just trying to decide what to do about shocks for my lux. am thinking either rancho rs9000x's or bilstein 5150 these seem to be the best 2 in my price range. Wich do u think would be better for my application? or is there some that im not thinking about? The biggest diference i can see is that the bilsteins arnt adjustabe but have more travel.

Any thoughts on this would be gr8 thankyou.

Billsteins are also a mono tube shock so 1 dent are they are farooked.

Ranchos are popular, also consider pro-comps, and i wouldnt have through rancho and bilstein would be in the same price brackter but oh well

I have EFS and im very happy with them... PMMV however.

There are atleast 2 suppliers on here who can help you out with excellent prices, johnz and suspension stuff.

+dj_hansen - have you dented a bilstein? They're Chromo bodies and massively strong.

I have wrecked an RS9000 by denting it though.

If you get a Bilstein for your application from a proper suspension supplier, they will be properly valved for your application. Rancho valving can be pretty hit and miss. Bilstiens have a characteristic gas shock feel though - people have described them as "stiff" but this will mostly be an effect of the valving.

Steve.

No idea on the others, but I put Bilsteins on the back of the Troll and she was a new vehicle.
Went from losing her rear end at the slightest provocation, and scaring the hell out of all, to being the sweetest thing to drive, with a rear end that only comes lose when I want it to.
I'm itching to have the money to put a set on the front.

yea i cn get the rs9000x for $150ea here or the bilsteins for $110ea aus d ex USA.I dont care about on road so much as its a weekend toy only.

Thought about procomp?
I've have rancho and procomp and think procomps way better.
Similar price too.

out of Rancho's or Billie's i'd go the Billie's every day...
As mentioed you'll be hard pressed to dent one.

Bilstein Shocks are a mono tube shock. They are proven to react faster to up or down travel than a twin tube shock eg Ranco. So performance wise a mono tube will out perform a twin tube as long as they are valved for their intended purpose.
However, will a mono out last a twin in durability? That depends on the make of the shock. There are different manufactures in each type. So who knows!
My choice is a mono tube because I want performance. As I looked into mono tube shocks the Bilsteins looked to be a proven shock. But they have been known to get a big enough dent in them to affect piston movment in the shock ( assuming you understand how shocks work ). Then I looked into other brand mono tube shocks & found edlbrock shocks. They are American made N looked liked the shock for me. Not only because they have IAS, some heat distribution stuff N up travel response thing ( you look it up ). But they are already factory inverted. So the part of the shock where the piston moves up n down is up high. Hopefully preventing damage.
In a nut shell have a look at Edlebrock shocks if you decide on a mono tube. .

I like the adjustability of my 9000Xs

I've tried both the Rancho and the Bilstein, and the Bilstein by far is a better shock. The performance is better and they just will not fade, even at the stiff rates that I'm valved to. The Rancho I can kill in about 20mins, but realistically I was getting no more than about 17,000km. The Bilsteins are now about 3 years old, still excellent and still have not even hinted at fading.

WRT to damage, a dent will stuff the Bilstein though you can get guards. This also said, the most that has happened to mine is the paint being stone abraided off the shock body, though no dents - they are a very resilient body. The Ranchos had been battered and bent.

Bilstein coped with my rally car for 4 years, nothing gets a harder workout than that. Monotube is fine.

Monotube has less travel than twin-tube as part of the length is taken up with the piston / gas space.

Considered Koni?

If you are in BNE go see Jamie at GSA Wholesale Suspension.

Any shock will break if the travel lengths are wrong. They aren't bump stops.

I couldn't fade them on the race car.

Paul

Havn't tried rancho but after a few goes with other brands in the rear tried Bilstein - different vehicle especially on corrugations.

Worth every dollar.

Pipes wrote:....In a nut shell have a look at Edlebrock shocks if you decide on a mono tube. .

The test I saw that made me choose Bilstein, rated the Edlebrocks the best, so Pipes is probably on the money with his assesment.
The reason I chose the Bilsteins was that the results of the test showed them to be the best value for money, as they gave very similar results, but were cheaper than the Edelbrocks. So basically if you can get a good price on the Eddies they'd be better apparently, but Billies will give near the performance and cost less.

The Edelbrocks are made by a european supplier too.

Just had a look at the Bilstein website. The 5150's are NOT REBUILDABLE, you have to go to the 6100 series to get that. I think they're a cheaper product designed for the US market to compete with Rancho etc.

You'll have to choose part number very carefully as most hilux's in the US run more lift and higher spring rates than we do - This is the same caution for choosing any US sourced fitment.

IMHO the 6100 series are the type used by most suspension suppliers in Australia. (And what I was thinking of) these are very high quality and are rebuildable. Someone like quadrant in Melb can set these up however you like.

Steve.

Thanks for the input guys ive found some cheap 2nd hand long travel ranchos so jus guna put them on it and see what i think of them for a while that way asleast i cn get out wheeling again after a long drought . then if i dont like them can still order others bt next truck is guna b coil anyways . i let u know wot i think of them when i get out.

Check that they actually still work before paying for them.

by just pushing them in and out and checking for oil leaks?

Pretty much. If there is little or no resistance then they're shot. It should be pretty hard to pull them open

Also, make sure you do with this with the shock standing the correct way up otherwise you may get a bubble where the valves are.

In my experience they fade pretty fast (my rear ones were stuffed within a couple of months) so I wouldn't bother paying for second hand Ranchos, or they would want to be very cheap to consider them. I will never buy another set as the performance does not match the price and would advise on any of the above mentioned shocks rather than Rancho.

I Never relised that rancho's had such a bad name ! I was allways going to get a set with in cab adjustment when the time came to upgrade but maybe not know,

they really aren't anything special. They're actually their own worst enemy because of the adjustment people think anything that fits can be adjusted to work.

This isn't true. If you know the valving will work, they're ok.... as they go. tHey're no Bilstein or Koni, but they are also available in really long lengths for reasonable money - not the case for many others.

Pipes wrote:Then I looked into other brand mono tube shocks & found edlbrock shocks. They are American made N looked liked the shock for me. Not only because they have IAS, some heat distribution stuff N up travel response thing ( you look it up ). But they are already factory inverted. So the part of the shock where the piston moves up n down is up high. Hopefully preventing damage.
In a nut shell have a look at Edlebrock shocks if you decide on a mono tube. .

Check out 4wd actions Calmimini 4in-Lifted Navara. I think the skocks are Eblebrock longtravels. See how they are designed to be installed inverted.
By the way Edlebrocks are not a cheap shock but a good performance shock.

Wish I had coils wrote:I Never relised that rancho's had such a bad name !

They don't have a really bad name... there would be thousands more happy consumers out there than the other brands!
It's just that they have a larger customer base - so it's normal that the amount of complaints increase, the percentage would be normal.

I tend to think that Rancho did have a big name out there, and that this was based on them being about the only available shock in the required long sizes, but many of those who used them found them wanting in terms of performance and durability, especially in relation to most other shocks.

Even the importer has diversified.

Slunnie wrote:I tend to think that Rancho did have a big name out there, and that this was based on them being about the only available shock in the required long sizes, but many of those who used them found them wanting in terms of performance and durability, especially in relation to most other shocks.

Even the importer has diversified.

Exactly.

Having played with Ranchos in my Merc and sierras, and having mixed results, I have found an OME application that works very well in the sierras I put together and I leave it at that - $120 a shock, plenty strong and durable, easy to replace and miles long enough.

Back in 1999 when I set up my g wagen 12" travel shocks were pretty hard to find and I had to deal with Rancho.

Steve.