Wasn't extremely happy with my 9000XL's so I decided to pick up some Bilsteins. They were fantastic at first but recently I wasn't very pleased with the ride quality. I assumed it was my tires (down to 2/32"). Then after I put new rubbers on, the ride still wasn't what I expected but was better.

Don't get me wrong, they were worlds better than the Rancho "Branded" Motorcraft shocks that came on the FX4, but man... The Bilsteins are so much better.

The Ranchos are no longer smooth. Very rough on compression and extension. The first 4-6" of travel is very soft, regardless of setting, then it firms up slightly but I can't sense a difference on different settings. LOTS of sloshing inside the cylinder (Not sure how relevant that is, but it doesn't seem right). I'm going to try and get some video on here to demonstrate. My two rear shocks are much worse off than the fronts. If I compress the rears about 80%, they take about 5-10 seconds to even begin to rebound.

I happen to have a new XL that I compared to and there is a huge difference which leads me to conclude the shocks have gone bad.

I'm not bashing Rancho by any means. Simply stating the facts of my experience.

It's definitely making me re-consider my Rancho steering stabilizer choice.

Also, something to consider... I had a cross threaded bolt that came on my stabilizer and Rancho ordered me a new bolt kit and it came directly from Monroe. Are Ranchos re-branded Monroe shocks?

 

I am still running the factory shocks...seem fine to me. If I had to change though Blisteins seem to have a good rep.

I had skyjackers on my last ride and I liked them real well.

 

I don't recall if you have an FX4 or just 4x4?

 

Just the lariet 4x4.

 

Seems the 4x4 shocks aren't getting as bad of feedback. My buddy has 80,000 miles on his 08 and has no complaints. I need to check, but someone said the FX4 and 4x4 were the same PN.

 

Interesting. I believe mine rides the same as the day I bought it except for the better tires.

I was looking for the Fx4 when I bought this one but there was one on the lot but is was ESOF and had the split bench seat.

I wanted manual 4x4 and captains chairs.

I bought the skid plates myself and made it the fx4.

 

I put Bilsteins on my 08 and it made a very nice difference. The old shocks were hand compressable and they never rebounded. They sat on my driveway during the entire front and back install and never re-gained full extension.

The truck had about 60k on it when I did it, Lariat 4X4. Wish I had done it sooner, I saw funny tire wear on the frontsso if someone got 80k out of his, he is doing good!

 

Keep in mind, this is a guy that thought his HFCM was on the passenger side and I know he does oil changes about 10-15,000 mile intervals and probably done fuel filters 4-5 times in the life of the truck. (My buddy with an 08 w/80,000 miles)

 

I think I blew a rear Bilstein... Truck was on the lift getting serviced and saw a blue fluid trail running down the shock.

 

And you just put them on! Made in china?

 

Don't the Ranchos come with a lifetime warranty?
I've put on 8K miles on my 9000XL's so far. They still seem ok

My original stock shocks were definitely trashed long before 36K. I hated how rough they were riding.

 

They are lifetime warrantied. But I wanted to be able to say I tried both. I like the Bilsteins better. I was able to return the Ranchos to Summit for a refund.

 

I'm wondering if Rancho's quality has recently went down the tubes.

I ran my factory Rancho's on my 05 for 160k miles with no problems.

My current truck has Rancho's and so far so good!

Also I believe Rancho and Monroe are basically the same company.

 

There's definitely a relationship between Rancho & Monroe. Had a cross threaded bolt on my steering stabilizer and Rancho was shipping me new hardware. Package return address was Monroe.

Factory "Rancho" shocks are actually manufactured by Ford. Just a Rancho sticker.

 

I replaced the FX4 shocks on both of my trucks with Rancho 7000mt's and I have been very happy. It's a much stiffer ride but I am usually loaded down so it's perfect. The stock shocks would compress with little effort and took minutes to fully extend while the new ones took a great deal of force to compress and fully extended immediately. One stock shock on my 2012 wouldn't fully extend at all after only 3000 miles.