Hi all,

I just hit 100k miles on my truck and have had the Rancho 4" lift for about 60k of those miles. For the last 8k or so its had a very bad bounce to it...if that makes sense. Basically if I hit a pothole in the road the suspension will continue to have a echo'd bounce. My first and obvious thought was shocks so I paid the extra cash and went with the newer RS9000XL's that was recommended. They are adjustable from 1-9 and I've tried several combinations from 1 to 9 and it doesn't seem to help. Anyone ever had this problem?

 

With 100K miles on the truck, you probably need to perform a FULL inspection of the front suspension. Did you install an adjustable track bar with the 4" lift kit?

 

This was the first lift that I had a shop install instead of doing it myself; it retained the stock track bar. I did a thorough inspection of the front, but the strange thing is the majority of the bounce seems to be coming from the back.

 

Are your shocks long enough, found out the hard way on a past lifted SUV, I was sent stock length shocks when I ordered ones for a lifted rig.. It was very bouncy, but I did not know why. The shocks were limiting my axle drop and eventually blew out.. I learned it pays to pay attention when you change out your parts, rather than remove, trash old, take new out of box and install.

 

Good point, I just checked to make sure and I have RS999261 in the rear and RS999044 in the front. This shows correct per the Rancho site:

SHOCK TYPE VEHICLE HEIGHT POSITION PART NUMBER QTY REQUIRED
RS9000XL 4.00-in. Front RS999044 2
RS9000XL 4.00-in. Rear RS999261 2

 

Search for "bump steer". The '05+ trucks suffer from it and some lifts make it worse. The drag link and trac bar should be kept parallel to reduce the chance of it happening. A better steering damper can help as well.

 

Thanks cartmanea, I'll check it out. What still doesn't make sense is that it rode excellent for the first 50k after the lift, it just started happening in the last 8k or so miles.

 

Your steering damper could be bad. Also, any slack in the front end makes bump steer worse, so as everything wears it will get gradually more noticeable.

 

I'm not sure we're talking about the same issue now. The steering is fine, no sway or jerking when I hit bumps. It mainly seems to be the rear suspension that continues to bounce after I hit a pothole or small bump. The front end bounces as well a bit, but not as bad as the rear.

 

Yeah, my bad. What settings do you have the 9000XLs at front and rear? I think most end up with 5-6 up front and 2-3 in back. Your rancho springs might be stiffer than higher end kits, which would need higher damping to stop them from oscillating.