Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Does it matter which way Rancho shocks are mounted?

If I remember correctly, some people have had troubles when they mount them upsideown.

Someone will elaborate..

Nick

Which is upside down and which was is right side up? I think the knob should be at the bottom - correct?

I assume that Ranchos would be like most other shocks which have different valving for compression and extension?

Upsidown or not, compression and extention will be the same.

As for which way is up, I have "NFI". just an incling that upsidown isn't the best for them

Sorry I cant be a great help.

Regards,
Nick

Thanks for taking the time to reply though.

adjustment knob at bottom is recommended. I cant see y...

Yes shock body down shaft up is the "right" way.
Apparently if you mount them upside down you can get an air bubble forming behind the adjuster knob and they lose their efectivness.
That said, I have run my front pair upside down for a couple of years now(thats the only way my IFS ones fit) and havent noticed any probs.

I have heard (dont know how acurate) that if they do develop an air bubble you can just flip em over and run them the right way for a while and it will fix it. Then just flip em back again if you wish.

Another thing you may want to do is toss the crap rubber boots in the bin. They only hold mud and sh!t and cause rust.

Paul.

Without the rubber boots the shafts will get damaged from rocks etc and this will in turn damage the seals. Easier to just stay away from mud.

Thanks for the tip though.

I think it also makes a difference to dampening quality if the shocks have been cycled ie pushed up and down. They seem to give a smoother ride.

I think you will find that the ranchos have the same dampening either way up.
It makes a difference with gas pressurised shocks I think but not with the ranchos as they use a foam cell constuction.
I think.
I dunno Im no expert or anything

and on the rubber boots, they dont even fit if you have long travel shocks like 9012s I have them in the back and the boots are too short.
If you mount the shocks with the can at the bottom the shaft is fairly protected up high.
Paul.

If you run them "right way up" (ie with the shaft at the top - adjuster knob at the bottom) the chances of rock strike are lessened.

Mine have always been right way up. Recently I decided to run them "upside down". I have not noticed any difference.

Personally, I feel that shaft at the top, adjuster knob at the bottom seems a better practice. One reason for this is that if you do suffer some sort of seal damage, you are less likely to lose all the fluid from the shock. As you would if the shock were inverted.

My 2c worth

With the Rancho shocks it does not matter which way you run them due to their internals. From memory when I bought my RS9000 the instructions even said I could mount em anyway I wanted.

If I get keen later on I will pull out an article on why it don't matter but till then I assue you it will make no difference to these shocks.

I have em on upside down... always have had..

whatever any information asays, this is what happens when you run them upside down, as I have done it on my own car; they are fine at first, but after a couple of weeks of driving around take them off and check, there will be about 30-50mm of free play in them before they start to dampen. Turn them right way up and cycle them a few times and they come good again. So if you can live with a bit of free play, or are prepared to pull them off and cycle the air out of them every now and then, then running them upside down is fine..
Some of the IFS ones are built differently because they have to be run upside down for clearance.
The shock boots are a good idea, but the quality of them is ridiculous. They supply a boot with 8" of travel with a shock that has 14" of travel. Awesome.

The shaft deffinetely has to go to the top. No two ways about this.

there was big debate about this on Pirate a while ago the outcome was the dial had to be at the bottom so the shaft was up. It was a rumour that had been started by who knows that they could be run either way which proved false. Numerous warranties were void because of this and the shocks aren't developed for this purpose. Sure if you are running a Suzuki or something light you can probably get away with it but why take the chance. Mount the correct way and you'll love em

we fitted a set to a disco , clearance was close !!
so we rang the SUPPLIER , who said "yeah , they can go either way !!"


they,ve been on the disco 4 a while !!!
think there still ok ???

I can see that I am going to have to go digging throgh some 500 4WD magazines to find that damn article. In the mean time here is a post from the Rancho Website FAQ..
1. Can I mount the RS9000 upside down?

The RS9000 are designed to operate in either direction

I have also sent them an email asking why this is so ..

But at the end of the day they should know they make the things.......

the old ranchos thr RS9000's seemed to work ok either way up
but the new rs9000x's dont like begin mounted upside down

Wendle wrote:whatever any information asays, this is what happens when you run them upside down, as I have done it on my own car; they are fine at first, but after a couple of weeks of driving around take them off and check, there will be about 30-50mm of free play in them before they start to dampen. Turn them right way up and cycle them a few times and they come good again. So if you can live with a bit of free play, or are prepared to pull them off and cycle the air out of them every now and then, then running them upside down is fine..
Some of the IFS ones are built differently because they have to be run upside down for clearance.
The shock boots are a good idea, but the quality of them is ridiculous. They supply a boot with 8" of travel with a shock that has 14" of travel. Awesome.

in my expereience i agree with all of this as i have personally found it to be true

also the boots suck...way too short

I have to agree boots suck.. I have always replaced mind with Fork covers from a Motor Bike shop. YOu can ever get pretty colours.

Thanks for all the imput guys. It seems that some are definate that they can be either way and some say that they must have the adjuster at the bottom. Nobody claims that the knob MUST be at the top so if there's room, might as well have it at the bottom. At the moment I have the knob at the top as I thought that it would be less prone to damage and easier to adjust. I have however noticed the freeplay that wendle spoke of so I think I'll flip them over.

Mine are the 99012x and 99036x so that may be the problem as spazbot suggests.

Thanks again.....

Here is the response from rancho..

From: Christopher R Pflug [mailto:Christopher.R.Pflug@tenneco-automotive.com] On Behalf Of RanchoExtremeTeam@TA.NA
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 2:27 AM
To: brad@offroadvw.net
Subject: RS9000

Dear Brad,
Thank you for your interest in Rancho products. These shocks will work
mounted in either direction although on-road ride quality may not be as
good with the shocks mounted rod end down.

Take from it what you will..

Bullshit.
Cut a dead one open and you'll soon discover why.
Air ( or worse, water) leaks in through the adjuster fitting, past the little piston. theres a curved oil line inside the shock. once theres an air bubble inside this it takes more and more travel before the shocks picking up any oil. No oil ( or whatever combination the foamy stuff is) no damping. If the adjuster is at the bottom this is not a problem.
We've had warrantees knocked back because tha adjuster is at the top.

cant speak for Rancho shocks specifically, but for some oil damped shocks, if you let all the oil sit at the top (ie the bottom if you're mounted upside down) then your compression and rebound damping wont work the same cause they dont have as much/any oil to push through the valves. OR the compression damping is only working as rebound damping and vica versa. it seems that this happens with some rancho shocks because of the few inches of non-damping that people are experiencing.

judging by rancho's response they have a mechanism to alleviate this problem.

my 2c. Dunc.